Spring Clean and “Bulk” UpSpring cleaning isn’t limited to just cleaning the dust bunnies from under the couch and scrubbing the blinds. It can also include your cabinets, closets and pantry. And especially in the economy we are living in, getting organized can help save some extra money. This is very true when it comes to stocking up on bulk foods for the pantry. I would like to share some info from my friends at Food Storage Made Easy on how to plan, organize and prepare your food storage areas once the cleaning has been completed. Getting Started with Food Storage by Jodi & Julie at FoodStorageMadeEasy. #1 Make a plan.Visit our blog at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net and browse through our Getting Started section and the BabySteps pages. This will give you an overview of what you will ultimately want to accomplish. To make it really easy, we have set up an email series of BabyStep Checklists to break the process up into manageable to-do lists that you will receive every two weeks. This is a fantastic option for people that want to get started and have set assignments to work towards every other week. #2 Organize and prepare your space. Storing significant amounts of food can cause a lot of stress over where to put it. If you have a basement storage room you can go with some great industrial shelves such as the intermetro shelving unit (currently on sale!) or the gorilla rack shelves and use them to store a lot of canned/boxed goods and other smaller items. For larger items it is really helpful to store items in stackable containers that you can place on the floor. A lot of bulk foods (wheat, rice, macaroni, etc.) come in large bags which are not ideal for storage. The Bag in Dispenser for Bulk Foods can help with that, as well an Air Tight Container which you can transfer foods into or simply store them in their bags. Some other options are large 5 gallon buckets which are also stackable and air tight. If you have a limited amount of storage space you can get creative with using smaller containers, and stashing food in unusual places such as under the bed, inside end-tables, at the bottom of a closet, etc. #3 Purchase and use your food. Don’t let yourself make a plan and prepare your space and then not follow through with your food storage purchases. Watch your newspapers for sales and stock up on items when they are at their cheapest prices. Look for bulk suppliers of the large staple foods. Buy auxiliary products that will help you cook with your foods (i.e. wheat grinder, bread machine, etc.) And most importantly, learn how to use the foods that you are storing! It will do you no good to have 300 pounds of wheat stored if you don’t know how to make a simple loaf of bread when the time comes that you NEED to use it. We like to recommend trying a new food storage recipe at least once a week. If you schedule it into your meal plan it becomes easy to accomplish that goal. It’s also important to rotate through the foods before they expire so that you don’t waste your money purchasing food that you never use. Hopefully these three tips will help you get started on the road to having a great food storage supply built up. With a little planning and organization this is a task that is definitely doable and will make you feel a lot more prepared in the event of any kind of emergency or difficult financial situation. If you want to learn more about food storage make sure to visit us at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net!
Happy Organizing! -Mrs. O Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrsorganized
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