Affordable Food Storage Organization

 

There are so many wonderful options out there for creating that Pinterest worthy pantry, however, they are really expensive.  And while they are pretty and seem like they’d be super nice I’ve heard they really aren’t all that practical.  Some don’t seal well and food gets stale.  Others say they don’t fit in most people’s pantries.  I’ve seen how the sizes don’t correlate to the package size of the items you are trying to store so you either have too much unused space or it won't hold it all so there is always a little bit left.  Most comments I’ve heard is that whole process becomes just too tedious and they just give up using them.

 

I’ve always found that glass jars work just fine for me.  They come in all kinds of sizes and hold pretty much everything I need to store.  They also seal nicely so my foods stay nice and fresh.  Best of all they are very affordable.  And if you aren't as picky as I am they can even be free.

 

I even use them to hold my laundry detergent

I invested in a flat of six half gallon Mason jars to hold rice, beans, pasta, my homemade granola and oatmeal.  Sugar and flour works well in them too.  They are wide mouth jars so you can easily use a scoop or measuring cup to remove the contents.

 

I invested in a flat of quart size Mason jars too.  In those I keep smaller amounts of beans, pastas, jasmine rice, nuts, popcorn, my dehydrated foods, etc.  If I need something smaller I use some of my pint and half pint canning jars.

 

The half pint and four ounce jelly jars are the perfect size to store most of my spices.  I saved the lids from parmesan cheese containers which fit perfectly and offer me the option of using a shake or measuring spoons to remove the contents.  By the way, the lids from the sixteen ounce peanut butter jars fit regular mouth canning jars, but you can also buy the plastic Ball lids at Wal-Mart in a variety of types and sizes.  I have a couple set of the plain white in both regular and wide mouth sizes.  Most of the lids I have however are peanut butter and cheese lids.

 

Yogurt!

So, in a nutshell, I guess the best and most efficient way for me to keep my food stored and organized in my pantry and in my spice cupboard is to keep it simple and just use a jar.  They also work well in the refrigerator for condiments, sauces and prepared produce items.  Works for me!