Recently my partner and I shacked up together and what I was not expecting was the amount of spices he would arrive with when he moved in! Perhaps I should not have been surprised as he is a great cook 🙂 I realized fairly quickly that I would have a big task ahead of me of streamlining and combining as well as decluttering our spices, and I was up for the task!
Even for those who don’t have a new house mate and their spice collection, it is important to declutter, consolidate and ‘go through’ our spices from time to time. Spices do not last forever and sometimes need to be culled and tossed. Also, I am sure we can all relate to buying multiples when we forget we have this or that: I used to have quite the collection of mustard seed because I kept buying it forgetting I already had multiple packages…but I digress. Spices can get a bit messy at best or all out unruly at worst, so cleaning out our spice areas is a must – so let’s dive in!
How to begin
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the best way to begin this project is to completely locate and then pile all of your spices onto a counter or other surface. You may have spices in multiple locations, so begin by finding, and removing each and every spice bottle or package you have. Obviously it is best if you can house all of your spices together, so if this is something you are able to do when putting everything away, even better. If not, no worries but perhaps try to group like items alike – maybe spice jars go together and packages or soft packs live in the same area. Once you have all of your spices in front of you, be meticulous in your review: if you have 2 half filled jars of oregano, join them into one. If some spices have lost their “punch” due to being old, throw them away – they are done and won’t flavour your foods anymore. Also, and personally my favourite find is the “empty jar” which somehow did not get thrown out and is literally a waste of space – either fill it or throw it out (recycle).
Now What?
Now that you have all of your spices sorted and in ‘keeping’ shape, I would suggest wiping down the jars and drying them because this is a great opportunity to do so. This exercise will also allow you to get even more familiar with the spices that you have – bonus activity: writing down any spices that you are missing so that you can add those items to your grocery list! Are you out of peppercorns for your pepper grinder? Add it to the list!
Final steps – the put away
The time has come to put away all of the spices, and this may happen in a few different ways depending on your own storage situation. If you have a mix of spice jars and soft packs, you may want to keep the jars with the jars and the soft packs with the packs. As you begin this put away process, make sure to put the spices that you use more out front with the less used items in the back – there is nothing worse than having to put out a search and rescue mission for the particular spice you want, so keep the ones that are used in ‘heavy rotation’ at the front of the pack.
At the end of this project, you will have all of your spices organized, in good working order and also on hand for your next cooking adventure – an organized spice cabinet is the key to kitchen success!
Aside from helping with all of our decluttering needs, Avery hosts the Journey Into Yoga Podcast where she guides you through a different yoga pose each week explaining all that it has to offer the body and mind. Episodes and more can be found at averyrich.com. Check out this week’s show where we work with releasing the glutes using a ball.
Heather Furr
Heather is the pink haired digital director of the Bob & Sheri Team, She helps out with our Video, Livestreams, Social Media, Tech issues, Podcasting and so much more! Heather is cat & lizard mom from North Carolina who whenever she's not fighting with the Facebook algorithm or bullying wordpress is probably gardening, reading or playing videogames!
