• Home
  • Stories
    • News >
      • 2022 Local Government Elections
    • Learning & Literacy
    • Food, Farming & Fishing >
      • Recipe Collection
    • Culture & Heritage
    • Wellness
    • Environment
    • Opinions, letters and reflections
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Jobs
    • Job Posting Submission Form
    • Job Postings
  • E-magazine
  • Calendar
  • Albert County
    • Community Directory
    • Churches
    • Living in Albert County
    • Our Villages
    • Attractions
  • Ads
  • Trails
Connecting Albert County

food, farming
​and fishing

Capsule Pantry

30/4/2020

0 Comments

 
By Amy Woodard
Four years ago, I was introduced to the term "minimalism" and proceeded to apply the KonMari* method of decluttering the house one category at a time. I've made three "passes" or "waves," and sent many “carfulls” of stuff to thrift stores. I don’t know how this happened because we only built the house six years ago, we aren't rich and I wouldn't say we are shopaholics. And I'm not done yet!

Picture
It was recommended to "begin with the end in mind" and to "know your why" so I set five-year goals and got to work. Anything that didn't fit in those goals was considered a distraction and was easy to let go of. My goals are to become more: 

  • spiritually connected, 

  • emotionally available for my family, and 

  • physically able to manage chores efficiently so that I can focus on growing food for our family.

I struggle to put together healthy meals for our family. We have different tastes and even after all these years, it's a constant struggle to get my kids to eat their vegetables. So I watched some videos and started to work on the “capsule pantry.” A capsule pantry is similar to the "capsule wardrobe" concept: keep what you use and nothing more.

Steps to downsizing to a capsule pantry:

  1. Clear off a large space or bring in an extra table or two (although wardrobe sorting is done on the floor, I didn't think that would work with the pantry because I didn’t want all the food on the floor).

  2. Take all of the food out of the cupboards. All of the food in the house that isn’t in the fridge or freezer. 
  3. Make three piles: keep, donate/toss and use up. With items I no longer wanted in my inventory, I found recipes to use up the ingredients. I challenged the kids to create a pile of junk food that they thought were not healthy choices. They enjoyed the responsibility and we donated many sauces and beans with more than 8 g of sugar per serving. 
  4. Install an additional shelf if needed. I could have painted the walls at this point.
  5. Select storage containers. I chose to use Mason jars for storage. I even scrubbed labels off some things like the vinegar. The idea behind this is to remove marketing so that you can make better choices without the influence of colourful letters or psychologically sneaky advertising. I wanted to make decisions based on the ingredients themselves; so far, I really enjoy this. I am more likely to buy in bulk and have zero waste. Also, I'm motivated to grow my own food to fill the jars instead of buying at the store.

It was surprising how much garbage was created as I took items out of their original packaging (two big bags!) and it is worth taking a mental note of the sight of all the packaging at one glance. 

The most amazing thing that happens during this process is that when we handle each item we own, it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that we have underestimated how fortunate we are. I was humbled by what we already had and eager to create new dishes rather than thinking I needed to buy groceries. And right now I think we are all trying to avoid buying groceries!

*KonMari decluttering refers to the method popularized by Marie Kondo in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and Netflix show, "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo." 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Food, Farming & Fishing

    ​Connecting Albert County would like to thank the following supporters & advertisers:

    Platinum supporters
    - Bennett and Albert County Health Care (BACH) Foundation  
    ​- Albert County Pharmacy
    ​​- Hon. Rob Moore, MP for Fundy Royal


    Gold supporters
    - CBDC Westmorland Albert 
    - ​Albert County Funeral Home​​


    Silver supporters
    - 
    Albert County Chamber of Commerce 
    ​ - Foods of the Fundy Valley​
    - Hon. Mike Holland, Minister, MLA-Albert 

     - Fundy Highlands Motel and Chalets

    Bronze supporters
    - ​Chipoudy Communities Revitalization Committee (CCRC)

    - Jeff MacDougall, SouthEastern Mutual Insurance ​

    If you would like to support Connecting Albert County, visit our Advertising page or Donation page. With your support, we can continue to share the news of rural Albert County.

