When my mom and I first discussed moving home, it was after maybe 5 minutes that she said something which was the perfect gateway for me to make 1 little request. You see, what I really miss about living on my own (amongst many other things…) is having my own kitchen and pantry to stock as I please.
I ever so politely requested that I get one shelf in our pantry (which is quite large) for some of my foods. Things like chia seeds, hot sauces, teas, Larabars, etc. needed a home where they wouldn’t get lost. My mom was more than happy to grant my wish and used it as an opportunity to remind me that my Whole Foods habit would remain my responsibility, a wish I was more than happy to grant.
So when I was home for the wedding a few weeks ago, my pantry shelf was ready to go. Here’s a glimpse of it today:
Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning salute, teas, canned beans, dried fruits and veggies, cereal
And that’s not all! With 2 gluten free eaters in the house (and a dad that loves buying new GF products to try), frozen gluten free breads, baked goods, mixes, etc. seemed to have infiltrated every freezer in our house (we have 3. Long story). My mom granted us our own space to stock as we please so we spent another 45 minutes cleaning out the freezers and organizing our own little gluten free stockpile! This freezer has Udi’s bread, english muffins, baked goods my dad loves and has picked up at various places, baking mixes, and other goodies.
frozen fruit and veggies, baking mixes, breads, sweets my dad bought
I think it’s great that we finally have one central location in the house for all of the gluten free stuff and there’s no confusion about if something has gluten nor are we junking up other freezer space in the house!
These 2 spots don’t comprise all of the foods I’m eating (I’ve taken over some fridge space for my produce and some refrigerated items O:-) ) but I’m happy to have a couple of spots that I can keep the stuff that I’m the only one eating and not worry about it getting lost.
It’s not a perfect science but it seems to be working out thus far!
If you have [more than 1] person with food allergies in your house, do they have their own food storage space? Freezer or shelves for special products?
When I first went gluten-free more than 30 years ago, my mom bought a full size freezer that was dedicated only to my gluten-free food. Today I live alone so my entire kitchen is gluten-free but I love the idea of having a dedicated gluten-free storage space when using a shared kitchen.
Also, I’m glad your freezer is as packed as mine!
I am the only GF person in the house and this is all new to me, but I have a shelf in the fridge and one in the fridge door. A shelf in the freezer and the cupboards, even cooking utensils…..unfortunately not everyone respects my space so I get contaminated more often than I can count. “Oh yours was already open…”