Food Storage Friday - Storage Space

With rising prices, bad weather, unstable job environments, one of the best things we as women (or men) in charge of our homes can do, is work on our food storage to ensure our family will continue to eat well no matter what the circumstance is. It doesn't take a lot to organize your pantry and make a little room for extras, and with the help of coupons and sales, can be done very cheaply. Every Friday, I'd like to encourage you to join in with me to do one or two little things to add to or work with your food storage.

I had a comment about space issues last week, and I'd like to address it this week. Many folks make the mistake of thinking they don't have the room to store extra food, and it's really not as space consuming as one would think.

First of all, a lot of folks have unorganized cupboards and pantry shelves, which leads to a lot of wasted space. Organize your shelves by products, and you'll save a bit of room, like I did mine several weeks ago:


That's two standard entertainment bookshelves with food. I don't keep food in my (very few) cabinets outside of very few things because my cabinets are a royal PAIN to get into. I use them to store my kitchen pretties instead to keep my counters free for meal preparation. These shelves are just off to the side of my kitchen, and so easy for me to get into!

Our home is less than 700 sq feet for the 3 of us and 8 pets - if I can do it, so can you! Storing a bit of extra food can be done very easily - you don't have to have case after case of deals and food, but putting away and using the first in, first out method on your shelves, along with menu planning, makes a HUGE difference! Think of your extra food as insurance - you'll have a few extra days worth of food if the weather gets icy or stormy, or if your short on paycheck funds.

Since Freddy's had their canned veggies on sale again this week with a limit of 9, I picked up the limit to add to our food storage. I picked up some green beans, corn, and peas - all items I use on a regular basis. I'm also hoping to take advantage of some of the Thanksgiving sales and pick up a couple of extra boxes of stuffing and mashed potatoes.

This week, I'd like to encourage you to pick up 1-2 different canned goods that fit into your weekly meals. For instance, if you usually use fresh spinach in a pasta dish, pick up a can of spinach for use in a pinch. If you can use them on a regular basis, think about picking up extra stuffing and mashed potatoes too. It's the best prices you'll see all year, and most packages will be good for another 6 months after you purchase them.