The food cabinets

 

I tackled the food cabinets in my kitchen this week. During this process with the food cabinets, I discovered three things.  One is that I have way too much candy.  Two is that I will cram whatever wherever just to fit it in there.  Three is I am not letting food go to waste like I used to.

Why do I have so much candy?  I blame the holidays LOL Not only do I receive a lot of candy as gifts, for which I am truly grateful to be thought of during the holidays, I also buy a lot of candy during that time.  This will come as no shock to anyone who's been in my house or really knows me at all, but I love to have candy dishes filled and in each room.  It can be quite decorative, and most guests always want a little something sweet.  And there are candies that you cannot get other times of the year, so I tend to stock up. The ironic thing about it, other than I really only have guests during the holidays (need to change that) is that I don't eat much candy anymore.  The older I get; my tastes go more towards the savory than the sweet. Still, that does not stop me from buying it and keeping a cabinet full.  Oh well.  

The food cabinets were also incredibly disorganized.  And this is something that I have to work on.  I pulled everything out and got it all organized back in the cabinet.  I did my best to keep like products together.  I am sure I can do more in that department, but for right now it will work.  The most important thing now is that I can see pretty much everything in there so that will make it a lot easier when I am looking for something.  I have the tendency, as do most of us, I'm sure, to just shove something in the cabinet wherever I can find a space.  On one hand, I am not letting any ounce of space go to waste.  On the other hand, I don't know what I've got and will often buy something I already have because I could not see it in the cabinet.

Amazingly, I only had to toss out one thing that was out of date.  Now, I will keep things a little bit over the expiration date (not too much, though). But if something is well over a year out of date, into the trash it goes.  This year it was a box of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies.  Alas, they are my favorite, but I didn't want to risk it because of their age.  In hindsight, they were probably ok, but I feel better for having let them go. And because I don't eat sweets like I used to, it would take me a long time to go through that box.  So, I am happy that I am at least using what is in there before it goes bad.  That is a plus and my wallet is very appreciative for that!

Finishing up these cabinets means that I am about one quarter of the way through the kitchen.  That is not too shabby.  This works for me and thank you for your indulgence in my writing about it.