2023 Pantry Cleanup

Hello friend! I am so glad you are here. Today I am going to share with you the importance of keeping your pantry cleaned and organized, tips for rotating through your stock and utilizing what you have, why we buy in bulk, how we store food in bulk and some of our favorite pantry staples. Come along with me!

Of course we want to keep our homes clean and tidy. I don't think I know a single woman who wouldn't ideally want her home to look like one of those perfect magazine covers. All the throw pillows in place, their children's toys neatly organized, color coded and certainly up and off the floor. The book shelf would be color coordinated, the hand towels clean and wrinkle free, and of course the pantry would be fully stocked with gorgeously preserved, perfectly sorted and of course nutritious foods to feed her family. Does that look like your house? Yeah, my house doesn't look like that either. Hence the need to do a major clean up and over haul of my pantry. You would not believe the amount of random things stashed and forgotten about in my pantry! And while I would like to find someone or something else to blame, honestly It was most often me putting those things there and forgetting about them. Things like empty canning jars, loose paper plates and party supplies, a broken coffee pot (why did I choose to save it instead of tossing it straight into the trash? I have no clue. But it was collecting dust in the back of my pantry shelves). I honestly did not have a good handle on what exactly was in my pantry that needed to be used, what I needed more of, or what I had plenty of. So it was high time to clean out the pantry. You can find the youtube video of my pantry clean up and tour here https://youtu.be/a4Pq_Em5JT4?si=cg9jOTCD-0qoIh0b

I worked my way down from top to bottom of the pantry, throwing out things that were broken or not needed, and rearranging the things that are left. Store bought goods, home preserved foods, bulk ingredients, and even a few cleaning supplies.

Why is it so important to clean and organize your pantry?

Beyond the desire to have things tidy and looking good there are a few good reasons to have your pantry in order.

• Avoid pests. When things spill or are not properly stored it can attract unwanted pests. And while having several farm cats will definitely lower the mice population on your property they will not be able to deter all of the pests if things are just plain messy and not cared for. More on proper bulk food storage below.

• Keep track of what you have. What a shame it is to go to cook dinner and realize that you are missing a key ingredient! Or to come home from the store to discover that you already have an unused flat of BBQ sauce and didn't need another just yet. Sometimes these thing happen even when your pantry is organized and it's not always a big deal, but having things organized helps you keep track of what you already have and what you need more of.

Tips for rotating through your stock and utilizing what is there...

Rotating through what you have on hand lessens waste and (hailing back to the last section) helps you keep track of what you have or need. Some tips for rotating through your stock are;

• bring the oldest items to the front so they will be used first. Things you canned a year or two ago that need to be used up? Bring it to the front. Store bought things with expiration dates looming in the near future? Bring them to the front too. That keeps them right where you can see them and are less likely to forget about them.

• only buy or preserve what you like. This one might sound simple but I can't tell you how many times I have heard of people buying a bunch of canned tuna but they hate fish. Or canning countless jars of pickles when they don't like the sour tang. Store what you know you and your family like and will use. Don't stock up on things that will go to waste or you will suffer through scarfing them down for the sake of not wasting them.

• store multi-use items. Not everything can be a multi-tasker, but I will tell you that focusing on storing items that can be utilized in several different ways has helped me avoid a boring rut when cooking from my pantry. Yes, we definitely keep some ready-made jars of home canned beef stew and chicken soup. But most of what we keep are things that I can use in many different ways. Canned beans? Great! We can make soup, nachos, tacos, a dip or even some black bean brownies. Chicken stock? Warm it up for tummy-friendly nourishment when sick, throw it in soups or stews, make a sauce, or even cook your rice and pasta in it. Apple sauce? Sure it's a tasty snack but have you ever subbed it into a recipe of muffins or used it as a glaze for pork? Delish!

• refill and restock as you go. I have been known to make the mistake of storing empty mason jars without refilling them. This takes up unnecessary space and in my case usually ends up with me stashing them in the back of my pantry and forgetting about them until I do a major pantry clean out again. Instead I am now trying to only save up jars until I have enough for a load in the canner. Then I will pick a recipe that we need more of and love, refill the jars and subsequently restock the pantry along the way. It's a win, win, win!

Some of our favorite pantry staples...

Of course this won't be a complete list of what I actually keep in our pantry but here are some of our must have's, favorites and can't-live-withouts. I will sort them into three categories; canned, dry and store-bought. Again, we usually store these items in bulk.

Canned

• Tomatoes. We always keep cans/jars of diced, fire roasted, and tomato sauce on hand.

• Cowboy Candy. Seriously, this stuff is amazing. I made mine based on the recipe found here https://youtu.be/L1OxoXWIAHA?si=52RyoaCXIb-Woa8J

• Beans. These are such a simple and quick item to add to a variety of recipes.

• Fruit. Home-canned apples, pears, cherries, etc.

• Jams and Jellies. These are pretty self explanatory.

• Sauces. We love homemade rhubarb sauce, pizza sauce, and marinara.

• Ready Made Meals. I like having at least a few options like stew, chicken soup, and venison in wine sauce.

Dry

• Rice

• Oats

• Flour

• Sugar

• Wheat Berries

• Pasta

Store Bought

• Pineapple

• Tuna

• Salmon

• Worcestershire sauce

• BBQ sauce

• Spices and seasonings

In conclusion...

Stocking, organizing and keeping our pantries tidy is not only a good habit to keep but vital for a well-functioning kitchen and homestead. If you want to learn more about where we most often buy our bulk-food items you can check out my Azure Standard blog post here https://www.heavenlyhillshomestead.com/post/all-about-azure-standard and some of my Azure Standard hauls on my YouTube channel here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqW58K4OehO84woQSebtVcvaekRb9avWr&si=mJqXImdzxb0HBANi

As always I really hope you enjoyed this blog post all about my pantry clean up of 2023! I pray that it brings you inspiration, encouragement and helps you to manage your pantry. And until next time, welcome to the homestead!

~Ashley