Food storage? Yes. I have a mini grocery store in my basement. Tons of canned goods and my very own bulk section. I do this for several reasons. Mostly because I had 4 kids in 4.5 years and taking all of them to the store with me isn't always fun. I also really like knowing that if something crazy happens and Mr. Wonderful looses his job we at least have food to eat.
I have had food storage for years, but when we moved here I finally had room to put it all in one location. Unfortunately that location has also been the catch-all for everything else. Last week I organized it. Let me tell you. That was a job and a half. I feel like I should get an award or something. When I got done I was covered in sweat and my back was killing me. But looking at my before and after pictures makes every little bit worth it!
Before: I'm a little embarassed to show you this...
After: So neat and clean and orderly. I know just where everything is AND can get to it easily. hmmm...I like it...
If you want to see how I organize my pantry, click
here.
I've had so many questions about this post I thought I would answer them here. If you have more questions, please feel free to email me.
pumpkinpatchdesigns@hotmail.com
Where do you buy your bulk items? I buy all of my bulk items from my church's Family Home Storage Center. You do not need to be a member of my church to purchase items from these centers. Anyone and everyone is welcome. If you want to know more about it why I do it, click
here. If you want to know where to find one, click
here. If you want to see what is available and how much it costs, click
here.
What items do you buy in bulk? I buy flour, sugar, wheat, rice, powdered milk (for baking...not drinking), oats, and beans in 25 lb. bags. You can can it (put it in cans so that it will keep for years) at the Home Storage Center, but I don't. I find that we go through it so fast that it feels like a waste of cans.
What do you put in the buckets? Everything that I buy in a 25 lb. bag goes into a bucket. I buy food-grade bags from
here. They are super nice and mail them to me. I take a bucket, put a food-safe bag inside it and then dump my bulk items into it.
Does it go bad? Nope. I have been doing my food this way for years and have never had any problems. The food is in sealed buckets. There isn't much chance for anything bad to happen to it. I also rotate it regularly, so I am always putting the newest stuff in the back and using the oldest stuff first. (make sense?)
What's in the big cans? I also get these from my church's Home Storage Center. I get dried onions, dried apple slices, hot chocolate, fruit drink mix, and refried beans in the cans. We don't go through these as fast as the other things, so I don't need to store as much and therefore don't need to put it in a bucket. (All of the items that I get in bulk can also be bought in cans if you are interested as well as a ton of other things. If you want to see what is available and how much it costs, click
here.)
Where do you get your canned goods? I mostly get them from
Aldi. If you want to see how I organize my pantry, click
here. The only thing I don't get from Aldi is my canned fruit. I buy that at Wal-Mart because Aldi doesn't carry the kind that is only packed in fruit juice. I don't want my kids to get the extra sugar from the syrup.
Where do you get your cleaning supplies, etc.? I get these at Costco. Can't beat the prices...especially if they have a coupon for it.
So there you have it. Any other questions, feel free to email me at
pumpkinpatchdesigns@hotmail.com. Thanks!!
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