    Comments
    We welcome comments to our blog postings. Please provide your email address and name with your comment, and respect our content guidelines.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All
    2017
    Acadian Culture
    ACE
    ACORN
    Activities
    Affordable Transportation
    Agriculture
    Albert County
    Albert County Appreciation Days
    Albert County Health And Wellness
    Albert County Historical Society
    Albert County Museum
    Albert County NB
    Alma
    Alma Fleet Launch
    Angela MacDougall
    Artisans
    A Taste Of Fundy
    Baked Beans
    Bay Of Fundy
    Bee
    Beehive
    Beekeeper
    Beekeeping
    Bees
    Beet
    Bee Wise Beekeepers
    Beginnings
    Bread
    Bulgogi
    Canada 150
    Catalogues
    Challenge
    Chicken
    Children And Nature
    Climate Change
    Community
    Community Food Action Grant
    Community Food Smart
    Community Garden
    Community Kitchen
    Contest
    Cookbook
    Cooking
    COVID
    Crop
    Cuisine
    Curryville
    Curryville Community
    Curryville Community Outreach
    Curryville Outreach
    Diet
    Dietitian
    Dill Pickle
    Diversity In The Kitchen
    Eat Healthy
    Eating From Scratch
    Eating Healthy
    Eating Locally
    Ecology Action Center
    Elgin
    Elgin Eats
    Entrepreneur
    Facebook
    Facts
    Fair
    Farmer Brown's
    Farmers Market
    Farmers' Market
    Farming
    FFV
    Fiddleheads
    First Nations
    Fishing
    Fishing Fleet Launch
    Flowers
    Food
    Food Bank
    Food Banks Canada
    Food Forest
    Food Heritage
    Food Insecurity
    Food Items
    Food Of The Fundy Valley
    Food Security
    Food Smart
    Foods Of The Fundy Valley
    Food Waste
    Foraging
    Forest Dale Home
    Forest Dale Nursing Home
    Free Event
    Fricot
    Fricot & Frittata
    Frost
    Fruit
    Funding
    Fundraising
    Fundy Farms
    Fundy Fresh
    Fundy National Park
    Garden
    Gardening
    Garden Of Salem
    German Bakery
    Goosetongue Greens
    Greenhouse
    Greens
    Groceries
    Grocery Store Trips
    Hakka Yong Tau Fu
    Healthy
    Healthy Eating
    Hearth & Hive
    Heirloom Seeds
    Heirloom Vegetables
    Heme
    Herbal Teas
    Herbs
    Heritage Seeds
    Hillsborough
    Hillsborough Farmers Market
    Hillsborough Fresh Mart
    Home Cooking
    Hopewell Rocks
    Horizon Health
    Hummus
    Immune System
    Iron
    Kale
    Kids
    Kids Activities
    Kids In The Kitchen
    Kimchi
    Kitchen
    Lacto-fermentation
    Leftovers
    LFA 35
    LFA 36
    Loblaws
    Lobster
    Lobster Fishing
    Lobster Recipes
    Lobster Season
    Lobster Season 2021
    Local
    Local Food
    Local Food Movement
    Maple
    Maple Baked Brie
    Maple Butter Tarts
    Maple Fest
    Maple Scones
    Maple Sugar
    Maple Syrup
    Maple Trees
    March Break
    Market
    Meal Planning
    Meals
    Mi'kmaq
    Mineral
    NB
    New Brunswick
    New Horizons
    New Horizons For Seniors
    Non-heme
    Nuts
    Old Fashion Christmas
    Open Farm Day
    Organic Vegetables
    Pantry Challenge
    Partnership
    Philippines
    Planting
    Planting Dates
    Prepared Meals
    Province Of New Brunswick
    RBC Foundation
    RCS
    Recipe
    Recipes
    Resiliency
    Riverside-Albert
    Riverside Consolidated School
    Riverview
    Salad
    Salsa
    Samphire Greens
    Sauerkraut
    Scallop
    Scallops
    Schedule
    School Gardens
    Seafood
    Seed
    Seeds
    Seedsaving
    Seed Saving
    Seed Swap
    Seedy Saturday
    Seniors
    Shellfish
    Shepody
    Shepody Food Bank
    Shop Local
    Spanakopita
    Spring
    Sprouts
    Strawberry
    Substitutes
    Sugaring
    Summer Savory
    Swap Table
    Tapping Trees
    Tele-drive Albert County
    The Old Church Farmers Market
    Tips
    Traditional Recipes
    Vegetable
    Vegetables
    Vendors
    Vitamins
    Volunteers
    Wabanaki
    Wabanaki Tree Spirit Tours
    Walnuts
    Wharf
    Workshops

    RSS Feed

CONTACT
ADVERTISING
CALENDAR
PUBLICATION

SiteLock
Copyright © Connecting Albert County, 2021 | Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada
  • Home
  • Stories
    • News >
      • 2022 Local Government Elections
    • Learning & Literacy
    • Food, Farming & Fishing >
      • Recipe Collection
    • Culture & Heritage
    • Wellness
    • Environment
    • Opinions, letters and reflections
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Jobs
    • Job Posting Submission Form
    • Job Postings
  • E-magazine
  • Calendar
  • Albert County
    • Community Directory
    • Churches
    • Living in Albert County
    • Our Villages
    • Attractions
  • Ads
  • Trails