"File" your food in your freezer. Organize frozen food boxes where the label shows and you can see what the item is. Put all meats "filed" together, all vegetable bags "filed" together, and all juices "filed" together.
You can also "file" foods in the refrigerator. Put all liquid drinks on the top shelf. Use the second shelf put all lunch meats and cheeses (if you don't have a meat keeper drawer). "File" all sour creams, butter, etc. on the third shelf. The bottom shelf is for your leftovers.
This can also be done in your pantry. "File" all of your canned green beans one behind the other, your corn the same way, etc.
Organizing your pantry, freezer, and refrigerator this way will cut back on time because you'll know what you have in your areas and you can quickly grab these items. Also, you will know what you are out of when making your grocery list. This also saves money. How many times have you purchased a grocery item and found out when you got home that you already had spaghetti sauce!? When making your list for the week, if you have spaghetti, use it, but put spaghetti sauce on your list to go with it.
Another thought, "file" your grocery items in the grocery cart! When you are placing items in your cart, put all of your canned goods together, all of your frozen items together, etc. and when you put them on the conveyor belt, they will be all together and the clerk will bag most of these items all together in like categories for easy unbagging and putting away when you get home. Place the bag with freezer items on the floor near the freezer, the bag with the canned goods on the floor in front of the pantry, etc. This makes for less going back and forth and saves steps.
Happy Food Filing!
By Jane from Paducah, KY
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I also use plastic baskets in both my upright freezer and refrigerator. In the refrigerator I organize all the shelves except the top one, I am still looking for suitable basket/trays for that one. I have two smaller baskets side by side at the front of the shelves and one sideways behind them with lesser used items. It makes finding something and cleaning out a lot easier.
I use that system in my pantry also. I keep cereal and 2 plastic baskets for bags of chips on the very top shelf so that nothing gets shoved to the back and lost. Everything else is filed with like items together. I have a door rack/shelf with small things like packets and unopened spices. I keep small cans of mushrooms and tomato sauce on one of those racks. A box of teabags will fit in there just perfectly. The little containers for food storage made by Glad and Ziploc make dandy little "baskets" for very thin packets and there is a size which fits the door shelf perfectly. I put the whole box of packets of instant oatmeal and grits on the door shelf. It makes it so easy to find things.
When I find coffee on sale I store the newer cans upside down with the oldest one right side up. It makes it easier to rotate them and use the most recent purchase last.
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I don't have a lot of food storage space, so organization is important. I bought several of the plastic baskets, about 12 x 9 x 6 inches. They are on the floor and bottom shelf of my pantry. In one is small spice jars, one big spice jars, one jello and pudding boxes, one pasta, one food storage bags. Canned goods are on one shelf and boxed items on another. Top shelf is for flour, sugar, tea, etc. I know right where to look for everything.
By Linda
