My New Food Storage Containers

Posted on March 18th, 2009 by Julie - Food Storage Made Easy

If you remember from our New Years Resolutions post, I wanted to start using more legumes in my cooking. I have been sticking with it, however I discovered that having these legumes around in my lazy susan pantry was messing with my normal flow! I had to figure out a way to store them in a usable and tidy way – otherwise using them wouldn’t be all that fun anymore. Just ask Jodi how crazy I get around clutter. (Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui is my new favorite book- Jodi mocks me for it, but I don’t LOSE THINGS ahem).

Anyways, I was on a mission to tidy my lazy susan. This is how I did it:

1. I took an inventory of all the grains and legumes I use regularly

2. I determined if I used them in big, medium, or small quantities

3. I went around to a bunch of different stores looking at containers and prices

4. I settled in on some containers from walmart that would fit my needs

5. I emptied the plastic bags and cardboard boxes into my cute new CLEAR containers

6. I used larger cereal dispenser containers for brown rice, and wheat since those are the two grains I use most often

7. I taped the nutrition label from the bags to the bottom of the containers for future reference

If you need a place for containers but don’t want to drive around to 4 or 5 different stores like I did, amazon is a great place. Check out this set of containers, they come in all different sizes so you can store different amounts of different products.

Anyways, here is the finished product – having a good amount of each food in my pantry makes cooking much more pleasant. This way I’m only required to refill every so often down in the basement bulk containers…

Oh and as a side note, if you didn’t go look at my resolutions, I did number 3 a couple weeks ago! I’m right on track! In the words of Tracy in SC (our biggest fan) GO ME!




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Filed under: Julie's Progress, Long Term Food Storage

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View Comments to “My New Food Storage Containers”

  1. Michelle, on March 19th, 2009 at 6:34 am Said:

    Ahhh, the sight of that organized shelf makes my heart go pitter-patter!

    Congrats on sticking with your resolutions!

  2. gaby, on March 19th, 2009 at 8:36 am Said:

    it looks really good!!!!

    could you share some recipes using garbanzos beans or chick peas I think they call it too.
    I want to learn hoe to use more legumes too so please if you could share recipes thank you!!!!
    I love your web side thank you it’s with a lot of information!!!

  3. jweiss08, on March 19th, 2009 at 11:17 am Said:

    I did my one on humus a couple weeks ago, and I have another one I’ll be trying this week and posting in the next couple of weeks :)

  4. Rebecca, on March 19th, 2009 at 5:20 pm Said:

    If you’re in Northern Utah, you should check out Industrial Supply & Container in West Salt Lake. They sell clear, square PETE containers in 1 gallon and half -gallon sizes. They’re about $2.50 and $3 including the lid. They are AWESOME!! The big ones hold a whole #10 can. I love mine–and my pantry now looks so much neater.

  5. Joyce, on March 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pm Said:

    Ahh…a girl after my own heart.:) I love organizing just about anything. Just looking at your pictures makes me want to do a better organizing job in my pantry. I use glass canning jars in various sizes with white plastic lids. Dh thinks it’s funny that it makes me happy to stand at the pantry door and just look at our food storage.

    I’m such a geek!
    Joyce

  6. Bruce, on March 20th, 2009 at 5:22 am Said:

    Great work! I hope to get so organized one day soon!

  7. ChelleWeezie, on March 20th, 2009 at 11:38 am Said:

    Very cool.. I use those exact containers for my dry goods legumes, oatmeal, rice, cocoa, cornstarch etc.. They are great and look nice!

  8. TracyinSC, on March 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 pm Said:

    Biggest fan EVER!!!

    GO YOU! That really looks beautiful. When I have something that beautifully organized, I look at it over and over and over again. It just brings me many happy moments. I know – I need therapy (maybe group therapy with Joyce…). You should be proud of your lovely accomplishment. I am. Way to go!

    Love ya,
    Tracy

  9. veronica, on March 23rd, 2009 at 2:53 pm Said:

    Just a question I had about cooking your legumes/peas/beans. Whenever I try to use my dried beans, no matter how long I cook them, they still come out to be not as soft as the canned beans. What can I do to make these softer?

