I am having so much fun with the $20/$20 Challenge. Looking at all your pictures and the way you organize, how you store food and what foods you buy is fascinating to me. Speaking of organizing, Vanessa’s pantry pics are going to blow your mind. The OCD in me was in absolute heaven. Can you head on over to my house, Vanessa, and organize my pantry next?? Pretty please! I can’t stop staring at her pictures. WARNING: You’re going to be jealous! Here’s her story:
Hi, my name is Vanessa. I am wife to Cole and mama to our toddler, Meghan. As a family, we seek to live a life that is simple and natural, believing that we have been called by God to be good stewards of all that he has blessed us with. We are actively pursuing a lifestyle of relative self-sufficiency, rational minimalism, and {urban} homesteading while living within the restrictions of our suburban home owner’s association. We live in Kansas, the wheat state, but due to celiac disease we eat a gluten free diet. I blog about our adventures in urban homesteading over at the Hoosier Homestead.
Once a month I make a list of meals we will eat for the month, check my food stockpile for things we need to make those meals, and do my major grocery shopping trip. I share pictures of these trips on my blog. Throughout the rest of the month I pick up milk or fresh produce as needed. I grocery shop in order to re-stock my food supply. My pantry, freezers, and food storage shelves are almost always full; when I grocery shop, I am purchasing the things needed to make sure that the shelves stay full and use foods on a rotating basis. I purchase seasonal items to store for the year when they are at rock bottom prices. I garden and preserve as much as possible for use throughout the rest of the year.
I purchase the majority of our groceries in bulk through Costco and Azure Standard. I also purchase groceries at Aldi, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and a few things at Walmart. Where I purchase products is a find balance between our budget and our desire to eat the healthiest/most natural foods available. Being able to buy as much as possible in bulk and when on sale allows us to eat a healthy, gluten free, whole foods diet on a budget.
When we began shopping for a home, having effective food storage was one of the things I was looking for; this house has amazing resources for food storage! Right off the kitchen (it’s actually the nook behind my stove and the surrounding cabinets) is my pantry. We have all of our food organized into glass jars and baskets. Because Meghan and I eat gluten free and Cole does not always, we have 2 versions of pastas. We also have a wide variety of gluten free flours. Behind the flours, pastas, oats, etc. are bulk spices and baking essentials {ex. baking soda & corn starch} stored in vacuum sealed canning jars. All of our current “in use” spices are in pint jars at the far end of the pantry.
I use baskets to organize jars, cans, potatoes, and similar items on the shelves. At the very bottom of the pantry are 5 gallon buckets that store bulk goods with gamma seal lids to protect their freshness.
I absolutely LOVE this space! The glass makes the space look so clean and the labels are made from some of my favorite scrapbook papers. It is a super effective space for storing all of our bulk goods!
Across the “hallway” from my pantry is my coat closet. My husband installed some shelves for me and it is the perfect space to store some canned goods {the bulk of these are in the basement – this area saves me from having to run up and down all day long!}, extras of bottled and jarred food, and my dessert making supplies. It’s been a perfect little addition!
We have a side-by-side fridge and freezer in our kitchen. I like my fridge, but cannot get a handle on organizing the freezer! I think that the main problem is that we buy so many of our veggies in bulk and those big bags are just difficult to organize! So while the fridge is neatly organized and all the food is stored with other foods of it’s type – the freezer is just a free-for-all with food crammed in. I guess it works for now!
The basement storage closet is the last area where we store our food. We have a large shelving unit that stores our bulk canned goods – purchased and home canned as well as some more buckets of bulk gluten free grains.
I’m so proud of all of those home canned foods! This was my first year of canning with a pressure canner and it feels to good to make a meal knowing that I prepared every part of the meal. It is also incredibly time saving when you don’t have to dice potatoes or cook beans the day you want to use them in a meal!
And lastly – our deep freezer. This is almost always jam-packed full of fruits and veggies. Many have been bought in bulk, but as our gardens are starting to produce more and more we’re also storing lots of homegrown things. Currently there are sliced green peppers, butternut squash puree, basil for pesto, cilantro, and strawberries in here that we grew this last summer! Like my upstairs freezer, there just isn’t a whole lot of organization to this space….maybe that should be one of my 2015 goals!
So, that’s a tour of our food storage around here. We are really satisfied with it and it works great for our family! If you’re interested in a video tour, I did that as well and you can check it out on our blog.
