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Tuesday, 21 August 2012

Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy How I Organized my Pantry for FREE with Empty Jars {Organizing on the Cheap}

Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy How I Organized my Pantry for FREE with Empty Jars {Organizing on the Cheap}

Link to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy

How I Organized my Pantry for FREE with Empty Jars {Organizing on the Cheap}

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 09:01 PM PDT

I’m so happy you are here with us this week for 5 Days of Organizing – more than 20 bloggers will be bringing you daily inspiration for organizing every aspect of your life. And with back-to-school days breathing down our necks, we all need it! 

Have you ever been frustrated by all the creative organization ideas you see in magazines and on blogs, only to realize that you simply can’t afford (or don’t want to spend the money) all those gorgeous bins, boxes, baskets and other containers? Me, too! I’ve learned to organize my home (uh, to a certain extent) without spending an arm and a leg, and I’ll be sharing my tricks with you all week long. Stick with me for great cheap organizing ideas!

 

Psssstt! Scroll down to the bottom for your chance to win $50 in cash! 

The pantry is one of those areas that’s just difficult to keep organized, because it’s used mostly for storage, but is also constantly being used. If you’re anything like me, all day long, you’re opening the door and either putting something in or taking something out. It’s a recipe for disorganizational disaster! (Yes, I’m aware I just made up a word. The red squiggly line was a dead giveaway.)

The pantry also rapidly becomes an unmanageable mess because of the packaging our food comes in, which is usually a temporary plastic or cardboard container. By “temporary”, I mean it was never intended to last beyond the life of the food it contains, and is therefore easily destructible. What’s worse is that all those temporary packages come in ALL different shapes and sizes. I suppose it would be boring if all the manufacturers decided to standardize their packaging just so we could all have neat cupboards… but it would also be awfully nice!

Of course, you could remedy this little problem by investing in a set of matching and stacking containers that fit neatly on your pantry shelves, like the Tupperware Modular Mates set or Anchor Hockings Square Glass version. The problem is, either one of those will set you back by quite a bit; and if you don’t have room in the budget for an *organizational products* line item, you will likely want to research cheaper options.

Well, guess what? I have a cheap option for you. How about FREE? Doesn’t that sound nice?

Make your very own customizable set of glass dry food storage containers simply by recycling the glass bottles and jars yourself instead of throwing them in the recycling bin. 

The Benefits of Re-Using Empty Jars

  1. You save them from the landfill, or from going through the recycling process.
  2. You save money by not purchasing empty containers simply for the purpose of filling them.
  3. Plastic storage containers can leak chemicals into the food; glass is a safer option.
  4. Glass can go from freezer to fridge to pantry with ease, whereas plastic is a little less stable.
  5. Glass is clear, so you can see at a glance what each jar contains; you can also see at a glance what is in your pantry without having to shift piles of bags around.
  6. The glass jars, while of different sizes, are generally all round and therefore line up nicely in rows so that your pantry looks much neater and better organized.
  7. The glass jars are re-usable over and over and over again, and last MUCH longer than plastic.
  8. Glass is dishwasher-safe.

How to Organize Your Pantry with Empty Jars & Other Containers

  • Start out by saving every single glass jar that would otherwise end up in the recycling bin or trash can. Over time, as you develop your own personal system, you’ll learn which jars work really well and which ones you don’t really want to keep. You’ll get a feel for the sizes you use most often and the shapes that work best for you.
  • Wash them thoroughly and remove the labels by soaking them in warm water. If the label is really stubborn, you can usually remove it by applying a paste made of equal parts baking soda and coconut oil.
  • Store the empty jars in a handy location where they are easy to access when you need to fill them.
  • Whenever you buy bagged food from the store, pour it into one of your jars as soon as you come home.
  • If the food item is not readily identifiable (some grains, like barley, oats, wheat, and the like, can be difficult to differentiate), label the jar. (You can get as fancy as you want with this. I just use a Sharpie because it’s simple. And I like simple.)
  • You can “assign” specific jars to specific foods if you want; for example, if you come across a really large jar that’s perfect for your copious amounts of rice/oatmeal/wheat flour/etc. Or, when a jar empties, you can just wash it and return it to your stash of empty jars, ready for whatever food comes down the pike next.

What Jars Should You Save?

