Organizing my food pantry and decluttering my dish cabinet...

This stuff happened almost a month ago, not quite a month, but almost and I want to put it up. The week of May 9th-13th I decided to tackle 2 fairly big jobs in my kitchen. One being the food pantry and 2 being the built in dish cabinet. Of course I still had my regular weekly cleaning, food shopping, meal making and laundry, plus kid pick up and lunches to pack etc and stuff to do. But these 2 bigger tasks really needed addressing and I wanted to get them done. I did purchase some affordable liners for each shelf and stuff. I didn't buy enough, so I did have to run back to Besia/Cainz Home where I purchased them during that week and bought a few more.  

This food pantry took honestly most of my day one day that week and that's fine. I wanted it 100% done and not a half ass job. So, doing a quality job in one go, for me was worth it. Immediately after sending Noah to school, because Bran rides his bike. I came home grabbed a hot cup of coffee. Cranked up some music in the kitchen. And got right to business. I took absolutely everything out of every shelf. I brought the vacuum out because the bottom floor area in there had debris that needed vacuuming. I also got a hot soapy wash rag and scrubbed the heck out of the floor in the pantry and then dried it with a few paper towels. And then I set the liners down. Because well...if a can makes any rust marks I'd prefer it not be on my floor. So liners down. And of course checked dates on stuff too. because again, I'm not doing a half ass job, and I don't want to put anything old and expired in. So, a quick check and back to put things in place.  

Okay bottom floor area of the food pantry done. Very happy with it!

Next shelf! Again wiped everything down and dried it and a nice new liner is in this picture. 

Breakfast stuff for the bottom shelf. Cereal, Pop Tarts. Pancake mix, syrup, coffee, chocolate milk straws. I hate hot tea and only drink it if we're sick, but I do keep a small pack of tea bags on hand in case any of us gets sick. 

Coffee creamers. 

Old Ikea liners which I am replacing with the nicer Besia ones.  

Above the breakfast shelf is the food shelf. Like panko, croutons, spare Miracle Whip. Spare Lawry's garlic spread. Stuffing. Butter noodles. Roux (for curry and beef stew). Cook Do. Pot roast mix. Peach cups. That sort of thing.

You can sort of see 3 shelves at once in this pic.

Essentials row/shelf. Like grains and stuff. Rice, beans. 

Same shelf as the rice but this is on the other side. We have spices galore. Beef gravy, chicken bouillon, garlic salt, buffalo wing power, BBQ sauce and salad dressing and mustard and popcorn oil and popcorn salt for cooking/making popcorn and Lipton soup packets.

Sweets and baking shelf. Marshmallows for rice krispy treats. Reese's Peanut Butter cups. 

Giant Nutella... frosting, cupcake liners galore... baking paper for lining baking pans far right and Crisco for baking. 

I am sure you could splurge and buy very expensive containers made especially for food pantries. But, I buy my plastic containers from the Daiso for 100 yen. And like for me that's good enough. I lump all my sugars in 1 plastic box/container. That way I know where they are. They're all together. : ) Granulated sugar, brown sugar, Japanese white sugar that dissolves easier in cooking. Salt. I have a favorite salt here in Japan the one closest this camera. There is a pic of a stock pot on the front of my favorite salt. This salt doesn't get all wet and clumpy lumpy like the other salts do in Japan. This salt is always nice and dry. In the other plastic container I keep plastic disposable forks, plastic knives and plastic spoons and disposable chopsticks all this stuff was bought at the Daiso. And if we ever have an emergency say a family member in Osaka gets sick and we need to grab a quick meal and pack it up immediately. I don't have to go..."where did I put those plastic utensils?" This way they are all lumped together in one 100yen container. Again I am sure there is a fancier way. But this is my way and it works. : ) 

Paper plates on the right of the plastic forks and spoons etc. This right here is all the Thanksgiving plates and napkins. 

Here are the rest that aren't Thanksgiving. We have the 4th of July plates and napkins in various sizes. I see a green plate with a snowman on it. And other holidays in between.

Easter...

Birthday napkins, if ever I should need one, it would be easy to find.

And a better view and nicely stacked and stuff. That way any holiday I need something, I can quickly look to see if I have it? Do I need more? Do I need replacements? Etc. 

