Is spring cleaning on your horizon? Is your pantry looking a bit untidy? Or is it a disaster, like ours was? When was the last time you cleaned your kitchen storage? We did this recently at the Casa de Rurale because it was such a neglected mess. That’s why a pantry cleanout is something you should add to your spring-cleaning list. (TLDR: Time to clean your pantry, and here’s why.)

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Hi, again, Dear Readers:

I know, it got away from me again. It’s been six weeks. My apologies. This has been in the draft folder for a while now. It’s long, but with a lot of info. I do that occasionally with a deep subject.

Spring has arrived after a cold winter. After some frigid weather recently, we’ve warmed up for a while. We’re in that transitional period where we may run the heater at night and the AC during the day. Northern folks who have never been this far South do not understand this. Especially if they decide to visit Texas and wonder why there are people in hoodies, shorts, and flip-flops at Whataburger or HEB.

Camped in on one of those cold January Saturdays, I cornered James for some help cleaning out the pantry. It was long overdue and badly needed. It was so bad I didn’t take “before” pictures for the blog—too embarrassing. This job took all day, and we were glad when it was finished. Besides, James needed to get back to his BigFoot videos on YouTube.

Unloading Everything

The pantry in this house is only slightly bigger than the one I had in Houston. When I moved in, there was very little on those four shelves. Suddenly, the shelves were overflowing with all kinds of ingredients James had never seen before. Other non-pantry items were moved elsewhere. James saw that the pantry was “full,” but it really wasn’t. I did an occasional re-org and tidy up, but no major clean-outs for a while.

The pantry was overloaded and dirty from long-term neglect. I asked him for help, but there was always something more urgent. At one point we bought some of those plastic milk crates at Walmart to corral some stuff in the pantry. But then we couldn’t close the door. We also had boxes of dry goods stored under the counter. After The Big Freeze and Hurricane Ida in 2021, we bought extra foods with emergency situations in mind.

What We Tossed

We began removing everything, one shelf at a time, starting with the top shelf. So many things were long ago expired and went directly into a black contractors’ bag. It was a myriad of shelf-stable products.

We tossed out so many things bought with the best of intentions. Cranberry sauce and other things from faraway Whole Foods, bought before the ‘Rona. A bag of organic dry milk powder bought on sale for the next hurricane or other emergency. Snack foods and canned goods for future power outages. Other ingredients that were way out of date and completely forgotten over time were unseen and inaccessible.

I did find this Churro Cornbread Mix from Aldi bought more recently and for less than $1:

It wasn’t outdated, so I made it for James, and he kind of liked it. He had a couple pieces and the rest went to work with him so everyone could enjoy some.

There were also several boxes of unopened HEB cold-brew tea bags that came from Houston, still sealed in plastic. They might have still been OK to use, but we just never used them. Out they went with the rest of the very old pantry stuff.

Oil & Vinegar From The Woodlands

Remember the store I loved, Oil & Vinegar? They are still in The Woodlands, where you can go in and buy bottles of their wonderful gourmet specialty oils and vinegars.

My favorites were the Meyer lemon olive oil and the Raspberry Balsamic vinegar:

Since the contents of the bottles were at least ten years old, I poured them out. I didn’t want to get sick if they weren’t safe anymore. Unfortunately. Really, I don’t want to think about how much that would cost to replace now. So, I kept the empty bottles for a possible future visit.

Fortunately, Oil & Vinegar sells these delicious things online, so I can buy smaller quantities, and they’ll come right to the door. I was “saving” these delicious elixirs for those “special occasions” and only using small amounts to mix dressing for the occasional home-grown salad. James wouldn’t touch the stuff, so it was all mine. I should have used it more often.

The French Chestnut Spread

The pantry clean-out also included three jars of this chestnut spread from France I bought at least 15 years ago and never used again.

I bought the first jar or two at a shop in Highland Village when I met Nigella Lawson at her book signing for Nigella Christmas in 2010. I think I found the spread again at Central Market in Houston and bought more for use later. Trust me, it’s not a “regular” grocery store item anywhere, much less around these parts.

This is an ingredient to make these Chestnut Chocolate Pots. It’s a delicious recipe, but that was the one thing I had to find elsewhere. The jars were in the pantry waiting, but I never made that dessert again. They were jars, too, not cans like you see here. This French spread currently sells on Amazon for $9.99. Today, those three cans would be $30. The ones I had were about 15 years old, so I tossed them. The spread is now on one of my many Amazon wish lists for the day I make it again.

