Tell me about your pantry!

[*Infinity*]

I didn't know whether to post this in the Domestic Goddess forum or here, but I went with the food theme, so here it is!

Its time for a pantry clean out (in fact its WELL overdue ) and I want some inspiration!

How do you lovely ladies organise yours? I have a standard cupboard style pantry. Four shelves and its quite deep to lean into. Consequently things do get lost at the back a bit.

We have LOTS of spices - I can leave DP in the spice aisle at the supermarket pondering his selection while I get the whole shop done! He's a foodie and a great cook. Its hard to keep them tidy as there are so many of them but I need to find a way to sort them in there with their labels facing out, so we can see them when we go searching. Conventional spice racks don't really work as we have so many and I want them stored away so they're not cluttering up my kitchen space.

Other than that we have the pretty standard pantry fare.

Do you sort or store particular things together? Do you use containers for some things? How do you manage the messy things like packets/sachets that end up everywhere?

I know there are poeple out there that LOOOVE organising stuff like this, so lay your suggestions on me people!

[Roryrory]

Here are my tips:

1. Try organising things by recipe rather than size/shape. Here's what I mean: I have a big plastic tub that I keep all my baking bits in. You know - icing sugar, chocolate drops, food colour, half bags of baking powder, paper cupcake liners, etc. When I bake muffins I grab the flour and the whole baking tub and know that I have all I need.

2. My SIL organises her spices in screwtop jars according to "type". So her "curry" jar will have curry powder, mace, cumin, corriander, and so on, while her "Italian" jar will have oregano, basil, white pepper, etc.

3. Keep stuff for "pantry meals" in one spot. So if you often throw together tuna pasta, keep the ingredients for it together.

4. Try making an inventory - list what you have and need, and stick a copy to the insider of the door. That way you are less likely to forget the creamed corn hiding at the back.

5. Check out things like tin holders, racks and mini-shelves. This sort of thing inside a big cupboard makes a big difference.

If you are interested there are heaps of ideas like this on the web, and some great books out there. My personal fave is "Confessions of an organised homemaker".

[Rouge]

I have mine pretty organised. But sometimes it gets messy like right now hah!

I have spice racks inside the cupboard doors, they hold spices, sauces and sprays and specialty oils etc. I have a baking box for all the bits and bobs, sprinkles, decorations, icing gels, colour gels, food colouring, cupcake cases etc (its chockers! and its the largest tupperware one!).
I have pasta containers, rice containers, sugar containers, flour containers. I have a section for tinned food, bottled food, condiments, coffee/tea/hot drinks, biscuits/adult snacks. I also have a box for snack food for the kids.

Thats about it really. You can organise your cupboard pretty cheaply without getting tupperware to do it for you - but if I had my way my entire pantry would be filled with modular mates Just remember what ever you do DO NOT use round containers as they waste precious pantry space.

[sloane]

oh wow - there are some great ideas! i love the baking box one especially. my baking stuff is all on one shelf but it can get so messy.

my pantry is a disaster at the moment but i tend to group things together by type - like with my baking things all on one shelf.

the main things i put into containers are pasta, rice, sugar & spices. those spice packets/sachets drive me crazy if i don't have them in a container!

now i feel like organising...and baking!

[nelly]

You can organise your cupboard pretty cheaply without getting tupperware to do it for you - but if I had my way my entire pantry would be filled with modular mates

That's me luckily I was a TW manager and so got heaps free or at cost (and have friends start TW just to do their pantry bcos you get so much free stuff and demo discount is 30%). I have it organised into "stations" - so I have my baking centre, my meals centre, my spices and sauces etc. And all of the loose things like meal bases etc go in a big container together. I have to say I love the TW spice containers because they stack so well. I used to sell stacks but hadn't got around to doing that bit of my pantry but when I finally did I kicked myself for leaving it so long!

[Cupcake]

I have 4 shelves then the floor, i have a basket type thing on the floor that potatos onions etc go in, next shelf up is dog food, bulk items i might buy (eg i buy a huge tomato sauce and just top up a little bottle when needed) next is all my baking stuff, i usually keep that pretty stocked coz if we're short on cash i can just whip up some biccies or other snacks for school/ work then the next shelf is stuff like spices, spaghetti sauce, all my main meal stuff. That shelf is easiest to reach so things like sailt and spices are there so when im cooking i can just add as i please. Then the very top is all the goodies we dont want DSD to help herself to lol ie chips, choccie, cordial, soft drink as well as cerial

For spices i got this awesome spice holder from Avon, there are 9 jars/ containers stacked 3 high in a triangle...lol sounds confusing. But its like a lazy susan in that it spins around and you can see the spices easily & the jars fit perfectly ontop of each other so saves space..i dont thik i explained that well but its awesome lol

[Alipralli]

Its really really dark inside my pantry (no lights near the doorway), so I bought a couple of the biggest systema containers for my spices. The little masterfoods/mccormicks bottles fit in perfectly with the lid on, and then and other container sits on top of that with the bigger bottles in that container. So when I want something, I just pull the whole container out, and sit it on the bench. Makes things a LOT easier!

[Laranna]

I have a fairly decent size pantry and the shelves are quite deep too. Did a big cleanout about a month ago. Like Rouge, if I had my way, my pantry would be filled with modular mates!

On the top shelf, I have all my serving platters, cake stands etc. Things that I don't really use every day. Then I have my baking shelf. Here I've got my electric mixer, all the flours, icing sugar, food colourings, sugars, powders, choc bits, anything to do with baking. All the little small jars and packets I keep in some square tupperware.

On the next shelf I have my bread, rice, pasta, cereals, spreads, alfoil, freezer bags, tea, coffee, milo. All the rice/pasta/cereals are in tupperware.

Then the next shelf has all my spices and condiments and sauces and oils and tins. I buy the spices in the packets so I don't have enough tupperware spice containers for them so the rest I keep in another tupperware container. I kind of know what's in there and group them. I put some paper towels down underneath the sauces and oils so they don't make the shelf all sticky and greasy.

Lastly, the bottom shelf has all my big appliances like my slow cooker, sandwich maker, bread maker, etc.