A very good view and idea of these 2 rows. Again nicely organized. Easy to see what's what and where something is. I like things nicely organized. 

Even Happy Easter napkins.

Platters. An Easter platter. And 1 Easter egg holder and some Easter coasters.

A 4th of July platter. 

When my grandma passed. All daughters and granddaughters got to get a nice sized stack of her recipes. And many of us gave copies of the recipes we didn't receive to each other, so we made copies for eachother so we tried to make sure all recipes were given to all of us. Of the recipes we specifically wanted. I am so thankful to have a container full of cherished family recipes as well as some recipes that can't even fit in there because they're a bit too big. But that's okay. They're in my Nana's handwriting and I cherish them and would never let them go. : ) 

That double chocolate cake recipe is out of this world. Bliss. And these are old school American recipes. And I will be giving copies to both Branden and Noah to have and pass down if they'd like too. : ) 

It is hard to see the top top shelf and the bottom of the pantry in 1 shot. See... you can only see to the breakfast row in this pic. 

Here is the bottom of the pantry but now the top shelf is missing...not in this frame/pic. Oh well it does give you an idea at least of what I did that day. I was super tired that day. But really happy with what I could accomplish in one day. : ) This is the day I made the beef stew. I remember because I was basically able to organize my pantry while the beef boiled all day long too. I was knocking 2 jobs out at the same time basically. Getting dinner nice and tender and boiled and an organized pantry all at the same time. 

The day after I finished my food pantry. I did my light house cleaning for that day and I ran to the Besia/Cainz store to pick up more liners. This is what I got that day. 2 extra liners and some napkins for the boys obento/lunches. These napkins seemed so fresh and so right for this season to me. : ) I also picked up a Starbucks drink along the way on my drive home. 

So 2 days after I cleaned my food pantry, I jumped in head first with getting the dish cabinet tackled. As soon as Noah was driven to school, I once again grabbed a cup of hot coffee and turned on some music and got right in on my pantry. I first took absolutely everything out of it and then vacuumed and wiped and scrubbed everything. Dried everything and then lined everything. Tippy top shelf all nicely lined. I placed my beloved all white Crock Pot up there because I want it out of reach from everyone and I really want to keep it safe so that's why it's there. And next to it...

Great big platter, cake cover, and inside that is my big wooden salad bowl (you see this on holidays), a container and my Ikea cheese graters which I seldom ever use anymore, since Costco has the best selection of cheeses (from America) and at the best prices for cheese in all of Japan! And the ones I use most come grated. However eh...I'll still keep my cheese graters around. You never know if it might come in handy. : )

Bowls on this shelf. And I'm not going to go and show you shelf by shelf like I did with the food pantry. It's tedious. But this just gives you an idea. And in this container...clear 100 yen container I keep all my measuring cups and spoons and I like them here... because it keeps things neat tidy and organized in 1 small space. I also keep the big wide soup type plastic spoons in here too besides measuring spoons too. Under that funnel far back right is toothpicks and everyone in the house knows. And they're not hiding it's just saving space keeping the funnel and toothpicks on top of the kakigori (shave ice) bowls, far back right)

Our dinner plates from Costco. And the 2 plates the boys use for breakfast, they have dividers for different types of foods.

Top 2 rows. On top of the crock pot is the popcorn containers for family movie night. 2nd top row is obento stuff/lunch box stuff far left... and plastic containers for storing food far right. I used to have so many plastic containers that I never used so I threw a whole bunch away. I just don't want excessive clutter or massive amounts of crap we don't use.

1 wide whole view of all rows and shelves. Again everything clean. Everything organized. No clutter. Everything has a spot where it belongs. Baking pans on the bottom floor area of my built in dish cabinet.

And lined.

Cutting boards and rolling pin, ceramic bowls next to plastic bowls and colanders. Pans one row/shelf... and baking stuff at the bottom. Again everything super easy to find. Nothing cluttered at all. Again it's just a nice feeling to know my kitchen is done. It's clutter free. It's a calm feeling knowing the house is in order. And not a disaster area. 

Mother's Day and other good bits thrown in...