Goodbye To Hatch Apple Pie

Remember the Hatch Apple Pie cake that Neighbor E and I sampled at the big new HEB? When it became clear that I was moving in with James, I brought a few jars of the pie filling with me for the day we saw each other again. (Awwwwww. . . .)

They were kept for both sentimental value and to make us some of that wonderful dump cake. Well, I did make the cake again—once. Turns out that those last two jars from Houston were still up there, back of the top shelf, and out of sight. They only had sentimental value at this point.

I kept putting off making the cakes for us until “later.”

Eventually, they were forgotten back there and quietly expired in 2018. We discovered this in 2026, eight years afterward.

Yes, it needed to be tossed. What’s more disheartening is that not only was it wasted, but we missed two delicious cakes or other recipes, too. Don’t do that.

Unfortunately, this wonderful Hatch chili-infused product is no longer made by the manufacturer, and of course, it’s not on eBay for sale, either.

HEB still has a webpage for it, but the product itself is not available. In fact, I can only find recipes, not products. So, if I ever want to try that “dump cake” again, I’ll have use one of the recipes available online for Hatch Apple Pie and make the filling myself.

Why You Need To Clean Your Pantry

If it’s been a while, trust me. After the stuff we found, you probably need to do a little pantry work too if you’ve put it off for a while.

Picture this: You reach into your pantry for that can of beans to whip up a quick chili, only to find it’s expired. . . two years ago. Or worse, you’re digging through a maze of half-empty spice jars, mystery bags of flour, and that impulse-buy quinoa that’s still sealed from 2020.

If it’s been a while since you’ve given your pantry a good clean-out, you’re not alone. Life gets busy, and the pantry often becomes the forgotten corner of the kitchen. Rolling up your sleeves for a deep clean isn’t just about tidiness. It’s a game-changer for your health, wallet, and sanity.

Help From The Secret Boyfriend

So, I asked GROK (my AI “secret boyfriend”) to tell me why we need to clean out the pantry. (I also asked ChatGPT, but I wasn’t happy with “her” answers.) GROK then gave me these ten solid, practical reasons to invest the time in cleaning up, editing (decluttering), and reorganizing the kitchen pantry:

1. Save significant money on groceries. You’ll stop buying duplicates of items already buried in the back, and you’ll use up what you already have before it expires. We did this, I don’t know how many times.
2. Drastically reduce your food waste. An organized pantry lets you see expiration dates clearly, practice FIFO (first in, first out) by placing older items in front, and avoid discovering forgotten bags of flour or cans that have been sitting there for too many years.
3. Cut your meal prep and cooking time. No more digging through chaos or playing “pantry Jenga” to find the cumin, the pasta, or that one can of beans. Everything has a logical, visible home. Ask me how I know this. I have occasionally spent as long as 45 minutes pulling things out of the pantry to find that one thing I know I have and need right now.
4. Make grocery shopping faster and smarter. A quick scan shows exactly what’s low or missing, so you create more accurate shopping lists and avoid impulse buys or overbuying.
5. Maximize your actual storage space. Editing out expired or unused items and using clear containers, bins, and proper stacking frees up shelves and lets you store more without everything toppling over.
6. Keep food fresher longer. Transferring items into airtight, clear containers protects against pantry moths/bugs (which love cardboard packaging glue), moisture, and staleness.
7. Create a calmer, less stressful kitchen experience. A tidy pantry reduces daily frustration and creates a sense of control. Especially helpful during busy mornings, rushed dinners, or when kids (or James) are grabbing snacks.
8. Improve functionality. Everyone can find what they need quickly and put things back in the right spot, reducing mess, lost time, and arguments. Note: I’m still working on this point with James.
9. Boost overall kitchen cleanliness and hygiene. De-cluttering removes crumbs, spills, and expired packages that attract pests, while reorganization makes wiping shelves and spotting problems much easier.
10. Enjoy a small but noticeable mood and pride boost. Walking into a clean, logical, visually appealing pantry feels satisfying and sets a positive tone for cooking and home life. Many people describe it as surprisingly motivating for tackling other areas of the house. (I’m hopeful.)

