Spring Cleaning: Pantry Edition
When you think of spring cleaning, your mind may go right to your closet or perhaps that hallway closet that has about 10 different kinds of expired medicine, Band-Aids you forgot about, and old bags of cotton balls… you know the one.
However, think about where you spend the most time in your home. For many of us, that’s the kitchen! The kitchen can take on many roles, beyond the hub of cooking. It can be where families gather, kids do homework, or even where we pay bills. (Something about that dining room table!)
When you are trying to give yourself access to healthier options in your kitchen, it’s also important to make those options seem inviting. We invite you to take on this spring cleaning with one priority in mind: your pantry.
Here are our favorite tips and tricks to get you to a place where you can deeply exhale and gain that post-organizing bliss. Ah…..
1. Make a game plan. Instead of blindly entering your pantry and thinking, “where do I start?”, grab a pen and paper and write down a plan. We suggest starting with your dry goods, then going into your chilled and frozen goods.
2. Clear out. Start by clearing out all of the dry good items in your pantry or cabinets. Place them on the counter, and divide and conquer! Place all items together that you would find in the same aisle at the grocery store with labels out, facing you. Now, restock your shelves with below groupings:
Baking: flours/flour alternative, unrefined sugars
Breakfast: granola, oats, chia seeds
Snacks: nuts (unopened), grain-free chips, gluten-free crackers, dates
Sweets: dark chocolate, snack bars
Base staples: pasta, rice, tortillas (unless specified to refrigerate)
Canned goods: coconut milk, soup (broths), beans, olives
Jarred goods - unopened: pickles, jam, peanut butter
Honey
Spices
Counter basket 1: onions, avocados, jalapeños, potatoes
Counter basket 2: apples, oranges, grapefruit, bananas
For loose items, invest in wire baskets or see-through containers so you can easily see what you have available.
Chilled Goods:
Clear out all chilled items, and place them on the counter. Divide and conquer. Depending on the size of your fridge, you may need to stack, so we suggest after you've divided the goods in the their category, divide again by placing the taller items in first so the labels can always be viewed when opening the fridge.
Beverage Shelf: nut milk, kombucha, vino, sparkling water
Jarred goods: pickles, olives, peanut butter, jam
Dips: hummus, salsa, etc.
Fruit
Dairy: cheese, yogurt
Veggie Drawer
Meat Drawer (I always place mine at the bottom in case of the unexpected moments of leaking. This way, it doesn't leak on any other food in the fridge.
Condiment shelves: dressing, mustard, coconut aminos, hot sauce. Want to take it a step further? Try categorizing by ethnic region.
Frozen Goods:
Clear out all freezer items, place on the counter, and divide and conquer.
Homemade frozen goods: bone broth, chili
Smoothie goods: spinach, fruits, cauliflower rice
Veggies: cauliflower, broccoli, green beans
Seafood: salmon, tuna, shrimp
Poultry & Red Meat: Chicken, Grass-Fed Beef and Bison, Bacon, Ground Turkey
Reminder: place meat on bottom.
Sweet goods: dark chocolate, ice cream
Keep in door. Smaller the area, less likely to over stock these items.
3. Embrace the new. We are not encouraging wasting food, so if there are items you want to eliminate from your pantry, look into food donation services or properly composting the contents of what you’re getting rid of. Making healthy swaps to your pantry items is a great first step in making enjoyable and sustainable changes to your health!
4. Make your kitchen feel like your favorite grocery store. If you can see it, you will eat it. Are you guilty of moldy items in the fridge? Stale food in the pantry? Us too. Game changer: set your cupboards, fridge, and freezer up to look as similar to the grocery store as possible. The Marie Kondo method isn't just for your living space. Bring that organization over to your kitchen where we spend the majority of our time. Not only will this shave time on cooking and prep hours, it feels good to open up a cupboard and fridge and feel like you're shopping at the grocery store.
5. Get cooking! Sit down with your favorite cookbooks, recipe blogs, or anything that helps you feel inspired to put your new organized pantry to use!
Products Mel C uses to organize her kitchen, HERE!