Unless you make ALL of your food completely from scratch, by which I mean you make your own coconut oil from coconuts (good for you!), then you likely already have a good number of jars in your pantry just waiting to be emptied and refilled. Speaking of coconut oil, oddly enough, Tropical Traditions is my favorite source for good quality glass storage jars. Not only do I love their raw honey, I love the perfect size of the raw honey jar! It’s great for making sour cream, or for storing a fresh batch of sunflower seed butter. And their quart jars of coconut oil are wonderful for storing different kinds of grains, or nuts, or flours, or seeds, or… just about anything! I think what I love most about their jars is that they are straight-sided and made of a very clear glass, which makes them perfect for storage purposes.

Other jars that you can use for pantry storage:

  • spaghetti sauce
  • jam
  • peanut butter
  • pickles (Leave them open in the sun for a day or so to get rid of the pickle smell. I have one de-pickling on my balcony as we speak!)
  • salsa
  • molasses

The sky’s the limit, really. If it comes in a jar, it’s fair game!

What to Store in Your Jars

The wonderful thing is that these jars can be used for liquid and dry goods, and in the refrigerator, freezer or pantry. So once again, the sky’s the limit! Whatever needs to be stored, chances are, a jar will fit your purposes. Pretty much any food that comes from the store in a plastic bag (or from a bulk bin) gets relocated to one of my empty jars, as does food I make from scratch at home (sour cream, yogurt, freshly ground flours, etc.). For example:

  • Grains (brown rice, wheat berries, barley, spelt, oat groats or steel cut oats, quinoa, etc.)
  • Beans
  • Flours (small jars are especially great for leftover bits of freshly ground flour that you don’t need in your recipe)
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Dried fruits and vegetables
  • Chocolate Chips (ahem. very important.)
  • Whey
  • Yogurt
  • Sour Cream
  • Bacon Grease
  • Agar Flakes
  • Baking Powder
  • Baking Soda
  • Granola
  • Broth
  • Yeast
  • Flaxseed
  • etc. etc. etc.

Of course, these jars aren’t limited to the kitchen! They can find countless useful organization purposes all around the house, so there’s never really a good reason to throw one away.

Do you keep your empty jars? What is your favorite use for them?

Click on the box below to find all the great blogs and topics to help you get cleaned up and organized! I’m especially loving all the ones that focus on natural and healthy ways to keep you organized, as well as the budgeting and simplifying themes. Also, you can have a chance to enter multiple different giveaways, including a free copy of my own eBook, Your Grocery Budget Toolbox!

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

The post How I Organized my Pantry for FREE with Empty Jars {Organizing on the Cheap} appeared first on Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy.

August-September Menu Plan (Menu Plan Monday 8-20-12}

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 08:34 AM PDT

menu plan mondayMenu Plan Monday

Since I am endeavoring to plan my menus monthly now (due to shopping once a month), I am going to start posting them monthly instead of weekly. It may seem odd to post a month’s worth of meal planning in the middle of the month, but I do my monthly shopping trip in the middle of the month, so that’s just how it works out.

This will also free up my editorial calendar a little bit to make room for my broadened scope of topics when I switch completely to Authentic Simplicity (which, by the way, is coming along nicely. Be prepared next week for a brand new look!).

Also, in case you hadn’t noticed yet, this week I am writing a whole series about  Organizing on the Cheap. Each day, I’ll bring you a new idea for organizing different areas of your house for cheap… or better yet, for free! In today’s post, I show you how I organized my spice cabinet for only $2!

Breakfasts

All breakfasts are served with a side of fruit. I’m also trying to get into the habit of having a serving of yogurt at every breakfast, but the coconut milk yogurt keeps giving me fits. Once I have a reliable method for making that yogurt, we will definitely have some every morning!

Lunches

  • Leftovers
  • Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwiches
  • Egg Salad Sandwiches
  • Vegan Bean Burgers
  • Baked Beans or Bean Soup

Dinners 

Sides

Snacks
I’m trying to incorporate more protein-based snacks rather than carb-based snacks. We’ll see how that goes since some of us are limited on the proteins we can eat.

  • Nuts, Cranberries
  • Popcorn
  • Mini Meatballs
  • Boiled Eggs
  • Cheese Sticks

In My Kitchen Weekly

  • Sourdough Bread
  • Yogurt
  • Allergen-free Bread
  • Coconut Milk
  • Coconut Milk Yogurt
  • Granola

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

The post August-September Menu Plan (Menu Plan Monday 8-20-12} appeared first on Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy.
at 04:09

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