Lentil Soup, Not!

Can you catch a cold online? I feel like I read a lot of MoFo posts where the blogger was sick, and I’m feeling a little off, myself.  I am definitely fighting something, but intend to rest enough and drink enough (no, not whiskey) to fend it off successfully.  I also have a lot of issues with my back and with sitting for any significant period of time, so MoFoing can be a slow going, piecemeal process.  Anyway, when I asked my son what he would like me to make today, this was the answer:

By which he meant that he just wanted to eat some raw choco chips right from the bag. And, can you blame him? That is a bag of chocolate chips that he pilfered from my baking drawer. 

The pilfering made me look into that drawer...not only do I have a problem in my basement pantry and in my freezer, but in all my drawers and shelves as well.  Oh, and in the fridge. Damn.

Here is my “baking” drawer (I have another baking shelf, too, btw):

Luckily while looking through my baking drawer, I found some new checks! There they are, lurking in the back of the drawer under some shredded coconut: 

I was just about to order new checks, too, so this works out well.

Question: does anyone have particular systems for keeping their pantry well stocked but not over full?  I find that balance is hard to strike, I either have too much or not enough (usually too much, but in the winter, I tend to grocery shop less, and then I make a lot of pantry-based meals, and my pantry actually gets pretty low).

It’s funny because when I started this blog, the first series I did was called “Stock Your Pantry.” J I guess I have a thing with the pantry. 

Is anyone else doing a pantry theme or a planning or grocery shopping theme? Let me know.  Let’s share our dirty pantry stories.

Gotta take some vitamins or something now.

Love to all my fellow ‘Foers,

Dawn