Thursday, November 16, 2017

Throw It Out Thursday: The Kitchen Pantry



Today's project was easy and took me all of about six or seven minutes, and that includes taking the photo and getting on and off the chair to reach the uppermost shelves.

My Throw It Out Thursday took place in the kitchen pantry cabinets. I call them my Working Pantry because I store any extra cans and boxes of items on shelves in the basement so things don't get too cluttered. That way, if there's a great sale on something, I can take advantage of it and not have to always heave around a bunch of the same items in the cupboard if all I want is a can of olives or a box of brown sugar.

This guise of efficiency does not mean, however, that I don't have a few Antiques or Forgotten Foodstuffs lurking in there. Since I have to use a chair for the top shelves, and since Stuff Happens, I ended up with some things that Had To Go. Here then, is what went out the door today:




I absolutely abhor waste, especially food waste, so this was No Fun for  me.  But at least some of the items are mostly empty or empty or, well, just awful.  The two fancy olive oil bottles are actually empty; I was saving them to return to the Pricey Olive Oil Store for credit on refills.  I finally realized that I'm not going to do that.  The rice box is empty, too, for a similar reason.  It is too worky to fill it from the gargantuan bag of rice that I buy, so I keep on hefting the bigass bag of rice, forgetting to toss the box.   

Every year, I think, "Wouldn't it be nice to have ice cream cones at home?"  No.  I eat my ice cream straight out of the pint container like every other grownup who is glad to have gotten her kids out of the house so that she can do all the things she told her kids not to do.   So that box, unopened, went straight into the trash.  So did the jar of Amish elderberry jelly, unopened.  I dislike elderberries, and we do not eat jelly.  Unfortunately, it is also true that Amish jelly is intensely sugary, containing not very much fruit at all, so it had to go.  There's probably a teaspoon of Wondra (a product I no longer use) left in that canister; it had fallen over on the top shelf and I didn't know it was there. 

Goodbye, Elderly Bottle Of Karo whose origins I know not.  So long, enormous bag of Marjoram, herb I rarely cook with.  Off with you, partial bags of Flavoured Decaf, each supposed to taste like something different, but both tasting oddly the same.  And fare thee well, numerous packets of Red Robin seasoned salt, chucked into the bag of takeout then saved for...who knows what?  You can join the rest of the Refuse Rejects in the trash bin, jockeying for space with the forgotten peanut butter chips, empty spice jar with the broken lid, and the Canadian marmalade and raspberry jam, squirreled away in our wine-tasting bag, then unpacked and put away by mistake.  You are all off to the Big Dumpster Of Eternity.

How about you?  Are you Throwing anything Out this Thursday?  Got any kitchen pantry items that need tossing?


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15 comments:

  1. I actually had a Toss It Out Tuesday, inspired by your blog. I have accumulated so much Crap over the years, and I've been particularly bad at being disorganized and not throwing things away lately because of The Injury. It's hard to clean anything when you're on crutches. Anyway, I filled up three bags of recycling and one big bag of trash and tossed them all out. I'm awful at holding onto old clothes that I don't particularly care for but might want if I have to dress up a bit (note: I am lucky as a community college instructor to never have to dress up in the slightest), and I don't throw away packaging for things that I buy in case I have to return them later (which I never do).

    I'm hoping that this will give me some momentum moving forward so that I can have a cleaner room. And I do need to move onto the kitchen as well...

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    1. Mikey--I hear you about keeping Original Packaging. It's a drag.

      I'm glad that you were inspired to get rid of so much stuff that was weighing you down internally and externally. And you Tossed Out on crutches, which proves that it can be done if you have the motivation and desire.

      It's so much easier to LIVE unencumbred with a lot of extra junk around.

      Delete
  2. Last weekend, I found a container of some mysterious spice that I apparently brought from home after we got married ... almost 40 years ago ... ugh.

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    1. Bridget--I wonder why you valued it so much that it made the trip. Oh well. Now it can make another trip, solo.

      Delete
  3. You are inspirational. I need to clean out my pantry. It's over flowing but I'm not quite ready to do it. I did inventory the meat in my freezer this past weekend and threw out some hot dogs. I hate feeling guilty over things like that but I knew I wasn't going to get them.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Jean--Oh, yes. I am The Soul Of Inspiration when it comes to such things. ;-)

      If my sons heard that you tossed hot dogs, they would be devastated. One of the biggest ways in which we differ.

      Delete
  4. I would say I'm horrified by the empty containers, but I think I may have a couple of those myself...

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    1. j@jj--I know. Isn't it terrible? I'd trot out even more excuses, but it's not worth it. At least now it's done, and like the Puritans, my Penance Is Public. Therefore, my shame has made my soul whiter.

      Delete
  5. ***IS ANYONE HAVING TROUBLE WITH BLOGGER'S COMMENTING SYSTEM NOT PUBLISHING YOUR COMMENTS PROPERLY OR NOT BEING ABLE TO LEAVE A COMMENT AFTER A COUPLE OF TRIES?

    I was recently contacted via email by a regular commenter who said that she has been unable to post comments here lately. If this has been happening to you, please contact me via the email link in my sidebar under "Who's In Charge Here?". I've checked my settings, and I can't find a problem, but if there is a common characteristic among those unable to comment, I can hopefully set things right. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. FWIW I thought sure I had left a comment on this post, but I don’t find one. I do recall reading it previously and the thoughts your words prompted. Can’t be sure if I wrote them.

      Delete
    2. joared--Do you use a Mac? Ally Bean, who was the commenter having issues, said that her Mac had an update, and that's when the problems started. She has since done some tweaking or figured things out and has had success lately.

      Delete
  6. My cupboards are almost bare already!! But I should declutter some other areas like my hall closet. Someday soon, maybe on a snow day? Ha, ha, I slay me!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rose--Be careful! Don't even say The Word!

      Delete
  7. How could you forget peanut butter chips. How!

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    1. MaryG--I don't even know why I bought them (for what recipe) to begin with, but it didn't use many, and it must not have turned out well, for I never made it again. They went out of date, so out they went.

      Delete

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