One night a couple of my children expressed that I wasn't organized, hmmmfff! I whipped open the cupboard doors and took pictures to prove that I am, and a bit obsessive as well (note, the jars are in alphabetical order...plus they go for three whole cupboards, this is only one!) Then I have this little obsession for spices, for they are along the middle shelf there AND in three drawers (only one drawer is shown here, but also in alphabetical order.) YES, I use all my spices and love them, especially with my latest "wheat" meat recipes. The spices make the dish edible, yummy, and hungry for more!

In the past I purchased all my bottles to have them standard size and matching, but no more! I recycle anything approximately close in size to use for the cupboards (we had an ant problem a few years back, so everything is now stored in plastic with tight lids!) Baby food bottles are now being recycled ghee, crafting supplies, plus a dab of this and a dab of that. Lemonade or powdered drink containers are the perfect size for the spice drawer where I make large quantities of taco seasoning mix, soup mixes, tri-tip seasoning, pork rubs, toasted sesame seeds, and other goodies. Recycled jam or jelly jars and even the bigger quart size applesauce jars are terrific for sharing homemade soup with friends. No need to worry about returning food containers!

The food cupboard contains dehydrated apples (to the far left) and moving to the right some freeze dried blueberries and freeze dried celery! They are the best to cook with, ready to simply toss into the recipe when needed. The celery adds so much flavor to soups that I wonder how I managed to survive without it. Fresh fruit and veggies are great, but when I need them I usually don't have them. Celery is something that I don't keep in the fridge as I use it seldom, and it goes limp fast. The extra cost for freeze dried is worth every penny as there is no waste. Too often I have to throw out the lettuce, carrots, celery, whatever I let sit in the fridge for far tooooo long. (Shhh, don't tell but if they are still edible just soft I throw them in the smoothie of the day...not too much to change the flavor, but enough to not let the food go to waste and perhaps salvage a few vitamins from the remains.)