Saving Space in Our Pantries!

Recently, a group of us Working Pantry folks had a discussion on condensing things down to save space in our pantries.  Everyone kicked in some really good suggestions and I thought you might benefit from reading some of the ideas everyone shared. (Thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas.)

Use baskets or plastic bins to store like items together such as pouches, envelopes, prepackaged spice mixes, bags of items, toothpaste that has been taken out of the box, razors that have been taken out of their box or container, etc.

Keep plastic lids in a plastic bin so they aren't all over the cupboard and in one spot.  Who among us hasn’t wrestled with plastic lids!

Take band aids out of their boxes and store them in a plastic container with dividers, dividing by size, etc or store them in plastic school pencil containers or take them out of the boxes and put them in plastic bags.  Label the bags and put them in a clear sweater box.

Plastic drawer units are good for storing tubes of antibiotics, creams, salves, etc.

Many times over the counter medications and vitamins come in a bottle that is not all the way full, combine multiple bottles into one.  Just make sure they have the same expiration date & lot number.

Use glass jars as storage containers.  It makes it easy to see what’s inside and how much. Old mayo jars are good for this as are empty gallon pickle jars.  Some things to store are:  herbs, beans, pasta, sugar, mixes, etc.  You can also repackage anything dry such as cereal, chocolate chips, etc. in jars.  (If you have a vacuum sealer to seal jars, that’s even better.)

Speaking of cereal, you can take it out of the box and put in a vacuum sealer bag, you should able to stack the sealed bags or store them in a basket or bin.  Make sure to write what kind it is on the bags.

Repackage pastas, sugar, rice, flour and other bulk stuff into 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids.

Take freezer and storage bags out of their boxes and store them in clear bins.  Be sure to label the bin with the size.

Repackage frozen foods such as pizza rolls, fish sticks, perogies, etc. Re-bag them and save all kinds of space. If you need the cooking directions, use a sharpie and write it on the freezer bag you re-bagged them in or cut the cooking instructions from the box and slip it inside of the freezer bag.

Cover mandarin orange type boxes with contact paper and store condiments, bbq sauces, soy sauce, etc.  You can put cases of canned goods under them to maximize shelf space.

What can you add to this topic of condensing things down and saving space in our pantries?

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

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