Today I bring you……my pantry.
My friend Amanda awhile back said to me, "you totally have to blog your pantry." And while that was like, forever ago, I finally pulled out the flash and took photos. So uhm, here it is.
I figured a good time to share was after a restocking trip….




The pull out drawers are my favorite. I love them. Those and the butcher block island are a must have in the someday-forever-house.
I'm in the midst of this class. Week seven right now and still loving it. I've been looking at my pantry a little differently and with a little more gratitude. There are a lot more beans in there now compared to 6 weeks ago. I'm cooking up double batches of beans these days and freezing half of them for easy dinner night. Just toss the drained beans into a quart mason jar and freeze. Hello super easy dinner. I love this!
As you can see in the first picture, I buy a lot of pantry items in bulk. This is the bulk option at my health food store. They do offer a few bins…. but the majority of it is in pre-weighed packages. Bonus – I don't buy sandwich sized bags anymore.
For storage, I'm a glass jar girl all the way. Louisiana is known for bugs. Cockroaches in particular. When we moved here we were told you had to spray for them. We did. Twice. Outside only. (it's a monthly thing). I decided that I would rather keep a very clean pantry/kitchen with everything stored in jars of some sort before I would spray for the four years we live here. We're a few months shy of three years and guess what? No bugs.
Favorite glass jar tip : Sharpie markers to label. They come off with a gentle scrub from a sponge. I recently started labeling our drinking jars/glasses at the beginning of the morning too. Guess who is tired of washing 4 times as many glasses as there are people?
Also, Mandy just shared her genius idea of flipping the lid upside down for storing frozen/dried goods if you have old school canning lids that contain bpa. We're hoping to convert our stash this summer with bpa free lids & rings.
Just for fun, here are some favorite whole foods books with excellent pantry tips :
~ Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children, and Their Parents by Cynthia Lair
(Feeding the Whole Family was my first whole foods cookbook…. it led the way for changing how we ate!)
~ Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable and Seasonal Kitchen by Amy Pennington
~ Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson



Eating whole foods is not cheap. Humanely raised, organically grown foods will always be more expensive. Sometimes I struggle with the amount we spend on food. ($200 most weeks to feed 5-6 people 3 meals a day) Heather shared something in class last week that really resonated with me, that helped me rest a little easier about this expense, this investment.
"Many of us who include high quality whole foods in our diet have found it important
enough to make sacrifices in other ares of the family budget to accommodate the
expense. Clothing is sought after second hand before purchasing new, dining out and
travel is limited, books/furniture/household goods are often purchased used, traded or
decided not really that important. Families seek entertainment by way of local parks,
libraries, free in-town music festivals, and nature activities as a way to go easy on the
This is so true for our family. Somehow when you know you have friends in this journey, it makes the road traveled all the more worthy.
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p.s. I'm over at Rhythm of the Home today too…… come visit!