How to Declutter and Organise Your Dried Foods
Today we are going to declutter and organise your dried food
cupboards, we will start by going shelf by shelf, but then expand as needed to
other areas of your home where you have extra food stored, wherever that may
be, such as if you have emergency food stockpiles.
According to Sky
News UK 'prepper' movement is growing fast with more people hoarding
supplies at home in case current crises escalate. Whilst this is all fine and well, however, if
you are storing items and not using them they are going to go past their use-by
dates.
We've already dealt
with canned
food and herbs
and spices, which most people have, but today throughout this task we are
going to deal with any extra food you have, such as items in bags, boxes, or in
bulk.
We will be looking
at baking mixes, snacks, cereals, crackers, chips, dried beans, rice, flour,
baby food, and other items that can fall under this category. If it is
shelf-stable, it can be assessed to determine whether it is food clutter or
something that should be kept.
Three options when clearing out food.
1. Eat it - now or in the future
2. Donate the food to a food bank
3. Discard – any expired or unwanted food.
A quick overview of each option.
Choice One: Eat the Food
The best way to
"declutter" the food that you’ve bought, is obviously to eat it. You
can then use it as it was intended and avoid wasting your money.
The best way to do
this is to shop your own cupboards. I
strongly recommend that you use this technique to reduce the amount of food in
your home to a more manageable level, especially if you feel like you have a
lot of it.
Make a plan for how
your family will eat these items over the coming weeks if you discover many
opened or unopened food packages that are still good during your decluttering
and organising task.
Choice Two: Donate the Food
Giving away extra
food to someone in need or a charity like a food bank is your second option
when decluttering your dried food cupboards.
You may choose to
donate when you:
- Have more of a particular type of food item in your food storage areas than you can eat within a reasonable time period
- Have discovered your family does not like a certain type of food.
- If you're not going to eat it, it is best to allow someone else to do so. It goes without saying that you should only donate food that is still safe for consumption, such as food that is not expired or in open containers.
See my article on
the subject for more advice on food donation and suggestions for what to
give to food banks.
Choice Three: Throw Away the Food
The last resort when organising your dried food
cupboards is to throw food away. This should only be used as a last resort
because wasting food is not something you should aim for.
Regrettably, food can spoil, and it can also become old and lose its freshness. Avoid beating yourself up when you encounter such situations; instead, make a commitment to organise your food storage areas more effectively going forward and to clean them out right away to lessen the likelihood of throwing food away in the future.
Use the free
printable food storage chart to provide you with guidelines to
follow when determining whether something is still safe to eat or has expired.
Why not store this in your Home Management binder? Printing it out and keeping
it close by will be helpful as you purge.
A post on what a Home Management Binder is and how to make one is available if you need
assistance.
How I store my Dried Foods
I really appreciate you stopping by, and want to say thank you - because without you I wouldn't be here. Believe in Yourself, You got this, NOW Go Declutter!