Spring has certainly sprung! And as the weather slowly warms, it’s time we started clearing out the cobwebs for another season ahead.
And that includes the cobwebs, weird ingredients and things that expired in 2002 from our pantries. Because when the pantry is clean and ordered, it makes it much easier to make balanced, healthy choices about the food we cook and eat.
Here’s how to go about it:
Step 1: Clear out everything.
And we mean everything! Strip that pantry bare and place everything (yes, everything!) out on the kitchen benches or tables in full view. This will give you a solid lay of the land and allow you to formulate a better system for the things that make it back into the pantry.
Step 2: Deep clean.
Give all the shelves and draws a good scrub down with soap and water. This will deter any friendly critters great and microscopic who might have been looking to set up shop in your consumables.
Step 3: Ditch what doesn’t serve.
This includes anything that’s long past its expiry date (trust us, we ALL have these lurking at the back of the cupboard). These can go straight to the bin.
But it also covers anything that you know, in your heart of hearts, you’re just not going to get around to eating. It could be something you bought in bulk with the best of intentions, gourmet gifts you received, as well as those things that you and your family just don’t particularly enjoy eating.
We recommend taking these still-good-just-not-for-me items to a local food bank or charity program so it can be redistributed to those in need. It can also be helpful to organise a few pantry clean out meals in the days following the
overhaul, to use up the last of close-to-expiring or bulk bought items.
Step 4: group like with like.
Start grouping what remains into categories that make sense for you and your family. Popular choices include categorising by meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, beverages), food group (grains, nuts, baked goods, canned veg, spices), cuisine (Mediterranean, Asian, Indian) – or likely a mixture of all three.
Categorising will likely reveal a few double ups, especially when there is more than one grocery shopper in the house. Ask yourself how these can be consolidated into the one jar, container, or bottle to free up more space.
Step 5: A clear storage system.
Decant opened items into clear, labelled containers. Depending on your pantry size and shape, we recommend repurposed jars and bottles (we love these as a sustainable, affordable choice) or stackable Tupperware.
Being able to see what’s inside makes for easy search and rescue, as well as allowing you to keep better track of stock levels, pantry moths and mould.
Step 6: A place for everything.
When placing categories back in the pantry, think about how often you’ll use them. Things you use every day should be placed within easy each. Those not used so often can be stored higher or lower.
Consider introducing some larger baskets and boxes that can be easily removed and replaced as your cooking calls for it.