Homemade Pantry

I don't have a pantry in this house and very little cabinet space. But If I want to be frugal, that means stocking up when there is a deal and I have coupons on the things I use most.  But given the situation, where the heck am I supposed to keep it all?  We have this small entry kinda place from the garage to the stairs leading up into the house.  Not a lot of space, but if thought it out I could store things there.  So I got some of those wire like restaurant shelves, like this.....

and you can see problem number one.  It's great really, and I got it on sale at Target.  It holds a lot and can take a lot of weight.  But cans and jars are a little unstable.  take

 1 jar of chicken gravy

+ a 2 foot fall

+ ceramic tile floor

+ 1 bare foot in a flip-flop

Did you do the math?  Yep, not only did I have a mess, I was picking glass out of my foot for the rest of the day.  The solution? Cardboard!  Luckily (this time) my husband can procrastinate about getting rid of cardboard boxes.  The box that the shelves can in was the perfect size for making a "shelf liner". 

Then I used that box knife to cut around the poles and to make sure it laid nice and neat on the shelf. Then I was ready to put all the glass jars and other things back on the shelf.

Ummmm, yes I prefer Prego.  And have you tried Black Jewel Popcorn? YUM!!  Oh, sorry.  ANYWAY, it's still a work in progress.  Even though everything is nice and stable now, I am afraid that if I pull that sugar out of the back I might knock a jar over, so when the budget allows and I find something good but cheap, I want to get some kind of mat to put in front of this unit in case something falls again.

Hope that helps you get an idea of how to store some non-perishables so you are ready to make your favorite recipes at any time!

Until Next Time.....

Franny