June 25, 2011

The One with Organized Baking

Sometimes, I just need to organize

It's amazing how cluttered one's drawers and cupboards and hiding spaces can become over many months. Though most people would have probably still identified my baking cupboard as "organized" I knew, deep down, it needed some serious attention

I have accumulated a massive amount of baking mix-ins (mostly chocolate)--semi sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, unsweetened baker's chocolate chips, mint and chocolate chips, Hershey's kisses, toffee brickle bits, sweetened flaked coconut, candied ginger, raisins, walnuts, pecans, almonds, and more. 

When I see a sale, I stock up. For instance, I may or may not have 4 jars of molasses. Yes, I love molasses cookies. Yes, I was baking them non-stop over the winter. Yes, they will get used eventually. Yes, each bottle was 8 cents per ounce cheaper than the other varieties. No, you may NOT make fun of me. I'll know you're laughing inside, though. 

In any case, I also have a frugal streak when it comes to food storage. My salsa jars, pepper jars, and pasta jars have all been washed and cleaned and used for other purposes (such as homemade salsa storage.) I won't even mention the 6 boxes of canning jars in the basement. Oh wait, I just did. But it occurred to me in a moment of brilliance, "Why not use the abundance of jars to contain all of my bags and bags of baking ingredients?!" Bags are not easy to access or stack or organize, plus they require the use of my bag clips that seem to be a hot commodity as of late. 

And so I set to work. Mason jars went in the dishwasher and the already-clean salsa/pasta sauce jars went right to use. Now I have a highly organized cupboard and beautifully stored baking products which can be identified through the clear glass. Heck, they're pretty enough to display on open kitchen shelves. 

I feel awesome right now. 

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4 comments:

  1. I'm the same! I could've written this post! haha. Well, I'm not that organized yet, but I do stock up, and I do seem to have more mason jars and glass pasta jars than I care to admit. haha. Now if I could just get my behind in gear, I'd be all set!

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  2. I love jars for storage! Yes, much better than bags/packets. I even store yeast packets in a small jar (they used to get lost between canisters of flour, etc. Great tip!

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  3. Sounds like a great idea Mel. I love that you love to organize, too. We each have our own idiosyncrasies, though, don't we? Love you, mom

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  4. Love it!!
    && I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE organization!!

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