Ark Prep 101 - Part 9: How Do I Use My Food Storage in My Everyday Recipes!

Ark Prep 101: Part 9

I have to admit . . . This is my FAVORITE part,

But to some, setting up a system to incorporate 

food storage into your everyday life

can make your brain hurt a little!

(Chocolate and a Caffine-Free Dr. Pepper should help with that!

Ok . . . I admit it . . . My Dr. Pepper is not Caffine-Free, but I add lots of ice!)

Not to mention the hastle and work of making all of the changes.

We all love change . . . RIGHT?!?

YES, we do!

Especially when the changes:

Are EASY, SAVE MONEY, and SAVE TIME!

I wanted to force myself to use not only my 3 Month Supply

of food storage, but my Long-Term Supply as well.

It took a few tries, but I have to say, I FINALLY GOT IT!

I think the easiest way to teach you this system

is to show you pictures of what I did,

(I'm a visual person if you can't tell!)

and then I have a feeling your brain is going to kick

into over-drive thinking of how you can adapt this system

to fit YOUR kitchen and YOUR family's needs.

SO, HERE WE GO!

I set my kitchen up into different zones.

This is my Baking Corner

The goal here is to be able to stay in one place

while I prepare different parts of my meals,

making my work time much more effecient.

My measuring spoons are easy to find

and right where I need them.

I put a sticky hook in my cabinent for my rings . . . I hate getting

dough in them when I make bread or rolls.

My Favorite Recipes are posted on the inside of my

cupboard door.

All of the baking ingredients are here too.

My measuring cups are on hooks as well. 

They are divided by measurement

so I don't have to waste time looking for the right size.

Blenders and Mixers

Cooking Utensils

Mixing bowls and larger measuring cups

are stored in the corner.

Almost all of the ingredients I need for baking are in

this corner area.  The only time I really have to leave my

baking corner is to get milk, or eggs . . . but I use the

powdered versions a lot more than I thought I would!

You really can't taste the difference, especially when you

use the ingredients in baking . . . I promise!

I keep my Flour, Sugar, Wheat, Pancake Mix (from the cannery),

and Magic Mix (made with butter powder)

in the canisters in the corner.  I use them a lot and the

canisters make it super easy to get to.

Especially nice when you have to measure 12 cups of flour.

I found my scoops and canisters at Walmart.

They were really inexpensive and I think they look cute.

I use a drawer to store the rest of my baking ingredients.

Brown Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Oat Flour . . . etc.

All of my baking spices are in one cabinent.

The seasonings are in a different area.

The next zone is for Meal Prep.

It's close to the pantry, the stove/oven, and the fridge.

All of the seasonings I use in preparing meals

are in this cabinent.

I should have switched the pans and baking dishes,

but this works too!

Now for the pantry . . . My FAVORITE!

I found these 1/2 gallon-sized jars at the D.I.

They are perfect for storing food because I can see

exactly what I have, and how much I have, just by opening

the pantry door.

So many times, we put our food storage away in dark basements

or closets.  It's almost like it's out of sight, out of mind.

When you store it where you are cooking and preparing meals

that is no longer the case.

I purchased 7 washpans and put the days of the week on them

using vinyl.  Each tote is for one day of the week.

I use the totes to hold the dinner ingredients.

This makes incorporating food storage into my everyday

meals so easy and I am able to rotate my food a lot better.

My breads, potatoes, and onions are in the stackable carts

in the bottom of my pantry. The onions go on the top.

(Looks like I need to go shopping!)

I used the same stackable totes in the top of my pantry.

I keep lunch ingredients on this Lazy Susan.

The 5 gallon buckets are for extra wheat, flour, and sugar.

I take my reusable shopping bag down stairs to my food storage

room and fill it with the ingredients I will need during the week

to make my family meals.

I hardly ever bring my groceries in and put them into my

pantry up stairs.  They go right into the food storage.

I fill out my shopping list after I shop from my food storage,

then when I go to the store I can replace what I just took.

That's makes rotating my food much more consistent

and I'm always replacing the items I'm using.

I painted a chalkboard on the inside of my pantry door

for the day's menu.

I should have made it for the week.

Just use chalkboard paint and some vinyl letters

to make your own chalkboard.

They have magnetic paint as well . . . It would

be PERFECT to combine the two!

I have a notepad with the days of the week so that I can

remember what meals I planned to make.

A Calendar is a great option as well.

It's a great way to keep track of the meals your

family is eating.

It organizes your seasonal foods too, and all you have to

do is write down what you had for dinner each day.

Sooo EASY!

I made enough breakfast mixes to last for the month.

It takes the same amount of time to make 1 as it does

to make 10 and it makes morning rush a lot less stressful!

Hopefully this gives you a few ideas for creating

your own food storage system.

Don't Worry if you're kitchen doesn't have

a lot of space to work with. 

 I lived in Illinois for almost 5 years with

a very small kitchen and lots of humidity.

I'll show you how you can still use a lot of the ideas I

just posted . . . but I'll do it in a smaller spaces!

Where there's a will . . . there's a way!