A Place For Everything

So after last weeks post about my frustration with condiment manufacturers, I got to thinking. I came up with a solution I am in LOVE with. It came to me while we were reorganizing the food storage and I came across the peaches I canned last year. Why not use Mason jars for my condiments?

So here's what I did (in case you want to be as OCD as me).
1) I went though me refrigerator and made a list of what I had and next to it the amount in the jar (when it was full, found on the label).
2) I then calculated the amounts into pints and quarts. I used an online conversion calculator. I rounded up to ensure that the contents would always fit in the jar.
3) I then made a list of how many pint jars and how many quart jars I would need. I already had enough quart jars on hand from canning the peaches. And off to Wal-mart I went.
4) When I got back I emptied the containers into their new homes and labeled them with my best friend (my brother label maker).

When Keith got home and saw it he was concerned about rotation. A valid concern. Since I studied food safety as a manger for Burger King I know all too well about the dangers of cross contamination. Here's my solution. We do not add more to these jars until they are empty. The jars will then be washed, sterilized, and then air dried. Only after this is done will new product will be added to the jar.

And for those of you concerned about the sell by/use by dates on your condiments, I did some research on this too. This is what I found out. Except for "use-by" dates, product dates don't always refer to home storage and use after purchase. "Use-by" dates usually refer to best quality and are not safety dates. But even if the date expires during home storage, a product should be safe, wholesome and of good quality — if handled properly and kept at 40° F or below. If product has a "use-by" date, follow that date (none of my condiments had such a date). Foods can develop an off odor, flavor or appearance due to spoilage bacteria. If a food has developed such characteristics, you should not use it for quality reasons.

One last piece of advice. The metal lids that come on the jars have been known to rust so for a few dollars more I purchased plastic lids to fit the jars. These are only available for the regular mouth jars and not the wide mouth jars.

Here are a few pictures to illustrate my re-organized refrigerator, which as my friend Linn would say, "makes my heart sing!"

Food Storage

This evening the family reorganized our food storage. Not because we wanted to, but because we had to. While getting some food to make a dish the other day I found a bunch a raisins on the ground. After inspecting I found that a mouse had gotten into the trail mix and had eaten everything in the bag, except the raisins. What a picky mouse!

I finally purchased shelves for our wheat and with the help of the kids, put them together.

It feels great to have accomplished so much. The only things left to move are the water and fridge. This way everything will be kept together.

I am then going to slowly purchase plastic tubs to for non-canned or jarred food. This way no mice can help themselves.

Here are a few pictures of our new pantry.

Slightly OCD

Today I caught up on some light blog reading. My favorite blogs to follow are Linn's Organization Tips, No One You Know (even though I know her), The Apron Stage, and family/friend blogs.

As I was finishing up with my reading, Keith asked if I wanted to go grocery shopping. So at 9 pm, with all of the kids and hubby in tow we went to Stop and Shop to restock our shelves. Upon getting home, and remembering the fabulous pictures of Linn's shelves and fridge, I found myself wondering a few things. (Oh, and before you start reading, you can say I am slightly OCD on this subject and may seem nuts to you. I know that and won't judge you for judging me.)

1) Why didn't the manufacturer of my refrigerator take into account that you can not fit two twelve packs of soda side-by-side? I can fit 20 cans. So the remaining four are off by themselves on a separate shelf.

2) I think there should be a mandate that all manufacturers of sauces, relishes, condiments, dressings, etc. put their products in the same size (in width and height) so they don't look so haphazard in my fridge. Here are two fine examples. Even the multiple hot sauces we own are a big mess. If I had the money I would buy containers that are all the same, label them myself and then arrange them alphabetically. Oh wait, I already did that last year with my spices after getting mad at the spice companies. (Update: I came up with a solution for this problem.)

3) I don't understand why companies have to change their packaging every now and then. If it isn't broken, don't change it. Why I am I up in arms about this one? Well the cabinet I put most of my can goods and boxed items it organized strategically so that everything fits just right. Then I get home tonight and Betty Crocker changed the width of their Au Grautin Potato, so it no longer fits in the cabinet.

-Katie

By-the-way, in case you were wondering one of my favorite jobs ever was working for Purity Supreme in Dennis, MA where I stocked shelves on the over-night shift. This required me to face (turn the products so their labels could be clearly seen) the shelf. It was so stress-free!

Spicing It Up

My Christmas present to myself was to reorganize my spice cabinet. Each time I would need a spice for a recipe I would have to get a bar stool and climb up to reach them. They were stacked like jinga blocks and almost always one would come crashing down.

After doing hours of on-line research I found a solution. I found plastic racks that hold spice bottles. These are great because they allow you to pull the drawer out and then it folds down to easily view all of the drawers conents.

But of course my OCD got the best of me and I was unhappy with the mismatched spice bottles. So again to Google I went. I found a company called spice barn that sells wholesale spice jars by the case.

I then went to my Betty Crocker cook book which list the most commonly needed spices. I ordered that many spice bottles. And when they arrived I used my trusty label maker to label each jars contents. I then organized each of the spices alphabetically and labled each drawer's contents like a card catalog (remember those and the dewey decimil system?).

Here are pictures of my newly organized spice rack.