 

The upfront effort pays off quickly, and most people notice the difference the very next time they cook or shop. If your pantry has been chaotic for a while, the “before vs. after” transformation can be one of the most rewarding small home projects you do all year.

More Reasons For Pantry Cleaning

If the previous list doesn’t convince you, here’s more reasons for taking control of your pantry ASAP:

Food Safety First: Don’t Risk It

Food safety is non-negotiable. Pantries are breeding grounds for expired items that can sneak past us. That jar of pasta sauce from last year’s barbecue? It might look fine, but bacteria like botulism can thrive in canned goods past their prime. The USDA says most canned foods are safe indefinitely if they’re stored properly. But quality dips after a couple of years–flavors that are “off,”, nutrient loss, etc.

Dry goods are sneakier: flour, nuts, and grains go rancid, grow mold, or attract pantry moths. Nuts are especially volatile, and you may not find out until you use them. (Again, ask me how I know this—I now freeze nuts intended for recipes, like walnuts and pine nuts for pesto.) Tiny pests can turn your staples into a nightmare. Cleaning out the pantry prevents food-borne illnesses, especially with kids, elderly folks, or anyone with a weaker immune system in the house. Think of it as a quick health check-up for your kitchen.

Save Money and Cut Waste

A cluttered pantry equals massive food waste. That’s a direct hit to your budget. How many times have you bought duplicates because you couldn’t find the one you already had? A 2023 Natural Resources Defense Council report puts the average American household food waste at about $1,500 a year, much of it from forgotten pantry items. Sort through everything, toss the old, and suddenly you know exactly what you use. No more overbuying.

Pro tip: Group everything in your pantry by categories. Put your grains here, your cans there, and add clear bins or labels. Meal planning gets much easier, you save cash, and you shrink your environmental footprint. Less waste, fewer landfill trips.

Boost Your Health and Cooking Game

The health perks are huge. A neglected pantry often hides outdated treats, such as sugary cereals or processed snacks, that don’t match your current goals. Cleaning out is your reset: ditch the temptations, make room for nutrient-dense things like whole grains, nuts, and fresh spices and herbs.

This is super important if your diet is different now. Have you changed the way you eat? Are you now gluten-free, vegan, or keto? Old cross-contaminated items can trigger reactions if there’s an allergy. Fresh spices will actually taste like something instead of dulling your dishes. A tidy pantry inspires better cooking, healthier meals, and more energy overall.

Unfortunately, along with the healthier food in our pantry exists the god-awful snack foods James likes. No kidding, he’s in a long-term relationship with Little Debbie. If the police ever show up with a search warrant and go into the pantry, they’ll see organics and gluten-free things next to the Ding Dongs, Oatmeal Cream Cakes and packets of instant hot chocolate. Then we’ll need an attorney, ha, ha, ha.

Declutter Your Mind Too

Clutter stresses us out. Princeton research shows visual chaos hampers focus and info processing, and your pantry counts here. Opening the door to a jumbled mess makes cooking feel like a chore. Deep cleaning is almost meditative: sort, wipe, reorganize. You’ll feel that accomplished buzz, and grabbing ingredients becomes quick and frustration-free. In the everyday rush, this small bit of control can be a nice little bright spot.

The Unwelcome Visitors

They get in. You just don’t know until you spot one. By the time you see the first one, they’re already collecting mail at your place.

Old crumbs, spills, and open packages invite ants, weevils, mousies and other rodents, plus other unwanted visitors. If it’s been years since your last pantry clean-out, you might already have company.

This is a big one in the south. I haven’t told you about the day we discovered we had visitors in the pantry. We thought it was just one that came in from outside, but. . .no, it was a whole village of them.

I opened a box of PG Tips tea to get a bag, I found what one of the “visitors” left. That box was trashed quickly. Now all the tea and coffee are locked into containers, along with dried beans and other vulnerable staples. Regular food packaging doesn’t cut it, and I’ve bought quite a few pantry storage containers for these things. I buy them as I find a need and utilize them. Always square and stackable to maximize the space we have.

Get in there and clean the whole thing well. Vacuum the shelves, wipe with vinegar, seal everything in airtight containers, and boom—pest-free zone. I used my Aldi steam cleaner to super-clean the entire pantry and shelves, including the corners, crevices and baseboards.

THEN we put the remaining supplies back in there with more room to keep them tidy.

