This time of year, I always get the urge to clean out the pantry. With the new year coming up soon, and the prospect of a fresh, new start, it's a good time to do so.

Here's my method. I remove the items on one shelf, clean the shelf, inspect the canned/bagged/boxed foods, decide whether to a) keep, b) donate, or c) discard, and then return the items to the shelf and begin on the next one. If I don't have the time to clean the entire pantry at once, I can just pick up at the shelf I left off during my next cleaning session. With this particular job, I tend to get more and more motivated with each shelf I clean and organize. So sometimes I get the entire pantry done in a few hours.

By the way, it's really important to clean out the pantry from time to time, both for space purposes and for cleanliness.

Items taking up unnecessary storage space: It's very easy to buy groceries we think we might use, but don't. For instance, you may have a box of egg replacer that you used once...and know you'll never use again. Or what about the rice blend you wanted to try, and discovered you didn't enjoy enough to make again? Sometimes these items end up sitting in the pantry because you're not ready, emotionally, to toss them when you knew in your heart-of-hearts you'd never use it again, but couldn't bear tossing something you recently spent your hard-earned money on.

Items no longer good enough or safe enough to eat: Some items go bad, like a box of crackers that has gone stale or oil that has gone rancid. Some items end up attracting insects...or came with insects when you purchased (e.g. flour bugs are not fun!)

The types of food we keep in our pantries are known as non-perishables. The word 'non-perishable' implies 'forever.' Indeed, some foods can go on practically forever, but not all. According to Off the Grid News, here's a breakdown of non- perishable categories:

A) Foods with an extremely long shelf life, even up to centuries. Some examples are honey, salt, sugar, white rice, whole wheat grains, dried corn, baking soda, instant coffee, cocoa powder, tea, powdered milk, and bouillon products.

b) Foods with a very long shelf life, one to three decades. Some examples include dried beans, rolled oats, pasta, potato flakes, dehydrated fruit slices, and dehydrated carrots. Oh, and Twinkies apparently fall into this category as well...maybe even into category A.

c) Grocery store foods with a fairly long shelf life, six months to a year. Because there are some 'non-perishables' that will actually perish over time, always pay attention to expiration dates on bottles, cans, and boxes. In many cases, you can still eat the food after the expiration date, but nutritional value may decrease. The Internet is always a handy tool if you're wondering. When in doubt, look it up. An example of a food that falls in this category is peanut butter, which will hold its freshness for about 2 years. Another example is a boxed cake mix which can often last 4-5 months beyond the 'best by' date stamped on the package.

Also, keep in mind that packaged items in boxes or bags, versus cans, are more likely to be compromised due to light and/or moisture (like crackers or cereal that have gone stale) or insect/rodent invasion, whether they've been opened or not. Some dry foods will require refrigeration after opening...like canned tuna...and in that case, will only last for a very limited time. In the case of an open tuna can, about three days in the fridge.

For foods that have not perished, however, my recommendation is...if you're highly likely to NEVER eat it, don't take up space storing it. Even if you're stowing away food for a food shortage crisis, isn't it better to store foods that have a near-forever shelf life...AND that you and your family actually like eating?

Why not schedule a date and time this week to tackle your pantry (or cabinets or shelves where you're storing food) and get it all clean and organized? You'll be happy when it's done!

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Get Organized Now!

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