Organized Pantry Meals

My best friend of 20 plus years, Unorganized Mommy, has blessed us with this wonderful post on Organized Pantry Meals.  When she mentioned this idea to me for a post, I really was blown away.  This idea had never occurred to me and I knew that my reader’s would love it as well.  I think this is also a wonderful idea for times when I am not home to cook or away, this gets the meal all ready for the daddy in charge to cook a wonderful dinner for the kids or himself!

Being unorganized I’ve never planned my meals ahead of time and often forget about preparing them until an hour before dinner which often isn’t enough time.  You can imagine how ecstatic I was when I stumbled up this great tip of keeping what I call “Pantry Meals” ready to go when you need them.

For your “Pantry Meals” plan several meals in advance and sort out the non-perishable items of each into a basket for each with the recipe inside and keep the basket in the pantry.  This helps eliminate searching for the ingredients and makes preparing meals a faster process.  In my pantry I have a basket for Spaghetti Dinner.  Inside it I have my noodles, sauce, a small container of unopened parmesan cheese, and a canned vegetable (although you can always prepare fresh/or salad).  I have all I need (minus meat if desired) for a Spaghetti dinner and I don’t have to search for the dry ingredients, I just take out my basket and I’m ready to cook!

Another basket I have is for a Taco Dinner which includes a package of taco seasoning, canned corn, soft tacos, canned diced tomatoes, and I added refried beans and instant rice because I like both on my Tacos.  Again I have all I need minus the meat, cheese, and other ingredients you might want fresh for your Taco Dinner.  Having your dry non-perishable items already grouped together in your pantry makes preparing dinner less time consuming and less stressful.  This tip is great for someone like me who often needs to prepare dinner in a short amount of time!

Amanda Jean is the creator of Unorganized Mommy.  Organization has never been my strong suit.  In fact it’s a suit I’ve never owned or wished to purchase… until recently.  I found myself needing to be a more productive wife and mother.  I found myself needing to get organized.  So I checked myself into Clutter Rehab for the next 52 weeks and just ended my first five weeks organizing my kitchen and learning some great ways to keep an efficient cooking space.