Friday, March 20, 2009

Getting Organized... Finally!

Awhile ago, I did a post about my new goal to shop the sales and stock up when things are on sale. I have this lovely food storage room to keep all my finds. However, my food room had no shelves. A few years ago, I bought some really cheap shelves that I was using, but they really weren't cutting it. Awhile ago, I asked my very handy brother Mark to build me some real shelves and so he did this week. Yea!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of what a disgrace it was before D got to work clearing it out (really, I'm happy that he was doing such a great job. It is great to have such a great help around). I did take some pictures of all the food and stuff that was being stored in there.

Now, I have to forewarn you that I had to put most of the stuff in the bathroom because I needed a door I could lock so the little girls didn't get into everything. But, please don't get too grossed out because scrubbed down first and used bleach to disinfect everything before putting a single piece of food in there and then I locked the door so no one could get in there to contaminate it. For those of you who think this is going a little overboard... this is the bathroom that the kids use. There is no such thing as going overboard.

So here we go... there was all this:
...and this...

...and this...
...and this...
...and this.
It really was a mess. You could barely walk inside, which meant I would often just buy new ingredients when I knew I was going to make something, rather than go down there and try and find it in the tornado wreckage.

And now... here is what it looks like:
There is even room to spare!! I get to go shopping again!

It just makes me so happy. I just keeping going down there to look at it all. Thanks, Mark!!

My little helpers relaxing after all their hard work.
KL carrying a big heavy can of spaghetti sauce.

Also, the day we cleared out the food room, I decided that maybe it was time to clean out the deep freeze. This was party because Dave wanted to have roast, and I knew we had some somewhere in there, but really... it had just gotten so bad, all I could see was the top layer. Here is before...
And here it is all nice and organized.
The best part was just going through it and seeing what was in there! I'll tell you!!! We won't be buying any chicken for a while! It kept going on sale for $1.67/lb and I just couldn't pass on that deal. I really didn't realized just how much we had amassed!! Needless today, we will be having chicken for dinner tonight!

Finally, here is just a little video of my little KL helping. She kept bringing all the food back into the food room and it was so cute. While she isn't doing it in this video, she kept grunting under the intense pressure of the big loads she was bringing in. What a fun little girl!

13 comments:

nicole said...

It looks great. I'm impressed. Todd has promised me his office (the food storage room) for actual food storage...as soon as I agree to move the kids downstairs. I'm not quite ready for that move yet, but once I am, I can't wait to start really stockpiling food.

I hope all the kids are feeling better again.

bethiepoos said...

wow cheryl

It looks great!! I am soo spoiled to be married to mark!

you are soo sweet to offer to paint my 9 remaining toenanils, but I would not want you anywhere near the offending toe, because it is just plain gross!!

Em said...

Send Mark over my way, would you?

Marcie said...

Wow!!!! That is wonderful!

Mary-Sunshine said...

That looks awesome! I love getting orgained and being able to enjoy it!

SELPH PHOTOGRAPHY said...

Where is Mark when you need him! Dang I wish I lived closer so I could pull the cousin card. LOl really it looks great!~

Larsens said...

wow cheryl. what a nice project to have over with! we need a mark here in denver. but we also need a cheryl and a jill to help me organize and decorate. miss you and love you

Liz Richins said...

That must feel so good! I'm jealous! Can't believe what a grown up David is now!

Name Without End said...

I am so jealous! I wish our food storage looked even half as good as yours. I guess we'll know where to come when we run out!

Some Kind of Crazy said...

I love the picture with all the cereal. It took me a minute to realize it was up against a mirror.

What an awesome feeling to have it all organized! The closet underneath our stairs looks like a tornado hit. I keep hoping to get shelves every birthday, mother's day, memorial day, Christmas, etc...

Lynnae said...

Cheryl we use www.thegrocerygame.com to take advantage of coupons combined with sales.

You can try the grocery game for the first two months for $1.

I also use a binder to organize my coupons. I got this idea from sister McCains blog.

The shelves look great.

Jill said...

That is amazing! I wish I had a basement and a BIG storage room to hold my storage! Good job shopping the sales!!!

Andrea W. said...

I've worried about myself over the years because I just wasn't feeling the enthusiasm about food storage. Now, however, I think I am finally reaching maturity becuase few things excite me more. I LOVED looking at all that food so beautifully organized. How fun! I must say, however, that I feel like your family maybe hogged a little bit when it came to talents.