And anytime you DO donate, please check the expiration dates. I was once given two paper grocery sacks full of donated groceries... most of which had already expired. That means at Step 1, people donated expired food. Then at Step 2, the organizer of said food drive distributed expired food. Wow. Double Fail.
 Pantry ~ Before12:46pm |
Out came the remaining tiny cans of things. We did eat several of them, but this is what we are (apparently) not going to eat. The cracker boxes on the right could probably be thinned down. They each have a sleeve or two of crackers in them.
 Pantry ~ After12:56pm |
Did you catch that? It took me all of about 10 minutes to go through the shelf of groceries, check dates, and bag up the food. I even threw an open item away. I probably could have done a more thorough job, but I know how long my stuff has been here and am reasonably comfortable with how soon I might use it. There is a large jar of tomatoes and 2 jars of tomato paste in the back... that is more for emergency supply than anything else.
However, then I had a little over a bag of groceries to give to my friend that runs a little Food Pantry. What to do with it? Well, I've put it right back on the pantry shelf! It is in my way, so that should serve as a constant reminder. I've already contacted her and asked her to stop by when she is on my side of town. It will be gone soon enough.
 Pantry ~ With Donations |
When was the last time you went through your pantry? Do you donate food very often? At least once per year?
This is another nice, small project that little ones could even do with you! If you have multiple shelves in your pantry, you could even do one shelf each time you tackled it. This makes the job short enough that you (and/or any kids helping) won't lose your attention span or patience with the task.