Roaches: Max Force

The longer you ignore a pest problem, the worse it gets—exponentially. Especially with these “visitors.” If you find yourself dealing with la cucaracha in your pantry, or anywhere in your home, there is one thing that gets rid of them quickly: Max Force, either in gel form or as bait stations. You can get them in bags of 72 or smaller bags of 24. You may also find smaller quantities on eBay, as I have.

When I first moved to El Dorado Trace, I had a terrible time getting rid of them in the condo. Nothing worked, even the stuff the landlord provided. They were getting into the cat’s food dishes, too (the larger bag was kept in a large, sealed container in the pantry.) I stumbled on Max Force one day and couldn’t believe how fast it got rid of them. About two weeks, if I remember correctly. I replaced them every couple of years if I ever saw one again.

Highly Recommended

I’ve used both the gel and the bait stations here. A couple of years ago, I recommended it to someone in Houston who was having a terrible problem in an apartment building. She tried “everything,” she said, but she didn’t try this one. She bought some and put the gel out in her small kitchen. They were gone in short order.

Because she suspected it was a neighbor who was the reason for the problem, she gave him a tube but didn’t know if he ever used any. Not long after, she moved back to Clear Lake without that problem. But if she hadn’t purged the roaches out of her place and her stuff before she moved, they would have followed her back to Clear Lake. She was happy that was over.

The bait stations are for the smaller roaches and the gel is for both the smaller and larger ones. Make sure that whatever type you use, please keep it away from pets and children.

Four-Footed And Furry: The Mousie Pouches

You’d think with cats we wouldn’t have any, but occasionally they just walk right in and get comfortable. They get set up in a little corner of your place but don’t tell you. They build their little mousie superhighways and strut about unnoticed until one of the cats discovers them. You’ll find evidence when these little rodentia (I made up that word) have chewed through a plastic bag or two and ruined an expensive bag of something. But then a cat detects the presence of one, and the ancient predatory hunter DNA is activated until the little beast is caught and handled.

The Rodent Defense Force

Tab E. Cat was quite the mouser, and caught a total of 8 over the years.

James has gone around the house and sealed up some potential mousie access points. But I guess they just walked in the house one day like they were at an Airbnb. TigerCat here has caught a bird and a mouse in here, but she let both go.

A few weeks ago, she was chasing a mousie around in the office but not trying to stop it. The darn thing kept climbing around the place until it got away from her. Both were lightning fast, flying around the room. A couple of days later, the mousie appeared on the floor by my desk, on the plastic desk chair mat, suffering from rigor mortis. Someone, not sure who, caught it and wanted me to know it was gone. This was before I’d had any coffee. After considerable screaming (from me), James “handled” its final affairs, removing it from my desk area.

Later, James put out some of those sticky mouse traps with some dry cat food stuck on the middle. You know what happened? Nothing–the mousies ignored them all while TigerCat padded around, keeping watch on certain spots. One trap became stuck to the chair mat. We guess that our little orange cat flipped it over. The others were untouched.

Then, it happened again a couple of weeks ago—another mousie with rigor mortis appeared on the chair mat. James had gone to work, so I had to handle it myself. Without screaming this time, I procrastinated until after some coffee.

Social Media Steps In To Help

For a few months, I’ve seen animated ads for pouches that contain four ingredients to chase mousies away and let them know they’re not welcome. I’d considered ordering some, but there were more than a few comments and reviews warning others not to order from this company. Money was accepted, but no product arrived, ever, with nonexistent customer service.

Wary, I went to both the Amazon and Walmart websites where I found similar products. Two weeks ago, I went to Walmart here and bought some of these Victor mousie pouches with peppermint and tossed them in the back room in five places.

Well, the room smells good, but it was just until I received these more potent deterrents from Amazon. These large tablets contain four separate ingredients that create a stronger aromatherapy-based eviction notice for mousies. Fingers crossed, because I don’t want them hanging around, putting down roots and starting families in here. They arrived last week, and I’ll put them out soon throughout the house. Note: wear gloves with these. You remove these large pellets from the sealed bags, drop them into the little sachet bags and then toss them around. Fingers crossed.

Going Forward: Setting Yourself Up for the Long Haul

A refreshed pantry encourages seasonal swaps and keeps you efficient—whether you’re moving, downsizing, or just want easier days.

