An organized pantry makes your cooking and meal planning more manageable, especially when stacked with all the grocery essentials you need to make quick, flavorsome, and nutritious meals for your family. But sometimes, our kitchen pantry is nothing more than an overstocked cupboard flooded with half expired, half-empty products, or unnecessary items that may lead to unhealthy cooking habits. We gathered up a list of best practices that help you organize your pantry, store your ingredients properly, and achieve healthier nutrition habits for your family.
1- Consume spices in one year
Spices are the essence of cooking. They add flavor and aroma to most of our dishes and elevate the taste. When doing grocery shopping, we tend to stack up on large quantities of spices; but like any other ingredient in your kitchen, they too have a limited shelf life. Spices don’t technically expire, but over time, they lose their potency and flavor. Whole spices are best consumed within two years, while ground spices should be consumed within one year only. Store your spices in airtight containers to avoid exposing them to moisture and always use a dry spoon when adding spices to a meal.
2- Store nuts and seeds in freezer bags
Nuts and seeds are delicious snacks to munch on while watching a movie or in between meals. Due to their high-fat content, nuts can go rancid or stale in a few months, especially when they are not stored properly. Eating stale nuts can lead to indigestion and constipation. Keep your nuts and seeds in air-tight jars. If you want to save them for your dessert or savory dishes, store nuts and seeds in clear freezer bags and place them in the freezer to guarantee optimal freshness and longevity that can last up to a year.
3- Consume canned goods before the expiration date
Be it tomato paste, canned beans, canned mushrooms, or condensed milk, canned goods are essential products in any pantry that help you cook quick and delicious meals. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, the “best use before” statement on canned goods is a guide to ensure using canned food well before their expiration date. If the canned goods are correctly stored and the seal is still intact, you can still use them after their expiration date, but they may lose their quality and nutritional value. Keep your canned goods to the front of your pantry shelf so that you can always use them before they expire.
4- Seal baking ingredients tight
When it comes to baking ingredients like baking powder, baking soda, and yeast, it’s all in how you store them. After opening your baking goods, make sure you place them in airtight containers and store them in a cool, dry place to avoid moisture from penetrating. This will ensure the longevity of the leavening agent and guarantee to make delicious, high-rising cakes.
5– Store grains in lid jars
Pasta and rice are essential kitchen staples in every household. Grains like pasta and rice normally don’t come with a hard-and-fast expiration date, but it’s best to repackage your uncooked pasta and rice in airtight lid jars to increase their shelf life. If you’ve had your grains for too long and are unsure about whether they’re still good for consumption or not, look for any discoloration, unpleasant smell, or unusual texture.
6- Discard cooking oil in 6 months
Many people think that oils last forever, but that is far from true. Unopened cooking oils can last up to two years, while opened cooking oils have a six-month shelf life – if not less. The quality of the oil you are using says a lot about its shelf life. Well-produced, high-quality cooking oil that’s opened and stored in a dry, cool place and tightly sealed can last up to one year. Extra virgin oil has the most extended shelf life among other cooking oils, but it will eventually expire. That’s why Breadfast recommends using your olive oil as quickly as you can so you won’t have to worry about how long it lasts.
7 – Always check what’s in the back of the pantry
When restocking your pantry, we advise you to look first at what’s lying in the back of it to avoid stockpiling. Tempting to load your pantry is a habit, but you will end up with an unorganized and fully loaded pantry with ingredients you won’t probably ever use. If you have unopened canned food that you no longer need, donate it to the less privileged, a local food bank, or anyone you think might be in need.
8- Organize and declutter
The first step to having an organized pantry is to remove everything inside it. Then, get rid of expired items, including empty containers, expired food, potato chip crumbs, and broken cookies. Now, dust and wipe down the shelves and walls in the pantry using your kitchen cleaning supplies, then start refilling it by putting the things you don’t use very often in the back of the pantry. It is essential to create an inventory of everything you have to avoid double-purchase items you are already well-stocked on.
Make it a habit to always check what is sitting in the back of your pantry every now and then. This will keep your pantry organized, well-stocked and useful, but above all, it will save you money. Short on pantry essentials? Count on Breadfast to deliver all your household and food pantry needs, from grains, pasta, flour, rice, bread, and many more. Download Breadfast now and enjoy a fast and smooth shopping experience: https://brdfst.com/blogx.
