A great way to keep your Pandemic Pantry organized and make sure you are getting the most out of what you buy, all while reducing food waste is to create a Use First Bin. It doesn’t have to be an actual bin, it can be a shelf, the counter, or just a list where you keep all the food that you need to eat first sorted.

This is a simple concept but one that will save you time, effort, and food waste. It’s especially easy now that we are taking time to make a food inventory and extensive lists each week or so. Simply group any items that you need to eat together. Reasons why things need to get eaten might vary. Perhaps they are veg about to go bad, or the last little bits of your dry goods, or items that are getting past their expiration dates. Or maybe you’ve just been putting off eating these items. Remember when you got those grits six months ago for a recipe and still have half the box today? Put them in the bin.

I don’t use an actual bin, but I keep a running list when creating my pantry inventory to remind me what I need to eat. I will add items that are going to go bad, or that have lingered in the pantry too long. I also make notes on what I can use them for on the same list and then refer back to it when deciding what to eat for the day.

Have you organized your pantry like this? Do you find it hard to eat up items in your pantry?

Catherine (Cat) Agopcan, who I follow on insta, recently had a great post about her Eat First Box. She has a great page with lots of helpful advice and is fellow New Jerseyian.