1-I'm lazy and don't want to go to the store all the time. I would rather just go to my pantry.
2-I can save money on groceries by purchasing a couple extra of the things we use most when they go on sale.
3- The biggest reason is this quote: President Ezra Taft Benson: "I ask you earnestly, have you provided for your family a year's supply of food, clothing, and where possible, fuel? The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah." General Conference October 1987.
And if that doesn't convince you, how about this from the WSJ (Wall Street Journal) last week about how our nation's Electricity Grid has been penetrated by spies. Yup. Without electricity your credit cards don't work, your internet bank transfer doesn't work, your ATM card doesn't work. And neither do those scanning machines at the grocery store. It's going to be a pain to buy food or get something to eat if you don't have any on hand for a natural disaster or manmade disaster.
Now, that scare theory is not what I navigate my life by. But, it's a thought to consider. Things happen. It's good to be prepared.
So, now back to how to get a pantry if you don't have one so that you can store some of your favorite yummies.
Here's what ours looks like:
The house we are renting doesn't have a pantry.
So our pantry is a "wardrobe" cabinet from Home Depot. It's a beast to move. The thing is so heavy. But we moved it anyway and it's been such a great thing for our kitchen. It has a key that locks it closed (so my kiddos can't play with cans of food) and it has a few shelves on one side and across the top. The "wardrobe" part where you would hang clothes is open.
On that side I use this "shoe shelf" (from Target-I think?) to keep things organized. I also use some vertically stacked cardboard boxes next to it (not in the photo) to created separated space.
My favorite shelves are these:
My sister bought them at the Smith's Marketplace in SLC when we lived there. I'm sure you can find them other places too. I love them because you can stack things above and use the space below for different things. They are especially great in a deep space like this wardrobe is.
This soup rack is a recent addition. I've always just stacked cans before. I'm still deciding how much I like it. It isn't a big one that rotates old to new cans.
This past week I realized that we've been in our "new" (rental) house for about 9 months and it is time to rotate everything. Regardless of how you set up your pantry, be sure that you take the time every so often to make sure the older things are the ones you are eating so your food doesn't spoil waiting for you to use it. Otherwise, that idea about saving money buying a few extra doesn't work so well.
Have fun creating your own DIY pantry. Talking about This Little Food Project is making me hungry!
