Happy Wednesday. Hope you are all well.
I was asked to give some guidelines to those just starting out with the pantry/freezer thing. There is much to be thought about, but today, let us talk about the WHY and WHERE! We all have to start somewhere.
WHY should you have a nice pantry and freezer of supplies? Well, anything can happen. You could lose your job and have less or no income for a while. You could get sick and not feel like going out. Other expenses could escalate and you need to cut back on grocery budget. You could have a loss of life in the family and things change. There are many, many things that could cause you not to be able to shop for a while. You truly NEED to have extra supplies on hand. BASIC items on hand that are ingredients that you can cook with and make all sorts of things.
Not my picture
You need to figure out WHERE you are going to store items. If your home has a dedicated pantry - you are very lucky. You can store in all kinds of places and in all kinds of things!
Cabinets, closets, under stairs, basem*nts (if dry), under the bed, on closet floors, extra rooms, just about anywhere you can think of.
You may need to get creative. I have seen people store cases of goods behind couches and I have seen 'side tables' made from cases of food and then covered with a pretty tablecloth. Whether you home is big or small - you need to have a plan.
Think about saving lots of nice jars and tins. The larger the better. Glass protects from most any kind of pest. Plastic is good too - but remember rodents can chew through those. (If you have a problem).
Totes and plastic milk crates are great for storing can goods and jars and boxes of things.
You don't have to go out and spend a fortune on storage stuff. Look around the house and garage - I bet you find many unused items that you can use.
Scraps of wood - will make extra shelves. Baskets can hold mixes and packets. Totes or boxes for under the bed (even old drawers from broken /old dressers).
Big totes and even those old popcorn tins. Those are metal and safeguard lots of dry goods. Think pasta or rice or baking supplies! I keep extra bags of sugar in mine.
Think about making or adding storge behind closet doors. It can be shallow and it is dead space if not in use. Lots of people add those plastic/material shoe bags behind doors - they will hold a lot of small items. Behind your doors is wasted real estate!!!!!!
See these shoe bags work well for small items. Behind a door and not out in sight.
Don't forget a freezer. Whether you have an upright, a chest or just the refrigerator freezer - plan ahead. Small totes or ice cream containers (gallon size) can make great dividers. Place like items together - and stack neatly as possible. Stacking things FLAT is very wise. Packages of ground meats freeze flat. Smoosh out a package of ground meat. It sure saves space and makes the freezer neat. Soups or casseroles - in containers (I like square ones - no wasted space). Mark your packages as well - so you know what is in it and the date you froze!!!
After you have decided WHERE you can store things - start thinking about what you use a lot of.
Make a sort of makeshift list of those things. TP, beauty items, oats, baking supplies, dry beans, rice, sauces, pasta, certain meats, crackers, etc. How much you go through a week or month.
You don't have to do all this before packing the pantry - it will just make things easier.
Look around your dwelling for spaces and things to use. Get a smallish plan in order.
Just a few things to think about before really doing a good pantry stock. Use what you have for storage. Ask around for free items (totes, boxes, tins, baskets, etc.).
Now that you have a sort of plan - it is time to shop/grow!
Tomorrow, we will go over some basics on ways to pack your pantry for the least amount of funds possible. Not everyone can go out and spend tons of dollars at once. Slow and steady can win this race as well. It DOES take time and effort - but is sure worth it!
See you tomorrow for shopping ideas!
Anyone have any other ideas on areas to store goods? Places you use that aren't conventional?
We are here to help those who are just starting out - let's all pitch-in!
Have a good day to all!
