Pantry Panic- Day 2

Yesterday was Day 1 of Pantry Panic from my guest writer Emily. Today she continues her story with things she's learned and how she plans to do things different in her kitchen, going forward. Being someone that shops sales, clips coupons and stocks up on good deals her story has really gotten my attention and made me think that one problem like this could be costly of time, money and energy. Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of her pantry panic!

Day 2:

Yesterday I admitted that I had a pantry infestation, but I’ve learned some lessons, and found some good tips on keeping this from happening again:

- Anything you bring home could have tiny bugs in it, and you may never see them until it is WAY too late. Some things, especially things that come in paper bags like sugar, flour, or corn meal, should be put into air tight containers and the original packaging thrown away. That way if you inadvertently bring something home, at least it will be contained. Clear or opaque containers are best because then you can see inside better. You can also store these items in the fridge or freezer if you have room, which will kill and contain anything in them, and keep them fresher longer. I’ve read that some people bring home items like this and put them in the freezer for about a week, then move them to air tight containers.
- Don’t stock up on items that you cannot or will not repackage or store in the freezer. It isn’t a deal if you lose it all and half your other food due to bugs.
- Rethink whether “your air tight” containers are actually air tight. Some of my canisters were older, and I found bugs inside them. Good, durable containers may be expensive at first, but they should last for years and if they save you from throwing away dozens of food products they are worth it. I’ve already ordered a handful of larger, nicer storage canisters, and I won’t be buying replacement food until they arrive. I’ve always used canisters because they are more convenient to try to measure ingredients out of, but I’m realizing that their ability to keep out moisture and bugs is far more important.
- Take a good, close look at any food product that is getting old before you use it, or anything that has made it into your pantry and not been properly sealed.
- On a regular basis, clean out your pantry! Take everything out, wipe off the shelves, look inside for any traces of bugs, move older items to the front to be used, and take a moment to stare closely into your canisters. If you can see through your container, look closely at the sides or bottom. Evaluate whether you actually need 6 varieties of pasta and 5 boxes of corn muffin mix.
- Keep pet food as far away from the kitchen as possible. According to some websites, the items most likely to carry food bugs into your house are flour, corn meal, and pet food. Ours is in the garage in an air tight (hopefully!) container, so I don’t think it contributed to our problem, and we’ve never had a problem with bugs in the pet food. But, it’s a good reminder to be careful with pet food.

Coming up: what to do if you find bugs yourself.

Pantry Panic- Day 1

Good morning!

Today is the first of three days from Emily, a guest writer. For the next three days she will tell her story of how one loaf of bread that she had rising on the stove turned into the most expensive and time consuming pantry clean-out that she's ever had. I assure you that reading her story will have you racing home to clean out your own pantry and become very aware of the groceries you have accumulating. Thanks to Emily for sharing her story, visit again the next couple days for days 2 & 3 of her experience!

Day 1:

This week my pantry came to life, and I don’t mean that in a good way. I reached into my pantry to pull out a box of barley, and was horrified to discover that it was covered in tiny bugs, crawling in and out. As I started to pull things out, I found the bugs in my flour, rice, pasta, sugar, salt, macaroni, muffin mixes, and crackers…you get the picture.

I always thought bugs in your pantry was something that happened to “other” people – those who don’t clean their kitchen, who keep moldy food around, who buy questionable food products from clearance bins at the discount grocer. But my kitchen is clean, these were mostly products I use on a regular basis, and these were brand name products from major grocery stores. I did, however, make some mistakes. One, there were two or three items that I had been storing for far too long, and some had been opened but were still in the original container. Two, I use food storage containers for pantry staples like sugar and flour, but they aren’t big enough to hold an entire 5 pound bag, so I would fill up the container, then roll the bag over and set it on top of the canister until there was enough room.

Before you start thinking that you don’t have a problem, think about this: I made bread with some heavily infested flour and it was rising on the stove before I realized what was going on. I’m not entirely sure what I had, my bugs were very small, and looked like grains of sand that were moving (note to self: do NOT do an Internet search for “pantry bugs picture” unless you actually want to look at the pictures). They were very difficult to see, unless there were a few and you were very close, holding very still, and specifically looking. So don’t be too sure that you would notice it immediately!

Stay tuned for tips on prevention, as well as what to do if you find some unwelcome guests in your pantry.