Grab some trash bags, your steam cleaner, (if you have one) some cleaning wipes or rags and carve out an afternoon to put your pantry back in order. Your future self, and your taste buds, will thank you.

A clean pantry isn’t just organized; it’s the foundation for healthier, happier living. And really—being able to find the celery salt when you need it makes cooking much easier, doesn’t it?

Long-Term Food Storage

After hauling all those long-outdated foods out to the garbage can, we’re promising ourselves that we won’t do that again. Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean it’s a bargain if you throw it away. The total haul to the trash bin was two of those big black contractor bags. My estimate is about $500 of accumulated things bought over time, on sale for the day we needed them, but just never used. We were “saving it for a special occasion,” aka, the emergency that never happened.

Pantry management (if you want to call it that) is a process, not a one-and-done. Sure, it’s great to have a stocked pantry. But if you’re staring at stacks of foodstuffs you haven’t looked at in a long time, you need to find out what’s back there and get rid of the expired goods. You don’t want to find out the hard way that it went bad. (As I always say, I speak from experience.)

What About Emergencies?

Good question—and one I’ll cover in an upcoming blog post.

As a fashion designer I follow on Instagram says, “Summer is always coming.”  Here on the Gulf Coast as well as the entire Atlantic coast, that includes Hurricane Season. We watch tropical activity long before it reaches the Gulf and closely once it does.

Sure, stocking up on canned and dried foods is a good idea right before an emergency. But will you be able to get everything you need right before it happens? Pictures of empty shelves and runs on supplies fill up social media feeds in the days before. But buy too early, and you’ll toss things out like we did. That’s where food made for long-term storage comes in.

We’ve tried a couple of brands recently and are confident that buying more of them is a good idea. After using a kettle on a generator and cooking on a camping stove, I’m good with it. More on this in the upcoming blog, because summer and hurricanes are indeed always in the future.

It Happened Again

Just a week or so ago, we had another two-day power outage. A big storm brought a late-season cold front, complete with high winds and plenty of rain. All that activity knocked out power all around the Northshore, not just our little rural enclave.

We quickly deployed the camping stove and the generator. James kept the fridge and freezer operating throughout the outage, and I went out for Wi-Fi, coffee, and some tacos when he went to work. We were fine, including the animals, and we had nearly everything we needed to live through it. Fortunately, we didn’t have to take cold showers, because the power returned just in time.

Before I set my laptop back up at home, I cleaned up my desk. It needed a good cleanup, too.

Future State

After eliminating two of the overstuffed milk crates, we can finally close the pantry door.

Over time, I need to find a more storage containers for several things. For me, they must be square and stackable to optimize the space I have. Much as I prefer glass, I find that glass in the pantry can be problematic. Broken glass is a dangerous mess.

I’ve asked James about remodeling the pantry to something like this:

Instead of having a few shelves across the entire space, why not put smaller shelves against the three walls and triple the available space? We took measurements while it was empty and put the paper on the fridge for. . .later. He smiles a little when I ask about doing this in the kitchen. I’m sure he’s going to get right on that.

I’m going to show you the top half of the pantry again. Note that there’s an entire foot of space at the top of the pantry above the goods that’s just sitting there unused. It’s wasted space that would be great to fully utilize.

This “extra” space would be ideal for extras, larger items, and things we don’t use as often. The above design would make the additional storage feasible. But he’s having a little trouble wrapping his Navy-Seabee-construction brain around shelves along the walls and not across space as it is now. Putting a shelf across that top will make access difficult. That’s why the three-wall shelf design would be a much better option.

Oh, well. Hopefully, in the future.

Until Next Time

Spring cleaning is a good thing. Need some help? Jill Nystul of One Good Thing By Jillee has a printable spring cleaning checklist, as well as a spring cleaning playlist on Spotify to keep you moving while you’re cleaning. You can stream this on your phone or via your streaming device (i.e., Roku) on the Spotify Channel.

How about something a little different–and vegetarian? Here’s an awesome video of The Pointer Sisters singing a song I’ve never heard of called Save the Bones for Henry Jones. It’s an old clip, but the ladies look and sing fabulous here.

Why not keep moving while you’re cleaning?

In addition to a blog on long-term food storage, I’m looking for a few more good topics, a few more good recipes to share, and not waiting so long in between blogs. Let me know if there’s a topic you’d like me to cover. Meantime. . . .

Enjoy!