It’s Friday again. (Really.)
This week, I chose to focus on my pantry for five minutes.
The pantry I’d successfully ignored for more than five minutes. More than five months, probably.
I grabbed a trash bag, took some before photos, and started working.
Evidently, I have quite a thing for croutons. And I don’t have much recall that I’ve already purchased plenty of croutons.
(A good reason to do these five minutes of focus.)
I found cookie mix that expired BEFORE Christmas. Blergh. Which means they weren’t purchased for Christmas of ’16.
I threw away the last 1/4 teaspoon of honey that has crystallized. I broke open a brand new honey a while back, so the chances I’ll use up that tiny bit of hard-to-use honey are pretty much none.
I also ditched the dessert mix in a jar. Hubby steals the chocolate chips from such jars, and I’m not likely to get creative and figure out what to do with them sans chips.
I rearranged things, putting items on the shelves where I’d glance first if I was looking. I threw away expired stuff and flat-out-trash.
Five minutes later, it looked better.
Not amazing. Not organized. Definitely not wow.
Better.
I like better.
I’d love to your stories of better!
Working on my bedroom closet today. It’s really bad. I have made some progress and I did take before pictures. Hoping to move our dresser in there once I have the room. Thanks for the inspiration!
Know what? If you’ve got only a small amount of honey left, add to it the same amount of almost-boiling water, stir it well to dissolve the crystals if there are any, or if not, just stir it to mix it well. You can use that last bit to sweeten tea or such, then recycle the container, or wash it well and reuse it if it’s a jar. Honey jars can hold small things, like stray thumbtacks, paper clips or even coins.
Thank you so much for that 5 minute inspiration! I just put two bags of expired serial, bread crumbs, etc. in the trash that had made it’s way to the back of the pantry. Wish I had taken before and after pics! Keep it coming!
We’re moving into a house with a small kitchen and I find I have pantry envy.
I did my pantry this month. Despite having given my pantry some serious attention and decluttering over the last couple of years I still found items that expired back in 2010, but does cocoa powder and custard tart mix ever really go off? I ditched them, clearly some fantasy me uses those items.
Found cake mixes in our pantry that expired in 2014 – so who knows how long it has missed the cleanings!
If your hubby took out all the chocolate chips, surely it’s possible to buy some chips and add them back in? Then make the dessert and you’ll have an empty container to wash. No trash.
I cleared out one side of my overloaded sink and ran it through the dishwasher. Tonight after work, I’ll start the next load. I’m determined to get on top of this!
(Still looks better when at least ONE side of the sink is clean!)
I like ‘better’, too! We can’t be perfect or we’ll drive ourselves crazy. ‘Better’ works! When I’m done, I always say, “Neat and tidy, neat and tidy”. I can live with that.
I’m the Genealogy Girl, swamped with a mountain of photos and records from my mother’s collection. I have a whole room devoted to it. Last week, I cleared the floor of boxes and binders- filled with either family photos, strangers’ photos (somehow my mom has OTHER people’s mysterious photos), research information and her medical information. The floor is CLEARED. This is HUGE.
I would say my Five Minute Project today, was labeling some photos of mom’s 28 grandchildren from a box sitting at my feet while I was on Stand-by for my teen daughter doing her online math. It was really nice to just sit there and jot the names on the back, knowing that later, when I scan them, I won’t have to pause to do it. Makes me happy to know that just FIVE MINUTES is cutting my pile down and MAKING IT BETTER.
Thanks, Dana!
I’m new here. I was fully prepared to ignore the task today, but it was something about the pantry that drove me to action. I limit my grocery shopping to the one day a week I go into the office. I also go to the pet store for food and supplies. I had two weeks worth of pet food and treats in bags on my living room floor. I decided that my Friday task would be to put those things away, and it actually took five minutes!
My father unexpectedly passed five years ago and I inherited his house and his stuff along with my stuff. Cleaning and organizing this house overwhelms me daily, and sometimes all I can do is just stare into space.
Hello, I love your shelf paper. I need to do that! I bought some a few months back because my cupboards are old and some shelf paper is from the 60s. Some shelves are splinter city. I’m alcually using the “broom closet “ side of my cupboard as a pantry. I’m too lazy to make shelves for this oddly shaped cupboard. So, I bought stacking, round containers from the dollar store. I’m truly inspired by your better. Thanks.