  10. ctdaffodil, on March 24th, 2009 at 8:02 am Said:

    Geez – It looks sooo Tidy…. We eat the 40ounce jars of Skippy so I save and clean those jars to use for bean storage here – I buy the 1 pound bags and can fit 2 in each jar – then into the freezer they go for longterm (kills off any hiding eggs)

    I have never heard of canning meat….

  11. Polly, on March 25th, 2009 at 12:57 am Said:

    When I first saw your picture of the lazy susan, I feared you had broken into my house and taken pictures of my unorganized mess!
    Thanks for the incentive to do a little organization!

  12. Tara B., on March 27th, 2009 at 9:24 am Said:

    LOL!!!!!! i’m laughing so hard because i seriously thought that was a picture of my secret corner…. thank you for the motivation… ♥

  13. Rebecca in KS, on March 30th, 2009 at 6:59 am Said:

    I love it! I have many things in clear containers, though a couple of the things were only there because my baby likes to pull things off the shelf of the pantry…and drag them to a carpeted room. And using the small containers was a great idea, I might start doing that for things I don’t use as often.

  14. lynn, on March 30th, 2009 at 6:12 pm Said:

    rebecca, I tried to find the website for the PETE containers you mention…maybe they dont sell online? I would like more information if you have it, I am currently using Lock n Lock containers but yours sound great too. Thanks!

    Great job on the pantry too

  15. Julia Grant, on April 21st, 2009 at 5:48 am Said:

    What a wonderful site. I have an emergency kit, actually two, for two rigs. But I need to revamp my tiny storage area. I so want to win the wheat grinder. I was raised LDS, but now am a Catholic. I use many of the storage tips from the LDS. I use glass storage,because we live at the coast. We buy through a co-op, We have large food safe buckets, and store in those. I buy when on sale, and when we build our home, we will have mucho storage! I have many health issues, so this would be wonderful. Thank you for the blessing of this site.We love it ! Julia

  16. Tammy Marsini, on April 22nd, 2009 at 8:52 am Said:

    I was wondering if anyone has ever seen triangular shaped food storage containters that would fit more efficiently on a lazy susan. I have looked for them everywhere and can’t find any. I want to keep my flour and sugar etc but the square or rectangle containers are very awkward on the lazy susan.

  17. Cat, on May 30th, 2009 at 11:37 pm Said:

    I’m also looking for triangular containers like Tammy mentioned. Just today, I found a scrap of a page from Sunset magazine’s Feb 2007 issue that shows spices in triangular containers on a lazy susan and I WANT them! Unfortunately, I only have the photo and none of the product info.

  18. Diane Little, on November 2nd, 2009 at 12:02 pm Said:

    I found a set of clear plastic food storage containers of 3 different sizes that all nest onto a lazy susan base. I use the containersa on my lazy susan. They were made by “The carousel GrouP from Norwalk CT. I have searched the internet and have not been successful.The unit is dated 1982. Still searching. Please let me know if you find anything

  19. Diane Little, on November 2nd, 2009 at 12:04 pm Said:

    sunset Magazine does not archive that issue :(

  20. teestayovahea, on November 2nd, 2009 at 5:31 pm Said:

    Love the way you decided to organize your lazy susan area. Martha couldn't have done it better! ;0)

  21. Diane Little, on November 2nd, 2009 at 7:02 pm Said:

    I found a set of clear plastic food storage containers of 3 different sizes that all nest onto a lazy susan base. I use the containersa on my lazy susan. They were made by “The carousel GrouP from Norwalk CT. I have searched the internet and have not been successful.The unit is dated 1982. Still searching. Please let me know if you find anything

  22. Diane Little, on November 2nd, 2009 at 7:04 pm Said:

    sunset Magazine does not archive that issue :(

  23. teestayovahea, on November 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 am Said:

    Love the way you decided to organize your lazy susan area. Martha couldn't have done it better! ;0)

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