I love pantries that wow me like this one does. I’m so glad Marilyn decided to send her pictures in for the $20/$20 Challenge, because now I know I need her to head on out to Seattle and organize my pantry! Pretty please?! Here is Marilyn’s story:
My name is Marilyn and I live in the woods of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my husband and two sons, ages 8 and 6, and a daughter, age 4. We also have a wonderful cat named Jethro who has completely eliminated the mouse problem in our 100 year old home! I have lived in Michigan all of my life, but moved with my husband to his hometown about 9 years ago. I am learning how to garden in a Zone 4, which is an interesting challenge! We have a large garden with a 5 1/2 foot fence around it. I am so thankful for friends who are experts and give me help and advice.Food acquisition can be a challenge in our area also! I am thankful to have a wonderful Food Co-Op about 15 miles away, as well as good old WalMart. However, the produce at WalMart seems to be quite close to death by the time it reaches us! When I buy produce, it is from the farmer’s markets in season, the food co-op, or a local grocery store.
I have a relatively new kitchen, and it is not quite finished.
The first photo of the open shelves shows that I do not have a backsplash installed yet. I keep some fresh produce on the counter, and some dry goods on the shelves in glass jars. Quinoa, raisins, lentils, nuts, beans, rice, popcorn, sunflower seeds, etc.
My pantry has open shelves at the top, with a vintage breadbox from my grandmother’s house. I like to display a few of each type of home-canned food that I make, and I pull from there when I need something. I found that if I fill the shelves to the back, they start to sag. The pull-out shelves are wonderful and nothing gets lost in this style of pantry! I store original packages of many of the glass-jar items like the first photo here. Also flour, sugar, pasta, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, crackers, snacks, and teas.
My basement pantry has the rest of my home-canned foods. I grew much of what is in the jars, but quite a bit of it is purchased from local farmers, such as the tomatoes and pickles. We had a poor growing year this year. We also have our own maple syrup stored here. I am mentally preparing for that in a few months! The shelf on the far left holds empty jars and canning supplies, and I have thirty pounds of potatoes from a local farmer on the floor, as well as some onions hanging in a bag. There is also a five gallon bucket of unsweetened coconut. I participate in a food buying club through Country Life Natural Foods. I like to order things like oats, date paste, coconut, raisins, dry beans, and flaxseeds from Country Life.
We have a large upright freezer in our garage. This often holds a half cow, which we purchase locally. We are waiting on one now, so the freezer isn’t as full as is usually is. Right now I am storing wild blueberries we pick locally, wild raspberries from our property, some frozen vegetables, cornmeal, a ham, a chicken, and some frozen milk and butter. The other major source for food for our family is actually Costco! My dear parents have a membership to the Costco in their area {guess who talked them into it??}. They visit us once a month during the non-snowy months {late April through the end of October}, and bring a trunk full of wonderful food! Frozen veggies, organic butter, nuts, organic bacon, Craisins, rice, PB, cheese, organic chicken and beef, and more.
I just went shopping today, so my refrigerator reflects that. I have two gallons of local, raw milk as well as local eggs, fresh produce, condiments, cheese and leftovers. I do my best to be frugal and not waste, as well as provide mostly whole foods for my family. My oldest son and I do not eat wheat, so I do my best work around that. Usually, our meals are wheat free or easily adapted. I try not to buy many wheat product replacements, like bread. I feel most gluten free bread type products are not really healthy and it’s cheaper to just not buy them. I make homemade bread for the rest of the family and enjoy kneading it and smelling it!Well, I just wrote a book! I do seem to like details. I hope it was an interesting and enjoyable read!
Marilyn
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!
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Karen says
OMGoodness! Totally jealous of this amazing masterpiece!
Mary Ann says
Wow, very impressive!
Julie says
By far my favorite pantry challenge. I love the bits of charm throughout: The scale, the compost bin, cookbooks, silver canister set, vintage bread box. Thank you for the great tip about only putting a couple of the jars on the shelf to prevent shelf sag. I can tell with her system she knows what she wants to make and can probably pull all the ingredients out in less than a minute.
Marilyn K says
Thanks, Mavis, for your donation to a food pantry and for the kind words. I’d love to come to Seattle, but sap is flowing and we are boiling this week! The photos did not show the piles of muddy boots and snow clothes in the entryway and toys and school stuff scattered on the floor…I just skipped those photos! Real life is happening all around us and my kitchen is always being used, so it’s never really cleaned up. It will never really look like a magazine and I’m ok with that. I appreciate beauty and order but am learning to be content whatever the situation!
suzanne says
lovely! I’ve forgotten how much more “stuff ” is needed when cooking for more than two.
Dena says
Say YES to Michigan!
Dawn B says
I just love your pantry. I also wish we could buy raw milk in DE. Would love to get ahold of some of that. Gardening must be a challenge up north there. It is hard enough here in zone 7. I just coulnt imagine having to try and grow things up there. Thanks for a peek into your pantry.
Debi says
Marilyn – that’s an impressive pantry. I also live in the U.P. of Michigan. Wondering where you are at. We have a few food co-ops around here as well. Marquette Food Co-op is the largest by me. We have a few small store food co-ops (Chatham and Trenary).
MarilynK says
Debi- Sounds like we are close! I am in Marquette County and use the Marquette Co-op!