Disappointing pantry cleanout for food drive donations

[@ManageableLiving]

🍞🥫Does anyone else have a constant pantry struggle? I'll keep trying different systems until I find the one that works! 🍿🥜

[@melissahyatt9626]

I love my can organizer that is 3 levels, but my cabinet is not as deep as yours. It would be nice if you could install a slide out drawer system to allow you to get to the back stuff much easier. You would just need to make sure and account for the doors. Pantries are a continual declutter and organize space. Good luck!

[@ManageableLiving]

@@melissahyatt9626 I would love to do pull out, but it’s not in the budget at the moment. Someday!

[@KarMa-ws3ll]

I did my pantry and cabinets yesterday! I remember the struggle when I did have cabinets full of stuff. It feels so good when everything is organized! My nemesis is my partner who always brings like 40 spices and 10 different kinds of couscous when he come home from his home country. So i like to simplify as much as i can plus, before he come home, I KNOW i have to streamline, just to make sure there is enough space for the new stuff. I also like the container method, because it make it so much easier to clean.

[@ManageableLiving]

Ahhhh, that would be difficult but hopefully it can be made manageable next time he brings home goodies. It's so much easier to want to cook at home when you can easily access things. It helps to have a simpler rotation of meals but that's easier said than done at times.

[@lisamalone5988]

I am in Ohio too. I remember the power grid situation. It was crazy! It was at least three days. Also, about eight years ago? Maybe longer when there was a big wind storm in September…it knocked out power out for over a week. And the grocery stores were also without power. We lost so much food we had in our freezer. It is hard to find the middle ground of having enough for an emergency but not too much that it goes bad. I like your idea of cereal, because I too would rather eat that than a can of green beans or a cold can of soup!

[@ManageableLiving]

I've been pretty lucky. My last place was on the hospital power grid so I only ever went without power once for a couple hours. I've never had to go more than maybe a day or two since but my dad is even further out in the sticks and twice last year he was without electric for a week each time. I originally thought it was longer than 3 days but I looked it up and yeah. I felt like NJ and other states had it out for longer.

[@kailynkausen9445]

We moved recently so it was kind of wild to go through things and try to use things up before we moved. We had jars of pie filling that expired in 2017 and tea that expired in 2012. So many of our condiments in the fridge were expired, so it was a good refresh but feels so unfortunate.

[@ManageableLiving]

I get it. It's so crazy how moving reveals things!

[@an7855]

For your emergency pantry: to or three times a year try to eat that stuff. If you don't like it you have the chance to stock up something else. Eat what you store, store what you eat. It needs reevaluating just like everything else. You don't even have to eat everything up. But a week of breakfasts in spring, a week of lunches in autumn, a week of dinners in winter even helps to find the right amounts to store and you learn so much

[@ManageableLiving]

Absolutely. It's just setting reminders for those of us who just become blind to the stuff in front of us all the time. 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@chriswilhelm1374]

My cats are the opposite. They eat the pate, but only lick the gravy off the shreds.

[@ManageableLiving]

That's funny! They're so picky.

[@SimplyKatieWalks]

Im doing my pantry tomorrow. Pray for me. 🤦‍♀️ oh my gosh, i watched preppers once, and i saw right away that would be a problem for me. Great video, you are so relatable 😽

[@ManageableLiving]

I had already started watching Dawn and only kept a certain amount of food. Then when things were getting sketchy of course YT recommended prep channels and I was like, omg they're so right. What if I need barter items? What if I suddenly need matches? What if.... yeah.... it got out of control.

[@verastoimenova4786]

Xanthan gum can be used in homemade ice cream to remove ice crystals. I have an unopened packet as well 👍😊

[@ManageableLiving]

Great tip! I have opened it but since I only ever used a TEENY bit at a time it still seems full.

[@2000konnie]

That is a dilemma of how much and what kind of food to keep on hand in case of a power outage. Our last big outage was probably 10 years or so ago. It was out only three days, but it seemed much longer. If a big storm where power outages are predicted, I'll usually make some hard boiled eggs, and I check on how much peanut butter I have. on hand. I don't stock up on canned goods. I kind of got cured of that when I was going through a relative's home who had passed, and found some cans of tomatoes that had busted open. They were on a top shelf, so she probably had totally forgotten about them. Unlike me, she had always been a tidy housekeeper.

[@ManageableLiving]

Oh my gosh yes. Once my aunt and uncle went a cruise - they did that actually pretty often. But one of those times my cousin decided to go through the kitchen while they were gone. This was maybe 2005-2010, somewhere in there. There were cans that expired in 1992 and she opened one out of curiosity. Black sludge. My aunt kept a very nice house but she was also one to "take advantage of great sales." It just got overlooked. Sadly that cousin is now hoarder level according to other family. Ii haven't my in my grandparents' house since she bought it and after hearing that I don't have it in me to see their house that way.

