It's no secret that I love being organized. LOVE it. The first time I ever walked in to a Container Store, I went from 6 to 12 REAL quick.
I should clarify that while I love being organized, NOT being organized doesn't keep me up at night. I do my best, and if stuff is out of place, I can still rest easy. I enjoy my sheets being nicely folded and in the linen closet, but I also can go about my day after I've shoved them in to a corner shelf.
Until this rental, I've never had an actual pantry, so our food has always shared shelf space with towels, cleaning supplies, etc. Moving in to this house, I was so excited to get an honest to god pantry. And because I love it so, I like to keep it pretty and tidy. Keeping food supplies tidy also helps me know what I have on hand so that I can keep my weekly grocery bills wicked low. Ever wonder how I keep my weekly trip to $50 or lower for mostly organic and local food? Cause I know what I have in my cupboard!
This shelf holds my flour mill, store-bought canned goods, bacon press, onions, garlic, Ziplocs, and my hootch aka homemade vanilla brewing station.
Things that don't fit in the cupboard by our stove - honey, molasses, sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, and walnut oil.
Many of our staples are purchased in bulk. Bulk packaging is usually not intended for pantry storage, so I transfer everything to glass jars. Many of the jars are from Goodwill, some are from products I've bought that came in jars, and others are just canning jars I've purchased. Narrow mouth (regular) canning jars are cheapest, and I use them for most of my storage.
Because I keep everything in glass jars with screw on lids, I like to be able to view the item without having to rearrange jars to see what is in the back of the shelf. My sarcastic labels were dreamed up during a very, very, very, very slow Friday afternoon at work. Labels are Avery 5294, available online (I bought mine on Amazon) or at any office supply store.
Double click on this one to enlarge the photo. It's worth it.
Baking items basket, vital wheat gluten, cocoa, shortening, and coconut oil. And aprons to the left.
Bread flour, freshly ground flour from my mill, evaporated cane juice, and my homemade recipe book.
And this? This is a weird little bottle I found at Goodwill drastically marked down. I've never used it, but I knew it had to be mine. Perhaps a flower vase? My favorite part is the little kitty under the window all sad because of the spilled (spilt) milk. Double click to see it's awesomeness.
So, if you're an organizing porn junky, I hope this post was as good for you as it was for me. Now, let's go smoke some salt and make a rub for a pot roast. RAWR!
