Pantry reorganization...

LB over at What's Cookin' with Faithy reminded me that I had yet to share the pantry before and after photos as I had threatened promised.

I emptied a shelf before I took a photo.  This was at 2:00 a.m., remember?  And if you enlarge the photo, you can see dead moth bodies and detritus covering that shelf.  Ewww.  As I found infested items, I put them in plastic bags, sealed the bags, and put them in another bag to go to the outside bin immediately.  Luckily I had a lot of things already in jars, and also more empty jars to transfer things into.

A clean slate.  I vacuumed all surfaces (not at 2:00 a.m.), then wiped them all down.  Then the vacuum was taken outside and emptied.  

Top shelf now houses empty jars and a basket of various hot chocolate mixes which will get moved down to reachable level as the weather cools.  

Second shelf down holds bags for the FoodSaver, a plastic bin full of gallon-size Ziplock bags, and paper towels to last at least the rest of the year.  (Everything on this shelf was previously housed elsewhere.)

Middle shelf, which is generally eye level, holds (left to right) fruit juices, peanut butter, a turntable filled with canned meats (tuna, salmon, and chicken), pickled items, curry sauces, and then another turntable with condiments.

Next down from that is (left to right) mayonnaise (3 jars...apparently I make a habit of buying another jar just in case we are running low), glass jars filled with crackers, glass jars with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, a glass jar full of partial bags of brown sugar, and another turntable with pie fillings, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, syrups, and coconut oil.  (The baking items may get consolidated in the other pantry where I keep baking tools and spices, but I needed to concentrate on one space at a time right now.)

Bottom shelf holds (back left to right) empty jars in back that I plan on filling soon, jars of beans and lentils, cooking spirits; and in front (left to right) are jars of peppermint tea bags and another of family-size tea bags for iced tea, a plastic basket of cloth napkins that see daily use, and a plastic basket of seasoning packets.

The floor holds (left to right) folding step stool, bin for recyclables, and a bin for soiled napkins and kitchen towels.

What's gone are cardboard packaging, rarely used cloth items, and wooden baskets...all of which those pesky moths seemed to like to burrow into and build cocoons.  Boxed items have been repackaged into glass jars, and wooden baskets replaced with plastic.  Nothing new had to be purchased.  The plastic baskets and turntables had originally been used in other areas, and they were currently in the thinking-about-donating staging area.  Glad I still had them available to use here.