A Happy Kitchen

Yesterday was a great day in terms of accomplishments around the house.  My pantry has been getting me down these last few months, and I just couldn't get it together to clean it out the way it needed to be.  Friday afternoon, I came home after my classes and cleaned it out.  I had cans that had expired 4 years ago! Everything that was suspect was ditched or save for the outside dogs (who will eat anything with relish). It felt wasteful to toss things, but it is more wasteful to keep the space occupied with things we can't safely eat.  Everything was getting lost in the chaos of the cluttered environment. My long term motivation was to clean the thing out so that I can better plan and prepare meals for the family. My short term motivation was that hubby was going to take me to Kroger where our dollars stretch sooooooo much further!  I had been looking forward to that for some time. I got to know Kroger when we lived in TN.  Their prices are really outstanding--much better than Wally -World; and their store brands are always great. The bread box you see in the photograph was part of hubby's mother' s collection. We are blessed to have her canisters and bread box as part of our kitchen.  As you can see, there is Sunbeam bread--dear daughter's favorite. Bagels, peanut butter and Rama-noodles are all present and accounted for. I bought the Sunbeam for little more than the store brands here in town. Same thing with the bagels.  Our oven has passed on to its reward, and we are making do without one for a while. So a lot of the meal planning has to be around non-baked items. This planning has been much easier since I purged and organized the pantry.

Another source of saving is purchasing my household cleaning supplies through Grove Collaborative. (I still get my detergent, dish soap and fabric softener at Sam's or WW).  At Grove, the prices are really, really good. Free shipping is available, and they are always helping with little discounts here and there. They only sell those products that are environmentally safe--I have used bleach and comet for so long--I thought I would try something a little less harsh. I have loved using these products. They can be pricey in the grocery stores, but through Grove, the prices are comparable to any other product. Plus, they smell so nice and clean. Yesterday, I cleaned the sink and counters til they sparkled. The happy scent of lemon verbena was everywhere.