Happy cooking!!
Are you getting your pantries camera ready? You can participate in the $20/$20 Challenge by simply sending in pictures of your pantry. Find out more about the $20/$20 Challenge: Show Your Pantry – Fill a Pantry!
Susan says
Best pantry I’ve ever seen, AND what a great use of other spaces!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Vanessa says
Thank you!!
Deborah says
Great job Vanessa. I would love to know where in Kansas you are and where you have a Trader Joe’s? I live in Wichita and would love to shop in Trader Joe’s but we dont have one! I hear that Aldi and Trader Joe are the same company.
Madam Chow says
The pantry is awesome, but I can’t get over that incredibly cute baby!
Vanessa says
We think that baby is pretty special 🙂
Tina B says
What a beautiful system! I would have little labels on the sides of everything indicating nutrition and how to cook it (for rices, beans, pastas), but that’s because I have been working on first losing, and now maintaining, weight. I can only imagine she lives in a non-earthquake prone area. If my pantry were all glass in CA, it would too often go Kaboom! onto the floor.
Vanessa says
I would be very sad in California. Kansas is definitely not known for our seismic activity – I appreciate that lack of excitement 🙂
Heidi P says
Vanessa your pantry is beautiful. I’d love to know what all you’ve canned.
Vanessa says
Thank you!
I have canned chili beans, white bean mix (Great Northern & Navy), diced tomatoes, potatoes, applesauce, pearsauce, apple pie filling, and jams. Hopefully next year we will be able to grow a lot more tomatoes and can all of our tomato products for the year!!
Lisa Millar says
Gorgeous pantry!! Its a bit like a work of art!! 🙂
I am inspired to do slightly better with mine now, – I am a ‘bit’ haphazard and ‘aesthetically relaxed’, but I do love those jars with all the pretty labels!
Emma B says
I am so jealous, wish I had space to organize like that!!
Farrah says
I looked at the pictures and I wanted to pack my bags and move in! Seeing as I live in Malaysia logistically it could take me a while and quite a bit of money to get there ,however that pantry was just too stunning for me and required an “I wish” moment!
Marcia says
Oh boy, my OCD is not going to let me look at that. A few years ago, when I was only working 30 hours a week and only had one child, I was much more organized than now, kept a good pantry, planned my meals monthly, had great clear containers for bulk goods with labels, etc.
But these days with 40 hours/week at work and two kids (one 8, one a toddler), I simply don’t have the time. And it drives me crazy to see these lovely organized pantries (that I used to have!!) and now don’t.
I consider it a good week if I cook at least 2 meals from pantry or freezer ingredients. It takes a special effort to NOT go out and just “buy stuff” and instead use what you have.
Charla says
Where did you get those wonderful big jars in your pantry?
Rachel B says
Wow, I love this pantry! I’ve always wanted a space like this with all the glass jars and homemade canned items – so much prettier than store-bought containers with labels! 🙂 I really need to learn to can… I’m thinking the canned beans would be so nice to have on hand for chili… right now, I cook mine ahead and freeze them, but then I still have to plan ahead to defrost them before using.
Vanessa says
I used to have beans frozen, too! But I also would always forget to thaw them – that’s when I started saving for a pressure canner 🙂
Helen in Meridian says
I,too, would love to know where to buy those glass jars.
Anne-Marie Bilella says
Ahhhh LOVE this pantry – I am jealous – you are sooo organized!
Wendi says
Your pantry is lovely! I so wish you could come to PA for a visit and a pantry project. I suffer from NAOOCD (Not an Ounce of OCD) Sadly, I’ve had the same brain bouncing around in my head for 57 years and it just can’t figure out how to organize anything. It’s just not wired that way. Does anyone know of a step by step organizational format that folks like me might follow? If someone else organizes it, I can replicate what they’ve done but without a plan, I’m simply overwhelmed before I even start. What’s step 1? Buy pretty jars? Then what? Can anyone relate? Has anyone overcome it? Does it actually matter? Ahhhhhhhh!!
Lisa Millar says
NAOOCD!!!!! Love that! 🙂
Miriam Santos says
I’m doing my research on 5 gallon buckets. Do I need to purchase mylar bags and air packages for dried goods?
Erica says
Hello Mavis,
I just found your website. You are amazing and so resourceful! Love this site. Can’t wait to try your recipes and other helpful suggestions.