Jennifer at Gathering Grace asked the question, “What’s in your cabinets?” several days ago and many fine ladies opened their doors to share. It saddened me to no end that my cabinets were empty at the time; all of their possible contents stuffed in ugly brown boxes. But now… now … joy of joys … my contribution at last.
Starting along the top, I keep my sweet baking goods (caramels, chocolate chips, etc.) stored in baskets above the microwave. The baskets make it easy to get everything down to see while the height keeps them away from grabby little hands. (mine as well as those of my children.)
The next cabinet over houses other baking goods on the first level, my out of control tea collection on the second and small appliances on top. The teas are in a hanging basket that just slides onto the cabinet above. These won’t work for everyone because of their large size but fit just fine in my cabinets and help me take advantage of otherwise wasted space.
Small Appliance row continues on the next shelf with sections below for boxed items, canned goods, rices ’n pastas and miscellany like PB, nuts, popcorn and such. (That blank spot in the first basket is where our mac & cheese usually lives. Did you know Kraft makes an organic version now? My kids actually prefer it to the radioactive-orange kind.)
Next comes the breakfast shelf with chips above. Will loves! tortilla chips while I’m more of a Frito girl. Both of these I store in a large sealed containers. I find we end up with fewer broken pieces and the chips stay fresher longer.
Dinnerware, my storage bowls and other glass stuff are all together just past the sink and over the dishwasher. I have fallen in love with these glass storage containers from Pyrex. Sure the top is plastic but the glass bottom means I can put leftovers directly in the microwave (or oven) without dirty-ing another dish first.
This skinny cabinet I love, love, love. I have never had one of these before but it is so handy for storing trays, cookie sheets and muffin tins.
Zippy bags, foil and saran wrap find themselves next to the stove just above baskets of onions and potatoes with potholders in between.
And lest you think I don’t have any plasticware, here’s our kid cabinet. Plastic plates, bowls and cups galore. All lids and stoppers go in the bottom basket with their matches stored just above. The cups at the back don’t have lids. Our previous kitchen didn’t allow space for a kid cabinet which meant I was constantly hearing, ”Mama, would you get this?” “Mama, would you get that?” Now the children (well, Sister at least) can get many things on her own.
That’s it, almost. (I skipped a couple of cabinets but you know, who’s counting?). The Tour de Kitchen is over. Check back often because when my next order from Amazon arrives I’ll really have some organizational excitement to share. 
Categories: homekeeping |
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