Some people have a large butler’s pantry, others have a smaller area for food storage. I've got a broom closet converted to a pantry. Wherever you have your food stored, consider it your pantry. Having this area well organized will serve you well during the holidays and beyond. Being able to see at-a-glance where your needed supplies are is essential. Now is the time to get in there, dissect what you have on hand, and get things organized so you can grab-and-go during the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
Depending on how your pantry is set up, there are a few basic that help keep us organized and ready.
First, keep a note pad and pen on the counter, ready to jot a “stock up” list as you work through your pantry. When sorting and organizing, you'll quickly identify what you'll need.
As with other areas, work from top to bottom. Remove items and wipe down shelving. When replacing items, group them by kind and size. Get all your green beans together and place them together with other vegetables. Do the same with soups, fruits, tomato products, and baking items.
Fill up your canisters so they’re ready for baking season. Note where there’s a half bag of this or a little of that. Combine miniscule amounts of similar items into one container.
When sorting and organizing, check the dates and put the oldest in front so they’ll be used first. Toss any pantry items that are showing signs of rust or are bulging. If a can or jar is sticky, something has leaked and it’s likely the seal has given way. As the saying goes, “when in doubt, throw it out.” And, it's cheaper to toss a can or jar that would cost $1.25 to replace than to have a much larger doctor or hospital bill.
If there are items still within their expiration date that you bought thinking you’d like to try it and haven’t (and likely won’t), add it to your donation bin/box for the food pantry. That gourmet sauce that you bought and never used could make someone else's day!
Do a quick inventory as you go. If you’re bringing a green bean casserole for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, how many cans will you need for each? For me, 2 holiday dinners x 3 cans for each recipe … do I have at least 6 cans of beans on hand, or do I need to buy some? Add what you need to the "stock up" list. What about the evaporated milk? Cream of mushroom soup? Do the same with other kinds of goods you use more of during the holidays, building your list as you go.
When going through dry goods, make sure you have no critter infestation. To help keep things sealed and pest free, consider storing your noodles, rice, flour, sugar, etc. in glass jars. You’ll be able to immediately see how much you have of each and where you’re running low and may need to re-stock.
Also, check open packages for freshness. Do a quick taste test on those crackers. You’ll know what’s too far gone. For that green bean casserole for the family Thanksgiving, do you have enough fried onions? If they were left over from last Christmas, are they still good, or are they stale? Have they picked up any odd flavor from the plastic container? There’s stale, but can be used for making cracker crumbs, and there’s stale-stale that has changed flavor or picked up a funky smell. You be the judge. Trust me, this is especially important with nuts you intend to use in your holiday baking.
Now that your pantry is in order and you have a running list of what you need to stock up on for the holiday season, start keeping a close eye on the sales flyers. Add to your pantry, especially when you see a good deal.
Once everything is sorted and stored, work to keep it that way. A few hints:
Depending on how your pantry is set up, there are a few basic that help keep us organized and ready.
First, keep a note pad and pen on the counter, ready to jot a “stock up” list as you work through your pantry. When sorting and organizing, you'll quickly identify what you'll need.
As with other areas, work from top to bottom. Remove items and wipe down shelving. When replacing items, group them by kind and size. Get all your green beans together and place them together with other vegetables. Do the same with soups, fruits, tomato products, and baking items.
Fill up your canisters so they’re ready for baking season. Note where there’s a half bag of this or a little of that. Combine miniscule amounts of similar items into one container.
When sorting and organizing, check the dates and put the oldest in front so they’ll be used first. Toss any pantry items that are showing signs of rust or are bulging. If a can or jar is sticky, something has leaked and it’s likely the seal has given way. As the saying goes, “when in doubt, throw it out.” And, it's cheaper to toss a can or jar that would cost $1.25 to replace than to have a much larger doctor or hospital bill.
If there are items still within their expiration date that you bought thinking you’d like to try it and haven’t (and likely won’t), add it to your donation bin/box for the food pantry. That gourmet sauce that you bought and never used could make someone else's day!
Do a quick inventory as you go. If you’re bringing a green bean casserole for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, how many cans will you need for each? For me, 2 holiday dinners x 3 cans for each recipe … do I have at least 6 cans of beans on hand, or do I need to buy some? Add what you need to the "stock up" list. What about the evaporated milk? Cream of mushroom soup? Do the same with other kinds of goods you use more of during the holidays, building your list as you go.
When going through dry goods, make sure you have no critter infestation. To help keep things sealed and pest free, consider storing your noodles, rice, flour, sugar, etc. in glass jars. You’ll be able to immediately see how much you have of each and where you’re running low and may need to re-stock.
Also, check open packages for freshness. Do a quick taste test on those crackers. You’ll know what’s too far gone. For that green bean casserole for the family Thanksgiving, do you have enough fried onions? If they were left over from last Christmas, are they still good, or are they stale? Have they picked up any odd flavor from the plastic container? There’s stale, but can be used for making cracker crumbs, and there’s stale-stale that has changed flavor or picked up a funky smell. You be the judge. Trust me, this is especially important with nuts you intend to use in your holiday baking.
Now that your pantry is in order and you have a running list of what you need to stock up on for the holiday season, start keeping a close eye on the sales flyers. Add to your pantry, especially when you see a good deal.
Once everything is sorted and stored, work to keep it that way. A few hints:
- Use baskets or bins to organize like items. In my pantry, I have a drawer organizer and store canned goods on their sides, labels up, and lined up vertically, 4 cans deep -- one drawer for vegetables, one for fruits. I use a clear bin for storing baking mixes on the shelf, another for packaged rice and noodle mixes, another for baking items – chocolate chips, coconut, etc.
- Label shelves, baskets, and bins, so everyone in your family can see what goes where and they can quickly locate what they’re looking for.
- Consider adding some hooks in your pantry for hanging the large bags of single-serve lunch snacks or other items. I've found that the larger Command Adhesive hooks work really well in my pantry for single-serve chips, and another for storing a variety of the pup's treats in a small repurposed gift bag.
- For your reusable grocery bags, fold them and nest together in one bag. At the end of the week, grab the one bag and take them all to the car, so they’re ready for re-use on your next trip to the grocery store.
- Large canning jars are great for pantry storage for pasta, rice, stuffing, etc. Simply cut out the cooking instructions and place them into the jar for future reference. I’ve found that wide-mouth jars work best for me, but I do have smaller pastas (macaroni, small shells) and rice in narrow-mouth jars and it work s fine. Lids/flats can be re-used for dry storage, and they are now selling screw-on plastic lids for dry storage. If you only need a couple of jars, check your local Goodwill or other thrift store (if you can find them cheap; I won't pay more than $2 for a quart jar with ring) or pick up a case of 12 at your favorite store that carries canning supplies. You can also use other kinds of jars, though I wouldn't recommend pickle jars -- they tend to retain the pickle smell.
- As the holidays near, gather your supplies in advance for the recipe(s) you’re making. Place everything for the recipe in a basket or bin – or maybe in the baking dish you’ll be using. Grab your cans of creamed corn (for example), evaporated milk, measure out your crushed crackers into a storage container or ziplock bag, and then compile your seasonings in a small container or jar, so everything is ready to empty and mix.
