Spring Cleaning

While it may be argued that I should have started off my "spring cleaning" with an area that was visible so as to be able to see the progress, I did not.  Instead I started in the area that has been bugging me the longest!  I finally decided it was time to invest a chunk of money in some containers (those things are expensive!) and properly organize the PANTRY!

I've organized this is the past but only in so much as throwing away the old stuff, giving away things we won't use and putting like things together.  There were still open bags of flour spilling all the time, half empty bags of sugar, open bags of dried beans that routinely fell out (you can imagine how much fun that was), cereal and snacks foods that would be shoved in resulting in more avalanches.  Add to that the fact that I was so sick of never being able to find anything!  It was time for a major overhaul especially with the degree to which I use the flours/sugars and other baking items now that I make the majority of things from scratch now, well have for a while but even more so now.

I spent an hour in BBB in the containers section debating which ones I wanted.  They would all eventually be the same so I wanted to make a smart choice.  Granted a lot of that time was spent running back and forth to the bathroom since we're in the final stages of potty training our DD.  Her newest trick is to play potty time when she's bored since she knows it will get mama moving as soon as the word "potty" comes out of her little mouth!  Anyway I finally decided on square since they would fit in the cabinet better and would stack!  So after an entire day spent shopping, labeling, organizing, discarding, rearranging, and staring at we are finally left with:

Sure, it's still very full but frankly it always will be.  Now all the loose beans/lentils/rices/etc are in tupperware so even if they fall out it's no big deal.  All containers are clear so I can see when things need to be restocked and everything is labeled!  At this point I still would like some more containers but I can pick them up here and there over the next couple months.  My favorite part are the flours!  I have been wanting containers to put flour in since the dawn of never, not sure why I didn't get them sooner but most of it is because I couldn't find a size I liked.  All the special flours (rye, spelt, brown rice, etc) are still in their bags but they are small and not paper so they don't rip when you open them.

So welcome to my new and improved pantry.  I LOVE IT!!  Makes life, and cooking, so much easier!

Now on to the bedroom.  I've already tackled 2 major clutter areas and have 2 more, then that will be in good shape as well.  It may then be time to clean something you can actually see!