Spring Cleaning Your Pantry

Each season, it is a good idea to clean out your pantry. Think about it, do you really want to hang on to that Egg Nog Pancake Mix you got as a gift during the Holidays? The pantry closet and cabinets need sorting and cleaning frequently. Get a garbage bag and sort through all of your food products. Everything has a shelf life and if you can’t remember when you bought it or what you bought for it should get tossed out. Clean out the spices. Dried ground spices only last about 6 months, whole spices, like a cinnamon stick, last a year. Toss out the poultry seasoning, because you’ll need a fresh jar next Thanksgiving. Once you’ve cleaned out the shelves, wipe them down and put the remaining contents back according to similar use. This would be a great time to stock up on common pantry items. Most cookbooks have pantry lists of what to always have on hand so that you are always ready to prepare a meal.