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Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Pantry Idea

It might just be that I need visual reminders
but...
one of the things about gardening,
canning, and preserving the harvest in general
is knowing how much food we need 
to get through until next year's harvest season.
This is one of those ideas born out of necessity.
I was running out of room in the boxes
under the spare room bed.
That's when the lightbulb flashed above my head
just like in the old cartoons.
Every year, I have to rearrange the pantry shelves.
As we use up one thing,
it's easy to put something else in it's place.
Now, as we use a jar of something,
I have begun putting the empty jar back in it's place.
It's like a reservation for next year.
Also, my not so pretty at the moment - labels
tell me how many jars of given products we use.
I must have issues with rifling through pages to find
what we need during the long days of harvest/canning.
This last year, I feared we would run a little short on a couple things
so there are a couple of store bought cans still in the works.
Of course, the home grown veggies are better
so those foreign cans remain.
(I try to use them up in soups etc.)
Also, that can of 'No Salt Added' is awful.
I grabbed two of them by mistake.

As we narrow in on the actual number of pints and quarts
we use, I will make pretty little labels.
The number can change depending upon your situation
and stage of life:
new little family members,
becoming empty nesters,
an extra adult in the house for a period of time, etc.
I like knowing our consumption for planning reasons,
but I sure don't want more paperwork.
This was what I came up with.

I had the above written and couldn't handle it.
 I was off and playing with labels.
I printed them, cut them, then used clear mailing tape
rather than contact paper (which I didn't have) to cover them.
I can write the number of jars on the label.
If I discover it changes, I can wipe it off with a little alcohol or hair spray
and write the new number.
































      
If you have a working system,
leave a comment to let us know.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution
so the more ideas the better.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches



5 comments:

  1. Great idea and your labels are SO pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, girl, you are so organized. I haven't canned vegetables very much. I want to try chicken this year. Of course I can do that any time it's on sale! Maybe even can my Chicken noodle Gluten Free soup! That would be nice to have on hand when we get sick! Not fun to cook when you are sick, but this tastes so good! Great ideas!
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great idea! Thanks for sharing your post at the HomeAcre Hop!
    Love the labels!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow that is a great idea. That way you would not have to find more room to store the empty jars either.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete