A New Year, A New Pantry

Along with all of my other normal New Year's Resolutions...you know...the typical

1. Grow and deepen my relationship with Christ (not to understate this resolution. It is definitely #1 on my list this year.)

2. Lose weight (which really will happen this year!)

3. Get into shape 

4. Run a 5k

5. Be a better wife

.....and the list could go on an on! But one of my big resolutions this year is to get my house organized and put together. 

Starting with the pantry. 

We have a HUGE pantry! And to be honest, we haven't been using it to its full potential. See for yourself.

Can you say scary?!

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife. 

I'm not kidding...

I'd known that my pantry had been scary looking for awhile but with the craziness of this last year, I tended to over look it scrambling to get dinner ready. But since it's the new year and all I thought that I would put my big girl britches on and tackle this monster.

So here it goes!

It didn't take long to empty. Really, what took the longest is to find room to place all of the items till I figured out how to organize it.

Callie took this opportunity to sniff out little nuggets of who knows what. Her favorite...the cap of some cheese whiz. Yes, I did throw it away. And the can of cheese whiz. 

Now isn't that purdy? Much better than before! And all it took was some time, patience, and a few organizers from the store. Like the one under the cans to the left of the image and the bins at the top (to hold chips). Lazy susans would also be a good one to use!

I tried to organize everything in categories. All of my rices, pastas, and snacks are on the top shelf. Cans, sauces, vegetables, and breads make up the second shelf. And less used items like oils, seasonings, beverages, and stocks make up the bottom shelf.

On the remaining shelves I put all of our cooking equipment, bake ware, platters, cook books, jars, vases, paper towels, etc. I even made a baking station to the right of this image! It has all of my chocolate chips, flour, shortening etc. 

Needless to say I am super excited to have an organized pantry and I think that it will make cooking even more enjoyable. At the least I can look at it and smile :)

Room one CHECK! Stay tuned for more room updates throughout this year!