Project Simplify: Pantry and Refrigerator

This week's Project Simplify was to tackle your pantry and refrigerator.  Not, just to clean them out, but to examine the food that we have in our homes and to determine if that food is working for our families or against them.  I know I've said this every week, but its true, I swear they organizer of this project has somehow stolen my thoughts and picked this spot just for me.  

My family knows this, most specifically, my husband, but our pantry closet is our catch all.  Not only is it a fair size, but I use it to house items that have no real home or when guests are coming over and I have to quick clean up.  I simply just throw everything in there and shut the door.  Problem solved.  Here's what I had to start with:

I'll tell you this, the pantry is probably 1 of the major things that really bugs my husband.  Whenever something goes missing, he immediately assumes that I had picked it up and relocated it to the great abyss of that closet.  Its hard to see in the those pictures, so here's what came out of that closet.  

Oh yea, baby!  That table seats 8-10 people.  The kids and I ran out of room and had to stack the stuff on the floor.  It was then that I realized that this was not going to be a 1 day project.  It truly is scary, the items that came out of that closet.

Then, when I peered inside, I realized that the walls had never been painted.  Luckily, I had pulled a can of primer out of the pantry, so I put 3 coats on the walls before restocking.

Here's where the fun starts.  

1. All food items were inspected for expiration dates and old food was discarded.  What a bummer!  I didn't realize that my favorite salad dressing was expired.

2. All the food that I did not want to keep for my family was put in bags.  The unopened items were donated to the food drive at our local YMCA.  The opened items were given to a friend so that they didn't go to waste.

3. The pantry was restocked and the food items were organized.  Its beautiful, really.

4. My kitchen appliances were added to the closet, along with my non-food kitchen items, i.e. extra foil, paper products

5. All of the remaining items were reorganized on the dining room table and found their permanent homes.  Okay, not all of them.  I have a lot of photos that need hung and I need P's opinion, so they will just have to stay where they are, awaiting his return.  I'm sure he'll be thrilled to learn that that is how he will be spending his weekend.

Here's the final product:

Seriously, it was so pretty that I didn't want to shut the closet door.  I can actually see the floor, and I know what items are in there.  I also found a lot of great things I had thought I'd lost.  Woo hoo!

The refrigerator was easy though, since I just cleaned the shelves and what not the other day.  I'm also in need of a trip to the grocery store, so it didn't take long at all.

Before:

Essentially, I ended up throwing out some condiments that were purchased 2 Christmases ago by my in-laws and some salad dressings.  That cleared out my doors and made room for the peanut butter and jelly that were on my shelves.  My pet peeve?  Having condiments in the refrigerator and not in the door. Can not stand it!  Really, it gets my goat.

Anyway, here's my after:

Feeling so accomplished right now.  The best thing about it?  Now I know exactly what I have in my fridge.  I was able to throw together a really wonderful dinner with my leftovers.  I used some of the blue hake, put it on whole wheat tortillas with broccoli slaw and an Asian Goddess dressing for dinner.  Less than 5 minutes and the kids were eating a healthy meal that otherwise would likely to have gone to waste due to oversight.

I should probably do this once a month.  Doubtful, but a good idea.  Even harder? To keep the junk out of my fridge and pantry.  I'll give it my best shot, though!