Today is the kitchen organization edition of Works for Me Wednesday.

Mama Says:
Ignore the advice! Do what works for you! Warning: you are about to witness a slew of kitchen organization faux pas. But they work for me!

For example, my pantry is in a corner of my eat in kitchen. There is a largish cabinet above the dishwasher for dishes, but it's really not large enough to store all of the dishes for 9 people. I also try to make my house as child friendly as possible.

And so, my pantry looks like this:


Easy for the slaves kids to unload the dishwasher, get their own dishes for snacks, and set the table for dinner. The lowest shelf holds our breakfast cereal - again, the kids can get it themselves.

The kids usually eat on salad plates. When we don't have a dishwasher, washing plastic is a pain.

Don't worry, I manage to cram a lot of food in there too. "Negative space" does not exist in here!

I ignore the advice to clear off your counters, too. Last spring husband dear bought me this mixer. I use it often, it's heavy, and I don't have a good place in the cupboards to store it. So it lives on this little counter, which is now my "baking center". I'm much more likely to make something with it already out!


I have a Rubbermaid cupboard shelf right out in the open, on my counter. I suppose I could wind pretty ribbon through it or a seasonal garland...but, nah. I'm not Martha Stewarty enough for that. It was decorated with a wasp nest in a pickle jar, but I moved that off the counter before I took a pic so you wouldn't think we were unhygienic. The large jars are plastic! Swoon! $5 at WalMart. They hold sugar, AP flour, and my bread mix (which is empty now). The bread mix is 2 parts AP flour or bread flour, 2 parts whole wheat flour, and 1 part wheat or oat bran.

The little blue jars are for sugar. I have a white sugar and a brown sugar bowl. You're not *supposed* to have a brown sugar bowl for the table, but we eat a lot of oatmeal and oatmeal just ain't right without brown sugar! The third container holds various things. Sometimes baking soda (I clean with it and buy it by the 3 lb. bag at Sam's). Sometimes leftover chocolate chips.

Yeah, okay. It usually holds cake mix. I figured out how to hack "Warm Delights" and my waistline has never been the same. I even - horrors - buy the cake mix at the store, and that's MY jar since Mr R can't have most storebought mixes.


I have baskets in the cabinet - one holds sugars in various forms (brown, powdered, dried honey granules). One holds "mix ins" - raisins, coconut, nuts, chocolate chips. See all those bags? It's various types of flour, masa, cornmeal... and they are not stored in airtight containers! Gasp! 4,000 gallon ziplock bags around every food product in the cabinet does not work for me. I just put bay leaves in all the corners, keep it vacuumed out with that nifty crevice tool, and hope for the best. Yes, I keep the vacuum cleaner near the kitchen.



I have a cleaning caddy in my cupboard. It holds all my little baking stuff - the things you need every time you make something. Vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, other extracts. When I'm making something, I just pull it down in one fell swoop.

For more of Mama's tips and tricks in the kitchen, click here.

For more Works for Me Wednesday Kitchen Goodness, head over to Shannon's at Rocks in My Dryer!

Labels: cooking, homemaking, Works For Me Wednesday