Spring Cleaning your Home? Don't Forget to Clean Out your Pantry!

Spring Cleaning your Home? Don't Forget to Clean Out your Pantry!
by Laura Warnke

If you want to feel like cooking and baking again it is time for spring cleaning your kitchen cupboards and pantry!

It can be hard to get excited about cooking and baking when you cannot find anything in your kitchen and you question the freshness of ingredients. Do you have any idea just what exactly is in your pantry or how old some of those items may be?

It is time to evaluate, throw it out, and replace! This can be a daunting task, but well worth the effort.

Most television cooking shows stress fresh ingredients for cooking and baking. You may think that only applies to fruits and vegetables, but it also applies to your baking ingredients and canned goods as well.

Take all your food out of your cupboards and pantry. Dust your cupboard shelves, taking the time to wipe out each cupboard with a cleaning cloth and get the gritty flour, salt and grease off of your canned goods and jars.

Wipe off the bottom of jars and bottles and give the entire can or bottle a quick wipe to dust them off. Place all labels forward facing and try not to stack too many cans in a row or you may never know what got pushed to the back of the cupboard.

Just how long has that been in my kitchen cupboard?? Will you really use some of those items in your pantry? Throw out anything that you haven’t used in over a year. Chances are you will never use them or maybe they just did not taste as good as you thought they would.

Think you are running out of room in your cupboards? Pull everything out and organize according to cooking type. Organize all baking ingredients together and all main course foods together. Try grouping them by how they are used in your recipes. You would be surprised how much extra room you can find, just by cleaning and organizing.

Label anything that you have put into a separate package with a marker and/or masking tape. Write the date purchased on it as well.

Date your canned goods with a black permanent marker on the bottom with the date when you purchased them. This can be especially helpful if you have more than one of a specific item. That way you know which one to use up first. Place the oldest cans or jars to the front of the cupboard.

Whether it is the spring-cleaning bug or a fall-cleaning bug, make some time to clean out your kitchen cupboards. You would be surprised how fast time flies and how long items can stay in your cupboard.

If you cannot remember when you purchased it, you should probably replace it. Be confident that your baking supplies are fresh and you will feel like baking and cooking so much more.

Laura Warnke is a recipe collector who preserves the wonderful recipes from her family that have stood the test of time from many generations. Her latest website, Breakfast and Brunch Recipes.com contains delicious, quick, and easy breakfast and brunch recipes including quiches, breakfast casseroles, pancakes, waffles, crepes, coffee cakes, quick breads, muffins and French toast, along with tips for better baking. Also visit All About Dessert Sauces.com for information and recipes on dessert sauces and ice cream sundae toppings.

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