Hi friends! This week has been a scorcher. Highs in the triple digits. As I am typing, it’s currently 116 degrees outside at 1:30 pm. That’s not the heat index, it’s the actual air temperature. The weather app says it will get hotter today too. Can we be exceedingly grateful for air-conditioning?
Since it’s so hot and no one wanted to venture outside today, I decided to deep-clean the kitchen pantry. What? That’s not your idea of fun? I suppose cleaning the pantry isn’t the most exciting job, but it is one of those things that should be done regularly. Might as well do something productive in this heat.
I enlisted the help of my youngest son (He is 24, so not “young” but…) and we went shelf by shelf, taking everything out and putting it on the kitchen table. We sorted, checked expiration dates and found all kinds of interesting things. There were a lot of “Wow! I forgot we had this!” moments as well as a lot of “Why on earth do I have so many of these?” Case in point, chocolate chips:
Seven bags of chocolate chips. SEVEN!?!? All unopened. Let’s not discuss how many opened bags I found (five) which I’m sure I intended for something delicious, yet never found the time to bake. There will definitely be baking in my future. Especially since I also have a variety of nuts, dried fruits, oats and coconut. Besides cookies, what should I make?
After we dealt with the chocolate on the top shelf, there were all the cans and staples, like mustard, mayo, hot sauce, salsa etc. We keep our paper plates and napkins in the pantry, the onions and garlic too. (Lord have mercy, I have a LOT of garlic!) Because I’ve been working on the cookbook and teaching so many Instant Pot classes, there is a LOT of rice and pasta in my pantry. So much rice in fact, I counted ten different types. I’m embarrassed to admit that to you. No, there are no pictures because really? Who needs that much rice? Plus three different types of lasagna noodles. Regular. Gluten-free and no-boil. Then spaghetti, linguini, bow-tie, large shells, orecchiette, rotini, gemelli, orzo, farfalle, mini penne… I told a friend my next blog is going to be called “Chocolate and Carbs” because obviously, I have a problem.
*sigh*
Then again, maybe I don’t have a problem. I love to cook and I like variety. Right? That’s going to be my story anyway.
This is the “after” picture of my pantry. No way was I taking a “before” picture. This kitchen has always been imperfect, but there are still some things the world does not need to see.
Do we share any favorite products? (Of the ones you can see anyway.) And look, I don’t need to buy napkins for a good long time. Haha!
Enjoy your weekend, friends. If you’re feeling brave, clean out your pantry too and leave a comment with all your chocolate and carbs. Help me feel a little less of a pantry freak, Ok?
