Tips and Tricks for a Pantry Makeover and Keep it Organized

This Pantry Makeover post is sponsored by Ball® Mason Jars. All opinions are my own.

Do you have a pantry that has partially opened bags of rice and a couple of bags of brown sugar along with other half used ingredients taking up space in your pantry? Or you can’t see what you actually have and end up buying more just in case?

I did too, then I decided to take advantage of “spring cleaning” and give my pantry a much-needed makeover. Now, when I go to look for jasmine rice, I don’t have to fumble through my half dozen bags and varieties of rice just to find what I need, now I can clearly see what I have and how much.

Here are my tips for a tidy pantry makeover:

• Invest in Ball Mason Jars in a range of sizes from their quart size to their larger vintage half-gallon and gallon-sized Ball Jars to inspire a clean and uniform look.
• For those Ball Mason Jars, you’ll need my new favorite, Leak-Proof Lids. (Yes, they really are that amazing!), you can easily keep up with them, they look great and will keep your foods fresh.
• When going through what you already have, consolidate, this was my main reason for tidying my pantry. Combine what you can of the same ingredients to downsize the amount of packages and bags of snacks and ingredients that seem to spill over in your pantry, this will create more storage room than you realized you had.
• If it’s out of date, toss it. Grains can last a long time and many times you can use them past the date, but if you have things that are many moons out of date, it’s definitely time to toss.
• Label! I know this seems to be a given, but really do label and date it with the “good until” date. I personally have more than one flour, all-purpose and self-rising, and guessing which is which really doesn’t do your baking any favors. You can either invest in a neat little label maker, use masking tape and a sharpie, or even cut the names out of the packages they came in and affix to your jars or stash it down on the inside of the Ball Mason Jar.
• Group like items together, such as spices for baking, savory spices, herbs, and your assortment of flours and grains. Think of it the way you’d expect to see it at the grocery store. You wouldn’t see the flours mixed in on the shelf with the rice, dried beans, or pastas.
• Take inventory of what you have. I have specific items that I go through much faster than others and will buy accordingly. If you only need a small amount of an ingredient, then you won’t need to buy it as often or in such a large quantity. For instance, when I’m in a bread baking frenzy, I go through vats of flour and yeast, so I’ll opt to purchase in bulk and buy more frequently. I’m not as much of a sweets baker, therefore I’ll buy smaller quantities of sugar, cake flour, or baking powder, or I’ll simply wait until I actually plan on baking a cake to purchase those ingredients, then store them in Ball Mason Jars.

When you use clear, glass Ball Jars, you know that not only can you visually see what you have but also know that those ingredients will be kept in perfectly sealed jars that will store your ingredients fresher for longer. You’ve paid for those ingredients and there’s nothing worse than having to toss out food because it’s gone off.

Ball Mason Jars sizes and styles to keep your pantry organized:

• Half Gallon Jars
• Mason Jars Amber Jars in Pint, Quart and Half Gallon sizes
• Smooth Sided Jars in both Quart and Pint sizes
• Regular Mouth Jars in Half Gallon, Quart and Pint sizes
• Wide Mouth Jars in Half Gallon, Quart and Pint sizes
• Commemorative Super Wide Mouth Gallon and also Half Gallon Deco Jars
• Mini Jars

Don’t forget to add these Ball Leak-Proof Storage Lids, they come in both regular mouth lids and wide mouth lids sizes to fit most Ball Jar sizes.

Now to keep it organized. It’s a matter of putting things back where you originally had them, keeping them topped up with ingredients. If that means for you that you only have time once a week to shuffle things back into place, then go for it. But I don’t recommend waiting weeks on end before going through those shelves again, the best way to stay on top of it is to keep it organized on a weekly schedule. It only takes 5 – 10 minutes a week to maintain it, as opposed to hours months down the road.

Ball Mason Jars are ideal for organizing! For more information on where you can grab yourself all that you need to organize your pantry, visit Ball Mason Jars, and don’t forget to check out their Leak-Proof Storage Lids as well.

For more inspiration and to see their line of products, visit Ball Mason Jars and follow them on Facebook here, Instagram, and their must-follow Pinterest boards here.