In today’s post, I’m going to reveal a super effective and super simple strategy for getting your pantry organized without re-organizing it and also for creating a meal plan at the same time. What the what (I miss Liz Lemon, dearly!)? That’s right!
Not the usual organizing strategy
This post isn’t going to be your typical post talking about first removing everything from the space, then culling out what is expired or you won’t use and then putting everything back in the pantry, like with like. Nope, not today. That’s always good stuff and is helpful for beginners and seasoned organized folks alike. But today I’m revealing a simpler strategy: meal planning straight out of your pantry. What am I even talking about?
The past few weeks have been pretty hectic for me. The kiddos went back to school about two weeks ago which meant the rush has been on. All the usual making sure all school supplies had been purchased, school activities were calendared, and there was food in the house for lunches, et cetera, et cetera.
Now, I do always make shopping lists when I go to the store. It’s dangerous to go to the store without one. Without a plan, a whole bunch of stuff I don’t need ends up in the cart. With the list, I’m better (not perfect, mind you!) at buying what we need.
I stink at always writing things down or putting them in my phone reminders, and some things are left to memory. Because I’m so busy (who isn’t?), my memory fails me sometimes. I’ll think we need something when maybe that purchase could’ve been postponed for a bit. So, I occasionally end up with more than I need.
The past few weeks, I’ve erred on the side of tossing it into the cart now, so I don’t have to worry about making another trip out to the store later. And that’s exactly what my pantry looks like- a whole lotta stuff that I have to use or lose. I could also just re-organize the pantry, but time’s tight for me this week.
A quick solution for a disorganized pantry
I realized it would be easier if I tried to plan as many meals as possible with the items I already have on hand. This way, the pantry may not need to be re-organized if there wasn’t so much stuff in it!
And it was easy! I quickly came up with a meal plan with five not completely boring dinners. I didn’t even try that hard to get really creative. Not only does that show that I’m a fast menu planner, but also that I have too much in my pantry!
Five meals was good, but I’m going to try for more to whittle down my pantry stock.
So the next time your pantry needs to be organized, put it on your To Do List for the following week and meal plan right outta your pantry! It’ll save you time and money. And there you have it. Pantry organization made that much easier.More resources for your meal plan
What’s more, I’ve designed some pretty fabulous meal planning tools!
This Meal Planning Bundle has everything you need to plan, shop and organize meal times.
And this set of printable shopping lists add a little snark to your life and meal plan!
