I have decided to get more disciplined about writing here (my bad)--and I KNOW I have said that before! lol
I'm also going to expand the subject matter a little, back to how I started with gardening and stuff too. It's that time of year here...
I have been reading all these wonderful authors and bloggers lately who are teaching me so much, and reaffirming things I already know, but have pushed to the back edges of this cluttered mind of mine. SO--that being said...I want to start today with a serious pantry inventory, and I'm sorry, but to make it more fun for me, I' dragging you along.
Let me first say that I have repurposed 2 mostly unused closet spaces in my house for pantries. They were both good sized walk-in closets (something I have always coveted, but never had in my entire life). I bought metal shelving at a hardware store and made more shelves in addition to the ones that were already there. These closets both have big deep pine box-shelves in them, which are a godsend. I left the clothes hanger rod in one, and use it to hang bags of drying herbs in the fall. I use big brown grocery bags and put the plants, roots up, into the bag and then use wooden clothespins to attach them to clothes hangers and hang them up to dry.
I have collected glass (my favorite, but harder to find) and plastic gallon jars to store dry goods in, like flour, sugar, oats..that stuff. I buy in bulk when I can and order online only if I absolutely have to. I grow a lot of vegetables, as most of you know, and I can like crazy.
Jellies and Jams
Salsas
Green beans
...well--you get the picture. So I need storage space, and you can find it, if you really look. However, keeping it organized can be another whole ball of wax. And knowing what's in there at any given time...that's what today is all about. lol
Inventory. Any thing I can not figure out how to use has got to go. I know there are some bottles of sauces and stuff that I got for a song thinking I could use for something..that are still there a couple of years later.
They gotta go!
Also I have not replenished some of my stores of flour and things lately because I started feeling like a hoarder and was afraid one of those tv shows might find me out and descend on me and humiliate me. lol But I've been making a LOT of bread and bagels and stuff lately, so the stores might be winding down. I need to know this stuff.
Though an inventory can be a daunting endeavor, it's absolutely necessary. So I'm going to get busy with that, and come back later and give you the results of my findings. I know I can knock my grocery bill back with a little more mindfulness. And be a better steward of my family's assets. And get a handle on things. lol
Join me in this scavenger hunt through your own pantries and closets and if there's stuff that can be donated to food banks, well and good. If there's stuff we need to eat more of--yippee!!