Happy (belated) Mother's Day, to all of you. My Mother's Day was excellent! Granted, I was minus one of my children on Mother's Day. : ) Since he was on his over night trip. But this is how my Mother's Day went in a nut shell real quick. : ) I woke up freakishly early Sunday on Mother's Day to make Branden, his breakfast and drive him to the plaza because that morning was his over night trip. After dropping him off, I drove home. Had myself my 2nd and final cup of coffee. I did some online stuff. Read online news, checked emails. I went upstairs, washed my face and whatnot and went in Noah's bedroom for a 5 minute snuggle buggle. : ) I love my kids, I flat out adore them. Noah woke up after a bit. Went downstairs. We had some breakfast together. Noboru finally woke up and had some breakfast and coffee. Noboru left to work. He would be gone until 8pm-ish. So it was just Noah and I on Mother's Day. And that's okay. What I received for Mother's Day this year was a pair of really cute purple Panasonic headphones with extra bass (no treble, lol). And some essence by Missha. After breakfast, a few hours after, maybe around 11am-ish that day, Noah's friend came to ask him if he'd like to play? So Noah asked me..."my friend's here, should I send him away since it's Mother's Day today?" I said..."Oh honey, of course not, if someone you like asks you to go and ride bikes, and it's a nice day, by all means go and play." And so Noah smiled widely and he got on his bike and he rode bikes with 2 boys from his class. : ) They rode around and around all over. Noah came home really happy and very thirsty around 3pm. Could have been closer to 2:50pm actually. He was a sweaty mess, so I sent him to shower and get soapy clean. I meanwhile threw one of those frozen Costco cheese pizza, ykwim, in the oven and I split 1 bag of salad (it's for 2 people) into 2 bowls. I got out the vinaigrette and when Noah came down, we enjoyed a fast, quick and easy dinner. I appreciated not having to cook on Mother's Day. After that, we quickly tossed all the dishes into the dishwasher. And we started to have a movie marathon. It might have been Mother's Day, but I let Noah pick the movies. : ) We watched, Big Hero 6 and the Terminator 2 (because this is Noah's favorite Terminator movie. : ) And then Noah fell asleep, completely zonked to the world. I carried my boy upstairs to his bed, covered him with his blanket and kissed his forehead, while he happily slept. I meanwhile jumped in the shower. I missed Branden a little bit of course, but I know how important it is for him to grow as a person to be on trips like this. So, I was happy for Bran. I watched TV in my nightgown/sleep tee. And Noboru came home and took a shower. A very low key Mother's Day and that's okay, totally cool. : ) 

This is a cushion bag for electronics and I bought it at the Daiso. I really like this bag and I keep my headphones in here. I might go back and get a few more of these bags, for the kids for when we travel this summer. Nice to have a place to keep all your electronic type stuff in 1 bag. And I really like that it's cushioned inside. And they had different color bags of this too. : )

The night Branden came home from his trip, we had baked ravioli, salad and garlic bread. 

What else, have I been doing? Cleaning house during the weekday, running to the grocery store, laundry, blanket washing. Same ol' same ol' But it always needs to be done. This day, I cleaned the living room, all the dusting, dusting the TV stand, coffee table, dusting the ceiling fans, book shelf. Windex-ed the windows. Just all the little bits that need attention, you know what I mean. : ) 

Upstairs and downstairs had to get a major window sil cleaning. Gosh they get so gross... so they really needed it. : ) 

Also, anyone see outside those super tiny red bugs. They come out before rainy season. They're so tiny, like smaller than the tip of a pen. You'd almost miss them, if you didn't look closely. They come every spring before rainy season. I really hate them. They don't come into the house. They seem to like outside, but they'll sometimes crawl on my laundry pole. On the back patio floor. Sidewalks outside. I wipe my pole down every time I use it, however in this season, I spray my laundry pole legs down with this bug spray (not the laundry poles themselves, that hold the clothes just the base/legs and it keeps them from climbing higher, go figure). It keeps them from climbing my pole, so this spray is peace of mind for me. Those tiny red bugs hate this bug spray. And I also spray every window sil down in the house every 3 days, just lightly to make sure...they don't come around. Anyway, just wondering if those super tiny red bugs are driving anyone else bonkers. : ) 

Almond milk, it's available here everywhere now. Where we live, and we live in the countryside. The kids really enjoy it. : ) 

If you're American, you'll know everyone was talking about this fight! Boxing of course and this was a highly anticipated fight. The Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquio fight. Floyd won, however afterwards everyone was upset because apparently Manny did not report he was injured before the fight. To me, if someone lost, just say they lost and turn the page. You know what I mean. But anyway...I saw this picture online and it cracked me up! That's so Kanye! LOL. : ) 

Saturday, May 16th, I decided to give the kitchen a hard thorough cleaning. Washed up the table cloth and moved all the chairs to the living room. The boys wiped the baseboards down, with those Kirkland wipes. I vacuumed and then I prepared to mop. 