[@lisamalone5988]

I am constantly trying to find a food storage system that works. Currently, I am trying narrow, tall plastic containers from target. I can pull out the container so I know what I have and then it looks better. I wanted to have them in my freezer too, but they were just a smidge too tall. But in the pantry, I have one for can soups and meat, one for canned beans and veggies, and one for pastas. I thought of getting one for jar sauces but I really don’t ever have that many on hand. I don’t bake unless it is a box mix, so I don’t have much of that stuff. Oh my goodness! I had to laugh about your oven!! Ours was broken for over two years! We just used the air fryer and a toaster oven! We have a cabinet in our basement that I have some prepper supply because like you, I was afraid of shortages but also you never know when there will be a snow storm or a wind storm that knocks out power. I try to remember to rotate it to the upstairs pantry…which is just two shelves in my tiny kitchen.

[@ManageableLiving]

Yeah, it's trial and error to find what functions over time so I'll have to do a check in months down the road. I've always figured no more than a week or two of groceries at this point? Any more than that and I think I rotate but then the dates tell me not as much as I thought. Or I bought stuff that are not regular staples so I'd keep skipping them.

[@anniec6420]

you are sooooo funny holly....love your videos. keep them coming. twelve away from a thousand....xx

[@ManageableLiving]

Glad you like them! I will be taking Memorial Day weekend off but June has a packed schedule. When I get monetized it'll be easier to justify sending a few videos to an editor to try and bump up to 2 a week. There's just so much to cover!

[@cathypreaster1210]

Perhaps you could fill a 7 day pill organizer on Sundays for your vitamins and that would be small enough to keep on your table or countertop. You can keep the bulky bottles in a closet.

[@ManageableLiving]

Yeah, I keep struggling with that too. I work two days from home so it's not always easy to remember to grab it and shower easy to set on my desk at work and forget it there. I have issues 🙃 it's fine.

[@rhondalockrey9592]

I feel bad too when I toss expired food but we will keep improving. I ended up getting a large lazy susan & put my can goods on that I could double stack those so I find that handy you can see everything . I am getting much better of not shopping but do have a few months worth on hand for emergency. I once gave a neighbor a can of mushroom soup they needed he told me it was expired lol Live & learn.

[@ManageableLiving]

Oh noooo! I would feel so bad if I gave a neighbor expired food. Well depending on which one, some are cool and we'd just laugh it off. I'm testing a lazy Susan somewhere else in the house and I'm not convinced yet if it's a good idea for me. The dollar tree can organizers are working better than expected so far but time will tell!

[@an7855]

The oldest pantry stuff I ever found was when my grandparents moved out of the house my grandma grew up in: jarred green beans from HER grandmother. In the hallway closet. She remembered hiding it there as a child because she HATED green beans and tried to hide them so they had to eat something different. We found generations of stuff on every closet. Another highlight were "brandnew" underwear for probably her father from the time when they didn't had elastics and had to be tied up. It was an unbelievable amount of stuff. The house has a souterrain (I have no idea if it is understandable. Didn't find an english word. Houses over here sometimes have a kind of basement apartment where the ground outside is about waist high). My mum always laughed it will be a normal ground floor after removing all the stuff. We all have problems wirh clutter but my grandma was the queen of hidden clutter. I try my best to do it better

[@an7855]

Oh and the oldest stuff ik my House: a red fruit tea. When we finally boiled it it was so old it didn't dye the water. That was really funny

[@ManageableLiving]

Ah, by me I think some styles are like split level with the sort of basement but not quite. That's really funny about the green beans!

[@cathypreaster1210]

As far as expired things…..I’ve been feeling really exhausted lately so I decided to start using my Vital Reds in my morning shake. But I kept thinking to myself ‘why don’t I feel any better? This stuff usually works right away!’ A week later I decided to turn the container upside down only to find out that it had expired 3 years ago!!! Well duh! That’s why it’s not working! 😂

[@ManageableLiving]

😆 yeah I'm guilty of keeping over the counter meds and supplements a bit past expiration. I don't use Tagamet often (rather the Great Value version), but last time I bought it was already like 2 weeks expired. And it was the only one on the shelf soooo I'll deal with it for now.

[@KarMa-ws3ll]

You know, in this case - I. lucky I am allrgic. I dont buy novelty food items or convenient packages or a lot of stuff i never ate before (bc it might kill me or at least give me a rash depending on the allergy). So I really only have stuff that I eat anyways :-)

[@ManageableLiving]

That is a silver lining!

[@CB-kn8cq]

Put supplements in the bathroom next to the toothbrush.

[@ManageableLiving]

I like the idea except I was always told not not have meds in a humid place. My vent fan isn't the best... I'll come up with something

[@an7855]

​@@ManageableLivingyou can combine it with the other tip of packing the amount for a week. I don't know the conditions at your house but a week most things will last. Especially when they are gone afterwards. You hab store and refill at a less humid place