Most of us are familiar with the saying, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” right? Well, this saying rings true for the state and organisation of your pantry as well. Whether or not you are a die-hard ‘meal prepper’ or someone who cooks on the whim, everyone can appreciate a clean and organised pantry.
For the mornings when you’re in a rush and can’t find the chia seeds for your smoothie, or the evenings when you’re in a mad dash for the packet of curry powder that’s fallen behind the tinned tomatoes and has balsamic vinegar glued to it, a tidy pantry often equates to a happy cooker. In The Kitchen Whizz’s (TKW’s) first blog post, we share with you our top three tips for an organised pantry:
- Take stock of your pantry and donate items you know you will never use and throw out those that are well out of date. If there are items close to their used by date, make a note of these and plan to use them the next time you cook. Be thrifty with your food and items that need to be used up and get creative in the kitchen – if you need a little help with meal creativity, comment on the post below and we’ll help you devise a recipe to use your ingredients in! Think of your pantry as valuable real estate, why keep out of date products or foods you KNOW you won’t use?
- If you regularly purchase dry ingredients, why not head to your local The Source Bulk Foods or $2 shop and purchase some glass jars and containers to stash away your goodies. You don’t need to go out and buy 30 jars at once (unless you feel inclined to do so) just aim to organise 2 ingredients each week and label accordingly. When it comes to labelling, we personally love the chalkboard style to allow for greater flexibility. You can even learn how to DIY here.
- Items you use frequently should be placed at eye level – as humans we are inherently lazy, let’s make it easy for ourselves and pop those everyday items you use straight in front of you! Items you have bought in bulk such as coconut cream and olive oil should be stacked clearly on those harder to reach shelves.
If you or somebody you know is in need of practical cooking and kitchen advice, The Kitchen Whizz is an extension of The Natural Nutritionist and offers unique kitchen consultations and real food education designed to empower people with the resources to eat well. We have a number of packages available, which include:
- Face to Face Consultation
- Real food shopping tour
- One-on-one cooking lessons in your OWN home
- Grocery and Shopping List
- Source Bulk Foods Bag and goodies valued at $50
For more information please visit: www.thekitchenwhizz.com.au
(Available in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast Areas)