The $20/$20 Challenge: Alexis Shows off Her California Pantry

Our first California $20/$20 Challenge submission. I am dreaming about basking in the non-existent sun now! Maybe by her sharing her pantry pics, she’s spread a little sunshine as well, Here’s hoping! Check out Alexis’ story:

Hi Mavis! My name is Alexis and I live in San Jose, CA {California girl born and raised, woot woot!}. I’ve been following your blog for about 2 weeks now and love the content – great job!

I just moved to this new rental with my boyfriend of 8 years {long time I know, haha}, and the condo belongs to his mom {she bought it when she was just starting out, so she’s letting us rent it for super cheap relative to Silicon Valley prices of course}. It’s about 1200 sf, but the kitchen is a bit limited in terms of prep and pantry size, so definitely has its challenges. Thought I’d include a photo for you of before/after the kitchen remodel even though you only asked for pantry pics! Let’s just say It needed a little more color 😉

I snagged this gorgeous IKEA cart off craigslist last weekend for $45 {originally retails for $199}, gave it a good clean up and sanding and it looks brand new! Since I don’t have a pantry in my kitchen this cart is a god send because I can put my museum-like collection of mason jars and glass jars for all my dried goods. Most of my bulk goods I get from Sprouts since it’s so cheap {and TJ’s if I’m in a pinch} and I can just scoop it out of the bin. Not only does it give me much needed counter/prep space, but it makes it look so organized and a quick glance tells me what I need to stock up for at the grocery store. You’ll also notice a small (newly painted) cherry red stool…I’m 5’4 but can’t reach a lot of the tall cabinets, so this comes in handy quite often when my 6’2 boyfriend is not around to grab things from the top shelf for me!

Now this you’ll appreciate Mavis….Instead of tossing the hideous dark brown cabinets from the old kitchen into the dumpster, we decided to upcycle them and put them in the garage for extra storage. I didn’t think I’d need them, but It’s so helpful and I’m so glad we didn’t toss them! I use this to store cans, stock up on my favorite TJ items that they only sell seasonally {i.e. Fall Harvest Tea, Pumpkin Cornbread

Back to my yellow kitchen, these upper cabinets are pretty much my only source of food storage apart from the fridge. In here, I put a lot of cooking oils, garlic {I’m Mexican – so fresh garlic is essential!}, vinegars {I make my own salad dressings!}, spices and a few snacks. A little organization tip – these lazy susans are AWESOME! I stocked up on about 10 of them at target and they are a huge helper in terms of finding things when I’m in a hurry.

And now to the fridge {the only original thing that was untouched from the old kitchen}. My boyfriend likes to cook but not often, nor do I. We both work and we’re trying to limit eating out when we’re lazy, so having leftovers from the weekend is essential. I shop about 3x a week so that food doesn’t go to waste when there’s only 2 of us in the house, sometimes feels like 5 when there’s dessert in the fridge because it doesn’t last very long. I’ve also been getting into meal planning via PepperPlate, which automatically makes shopping lists for me and I can glance at a recipe from my phone or computer. I always keep fresh fruit and veggies, or at least I try to.

And finally the freezer! In here I store a lot of meats {especially fish}, so I can easily defrost something the night before, veggies, and pasta. I’m also trying to get into the habit of freezing leftover crockpot dishes {since the two of us can have turkey chili for only so many days in a row} into plastic baggies and laying them flat to freeze for future use.

Thanks, Mavis!

Are you getting your pantries camera ready? You can participate in the $20/$20 Challenge by simply sending in pictures of your pantry. Find out more about the $20/$20 Challenge: Show Your Pantry – Fill a Pantry!