Organising my pantry

Cleaning my pantry is one of my favourite "jobs" Aka I know I probably sound very sad, but I always feel so organised when I have finished. I did mine over the weekend (what an exciting life I lead) . I have quite a small compact kitchen but a lovely big walk in pantry. We have talked about knocking the wall down to extend the kitchen but I love the fact that I can store loads of stuff out of site and keep my kitchen uncluttered too.

I recently invested in some fantastic boxes from Ikea which are ideal for packets and small jars. They come in a variety of sizes too. No wonder my daughter thinks that I'm anal !

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90226047/

Eeek, reminds me of when my son reaching for something off the shelf of my 'tins cupboard' He found and exploded can of grapefruit complete with fruit fly maggots. I will never forget that telephone call. The only thing my son has an aversion to is maggots.

I love "doing" my cupboards I don't have a pantry as such just a lot of good deep cupboards,I don't have to store pans in the cupboards as I have one of those round thingy's that hang from the ceiling and your pans hang from that,in the cupboards I keep everything that I use on a regular basis is stored at eye level and multipacks of soups etc stored in the bottom cupboards along with dried goods rice/pasta/jars of curries etc.gilly those storage boxes are just the job I may invest in some next time I head for Ikea.

I am so encouraged to get organised now in the kitchen as soon as my cooker man leaves. I can hear him chipping away at something. Dare not look

Well at least that's tea sorted for tonight..mackerel in mustard sauce over Moroccan Cous Cous followed by cinnamon coated dried (very dried) cranberries.

All just on best before dates...

Maggots? Ye gods!

Trouble is Gilly once I put something 'away' in a plastic box my brain cells immediately eliminate it from my memory and there it remains, unopened, until it's festers dries out and in the meanwhile I trot off to buy another 250g pack for a recipe needing 50g...and so it goes on.

Out of sight, out of ....

Oh dear Aka I know exactly what you mean. I promise you I don't have shares in Ikea but these boxes are shaped in such a way that you can stand packets up and see what you have without having to search through them. Also they have little handles so you can lift them in and out easily.

I love IKEA storage thingys so will look next time I'm there. I often take the GC as they love causing chaos following the arrows, going in the little flatlets, etc..

Would you believe I still store a lot of my ingredients in Tupperware containers which have lasted since the days of Tupperware parties in the eighties?!!!
I still am drawn to plastic containers in the supermarkets. I like the fact that they all stack up and you can see what's inside. If not I make a label. I also check dates on my tins etc regularly.
My name is Lyndy and I am obviously a plastic box addict!

Well you have come to the right place Lyndysim

I love boxes too. I also love organising stuff into them.

Lyndysim I have Tupperware that I inherited from my Mum. It must have been bought in the '60's' !

Oh yes Lindy those Tupperware parties! The ice breaker of everyone saying 'My name is Rosesarered and I'm restful' My name is gillybob and I'm glamorous' 'My name is Lindy and I'm lethargic' hahaha [not].I used to dislike all the parties but did like the Tupperware, although nothing has survived.Cleaning out the pantry is rather good, I enjoy doing it.Nothing in boxes though as I need to see the stuff.

I keep my caster sugar in a Tupperware box that I bought at a party I went to just after I got engaged in 1964! Keep meaning to replace it but it still does the job so why bother?

Glamorous me?????? You have got to be kidding roses

We don't have a pantry as such but a 'big cupboard' which is floor to ceiling, about 5 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep. It is in the utility room and has two, outside, granite walls so is lovely and cool all the time.

I tidied it about 2 weeks ago, but you'd never guess

gillybob you are tempting me to an Ikea trip! I do not , sadly, have a pantry.

I loved my Nana's pantry in her house in Darlington in which she had a mesh meat box and a cheese box which hung on big hooks and a great marble shelf under which the veg were kept in wooden slatted boxes. Walls lined with shelves with all the groceries in all sorts of tins! A magical place!

I have some 'pull out' cupboards which house 1) savoury tins & packets plus cereals 2)baking ingredients, sweet things and treats 3)spices 4) pickles, oils & condiments! However no matter how hard I try to keep them organised they soon fall into chaos.

My biggest bugbear is the fridge which is a tad too high for me to use easily.
I try to organise it with a shelf for meat, one for dairy , one for opened jars/leftovers/prepared food and one for booze and the tray for veg/salad. Milk + jams etc live in the door. However DH cannot keep to my organisation..inevitably I 'lose' things in the fridge and end up wasting food as I re-buy or end up throwing stuff out as it has gone well past sell by date by the time I relocate it I feel a half term tidy up coming on!

DM had a proper pantry and I do wish I had one. I have a tall cupboard and DH fitted some pullout open drawers which are useful.

I still have some Tupperware which I bought two weeks after we got married in 1967 (I remember all the other ladies, none of whom I knew) looking at me and saying "oh, how sweet, how lovely, just married" and being very embarrassed.
The only thing re decanting things into storage boxes is that I forget to keep the 'best by' date, consequently have no clue if it's out of date, so end up buying fresh unless it's sugar or something.

The worst job is cleaning the oven, which I attempted today but it doesn't look much better because I put it off for too long.

The food cupboard will be much more soothing when I tackle that.

I once went to a Tupperware party in about 1970 which degenerated into an amazingly drunken real, all female party once the Tupperware rep had gone home. Oh dear..it was sherry, (before we all drank wine) but lots and lots and lots of it.

"The past is another country; they do things differently there." Well, that's my story!

They still have Tupperware parties in Australia!

I read the title as Organising my party.
That would be much more fun.