Spring cleaning the pantry

Well it is now officially spring so that means time for spring cleaning. I do try to break things down so I don't have so much to do. I go through the closets so I have my Goodwill bags ready in time to update the kid's wardrobe for the warmer months. I'm also trying to do a toy purge and rid the downstairs of the piles of not very played with items that seem to accumulate on their own. As for some of the other cleaning jobs, well I usually wait until the sudden need to do it hits me. Usually, that occurs when I'm working on one thing and then realize that hey maybe I should move on and also do this other similar thing too. Kinda like loading the dishwasher and realizing that maybe it's time to get out the baking soda and scrub the sink and sanitize behind the toaster. Or vacuuming the floor and then deciding that maybe I should move all of the furniture out of the way and clean there too. I still need the loving husband to clean the tops of my ceiling fans.

Today's inspirational cleaning job was the pantry. Now my pantry isn't very big but it does hold quite a bit of stuff. The upper shelves get stuffed with little-used items and the lower shelves are constantly being rummaged through by everyone with some sort of appetite. I have been trying very hard this past year to limit the amount of grocery purchases I make each week. I admit to being an impulse shopper and sometimes buy an item because it looks good or I've forgotten to eat before shopping and my stomach decided for me. There is also those oh so wonderful sales that seem to pop up on a weekly and or monthly basis where certain items are ridiculously cheap....if bought in huge quantities. I still have a case of Ramon needles to remind me of that stupid mistake.

I was only going to shut the door and put away the step stool Andrew had gotten out in his search for the peanut butter but I started looking at the items on the shelves and decided that maybe I should do my spring clean organize. I started on the top shelf which is one of those places where the seldom used items find their way when they take up too much room on the lower shelves. This is where I start to ask myself two very important questions: 1. How long has it been here? and 2. Is it still good? Every item on the shelf gets these two questions applied to them. For some things like the big jar of peanuts I found hidden the answer to question #1 was I don't know so the obvious answer to question #2 is no. For the box of baking mix and oatmeal pancake mix I had to look at expiration dates because I remember buying them but wasn't sure how recent it was. I also found a few duplicate items that I had bought knowing that I was sure I had the item already but had been unable to locate it.

Having done this several times through out the year, it has become much easier to sort and toss. I still surprise myself with various finds though. I actually thought I had gotten rid of all Halloween candy...until I found a few leftover pieces in the corner of shelf three. I also found all that stupid Valentine candy the kids brought home last month. I'm still pondering how long unopened stir-fry sauce can sit on a shelf and not go bad. To be safe, I tossed it. I also found the source of an outbreak of flour bugs that plagued my cereal a few months ago. I had thought it was an old box of sweetened cereal I bought for the kids during one of those fall tent sales. It turned out to be a very old and forgotten box of cheese crackers shoved in the very very back of the topmost shelf. I also re-checked each one of my cereals to make sure they were not affected.

It really didn't take too long to finish this task. The hardest part was re-organizing the items on the shelves. I still had several unopened items that got tossed so I really do need to work harder at my buying. I also should have done this last night while getting the garbage and recyclables ready. After sorting and tossing, I swept the floor and re-arraigned the items stored there. I am amazed at how much clutter I can stuff there. Even though I use fabric grocery bags I still threw out quite a few plastic bags. I also wonder if beer in a glass bottle stored in a pantry out of direct light is still drinkable a year later. I still have some left over from last summer when my folks visited. I'll probably use them to cook brats this summer. I also have several items that were "boarder line" in expiration date so I need to try and remember to use them as soon as I can.

After I finished I had that wonderful sense of accomplishment. I'm now good for a few more months. Now I just have to finish the rest of my house.