The boys both antibacterial wiped the trash cans. I have 2 very helpful boys.

I then got crack-a-lackin' on the mopping. Mopped with that thick small squeeze bottle of Mr Clean in Gain scent twice and then rinsed twice. Turned the ceiling fan on and opened the kitchen windows and let the floors dry. They dried super quick with the breeze and then I put everything back in it's spot. We had ginger pork for dinner with salads and veggies and rice and whatnot that night. 

Next day, Sunday May 17th, I baked a delicious yellow cake from a box. And let it cool and then frosted the cake with some chocolate frosting. I also prepped dinner. Fried chicken (karaage) for supper. Yum, every one's favorite in our house. 

Karaage, rice and veggies. We all 4 ate and enjoyed a nice family Sunday dinner and we all had cake and ice cream for dessert too. Sunday dinners are the best. : ) 

Cake and ice cream. Dessert Sunday evening. : )  Anyway those are some of the things we have been up to lately.

Any other bits to add before I send this off? Hmm. Branden has a big test this Thursday. He's been studying like crazy for it lately. Meanwhile next week, I have to go to Noah's school for an emergency drill. On top of that, it is a free observation day...meaning you can go any time of day for that day. But the last class, you need to be there for, the last class and then wait for them to have the emergency disaster drill afterwards. : ) So that's next week. Anything else to add? We have an appointment at the US Embassy in Tokyo to renew the boys passports, early June. If they're under 18 or 16 or whatever you can't mail it in, like I can mail mine in. For kids you need to get yourself all the way to Tokyo and apply in person. Noah's expires, end of August, Branden's expires end of September, however getting down to Tokyo is a pain in the batooty...so we will do both of theirs at the same time and save us a trip to Tokyo. Also...considering we will more than likely, be traveling twice this summer overseas...once when we 4 go on our big family vacation...hoping for July and the 2nd trip will more than likely be just the kids and I, either... in August or July... more than likely the kids and I will hop over to Guam, enjoy a few movies and the tropical beach and spend some time with grandpa/my dad.Whenever they don't have school and the flight is open. So easier for us to do this passport stuff...before we travel. Also some countries will not let you enter, if you have less than a few months on your passport left, granted going to America would be no problem or to Japan would be no problem... but we are also considering a 3rd country for travel. So for us getting it done earlier is best. I have since already made 2 appointments with the American Embassy...because both kids need an appointment. So Bran has an appointment set and Noah's is after Branden's, but same day. Just like a 20 minute time difference. 

Vacation. We like to take 1 big one, a year as a family. You know...we all work hard. The kids hit the books hard and go to school. Noboru works hard. I also work hard at home. We like knowing we have some sort of reward for the whole year. That 1 trip a year, to really look forward to. Do you know what I mean. However, we can't decided where to go. We have it widdled down to 2 destinations. We already have the hotels picked for both destinations. After reading reviews off Trip Advisor and Expedia, for weeks and weeks, hahaha. One place is in America and the other place is in Asia. I'm not trying to be all....secret squirrel about it either. I will totally fill you all in soon. It's just...trying to decide...which place. We have been watching Youtube videos of families at both destinations, having a blast. Meanwhile, Noboru and I are like stuck...50% wanting to go to place A and 50% wanting to go to place B. One day we'll both be in agreement and we'll say...we are going to place A. And the next day..we'll both sheepishly say..hmm saw a good video on YouTube about place B. Then next thing you know...we'll be all gung ho for place B. We literally are like 50/50 stuck. Hahaha.  So...is it the end of the world type of a problem? Not even. However it has been taking up a lot of our free time lately. Preoccupying my time. if I get a free moment. Instead of updating this blog, if I get a chance...I prefer research place A or place B. @_@ So, for now...we are still undecided. Anyway as Homer Simpson used to say...Doh! : )