Do you have a "DO NOT USE" section of your pantry?

[HappyMommy2]

I'm trying to figure out how to make sure that the things I buy on sale, or need for a specific recipe, are there when I need them.

I'm pregnant and especially irriated at DH this morning!!!! I had to make a rule that we can only have two open boxes of cereal at any one time. He would gladly open up ten boxes and eat the first fresh bowl out of each, and then throw nine away next month when they are stale.

Usually, he follows this rule. But this morning, I realized he opened up a third box without finishing an open one. No biggie.

I decide to use up the open boxes by making Cereal Treats ... basically the same recipe as Rice Krispie Treats, but with whatever leftover cereal & nuts we have on hand.

I get out the basket with the marshmallows in it, and he has opened the bag to eat several of them for his evening snack. ARGH! So now I can't even make a full recipe of RKT's.

In the same bin, I notice he has done the same thing and opened up a bag of chocolate chips, so now I can't even make a full recipe of CC cookies.

He did this to me several times this summer too. I would buy everything to make S'mores while camping, and before we left, he would eat the candy bars.

Small infractions, I know, but I am pregnant and that is my excuse for irritability!!! I'm still mad! I made a "candy" bin, and a "no touch" bin... so we will see if that works.

What do you do to make sure you will still have the ingredients when you go to make certain dishes?

[annettemarie]

I have a bunch of those yard sale pricing sticker dots. If there's something I don't want them to get into, I put a dot on it. No one is allowed to touch my baking stuff. Chocolate chips are ingredients, not snacks.

[Arduinna]

I don't


I agree that chocolate chips are an ingredient not a snack, but cookies will not be ruined just because there a few less in them. Same thing with a couple missing marshmallows.

[aramat]

I do hide things from my husband (and children)! So I have a "do not use" section, but they don't know about it.

[annettemarie]

My kids don't stop at a few. There's nothing more frustrating to me than going to make a treat for the whole family only to discover one member has rendered it impossible.

[courtenay_e]

Annette, the dots are a great idea. My kids would ignore them, but my husband might follow the "rule." Pretty much I know that if there is anything in there that can be eaten, it will be. I do my best to only have "raw ingredients", so that anything they want to eat, they have to "make." IE: oatmeal or steel cut oats rather than boxed cereal, cause if it's "instant" it pretttty much equals "gone" iin our house. When we camp if I buy goodies, I buy them on the way out of town, to make sure that they're still there when we need them!

I agree with Annette, though, my baking supplies are OFF LIMITS. They follow that rule fairly well, though, cause they like what I make when I have the stuff to make it with!

[ikesmom]

Rubbermaid tote with a tight snapping lid. Preferably one that is not see through.

[425lisamarie]

I have a large walk in pantry, but also a large underneath cupboard with baking ingredients. I keep alot in the walkin, but most baking things I keep in the said underneath baking cupboard. Everyone knows "ask mom" before taking stuff out of there. Also, I bake for some allergy free ppl so I MUST keep nuts out of there. It's never been a problem. MY kids love snacking on chocolate chips, and if it's a "sweet treat time" i'm ok with it. I buy them in bulk and just keep up on how much I have. but then again I'm always in the kitchen and bake/check stock frequently and I'd notice if someone was munching. the thing that bugs ME is that DH can go through my entire stock of nuts in a couple sittings!!! And they are NOT cheap!! I have to keep them away from my baking supply for allergy reasons, but it's like he hides the bucket and then I find it empty LOL!!

Do you have a place you could put baking ingredients? Like in a high cupboard close to your prep zone? That is the easiest way to go, you can always spot a child dragging the step stool across the kitchen to sneak stuff

[Chicky2]

Like a pp, my family likes what I make when I bake, so they know they are better off staying out of that stuff. I keep my beans, grains, and baking supplies in one cabinet. They are not to snack out of there. Dh will go lookin' though, but I don't stop him. I figure he's a grown up and brings home the bacon so he can eat it (as long as we're not broke and can't replace it!). He also knows that if he wants what I need, he'll have to go to the store and replace it. He does stay out of things pretty well during Holiday time, because he knows I'll get mad if something vital is missing/mostly gone. I do alot of gift baskets and that saves us lots of $ on gifts (but they are amazing baskets!). We've been together 16 years, so he knows better by now, lol. If I keep a jar of peanut butter, he's usually happy.

[onlyzombiecat]

There is a shelf/basket in the cupboard and refrigerator where things are okay to eat any time.

Baking supplies are kept with baking supplies- not the snacks.

The very top cupboards/shelves are foods that are off limits for snacking.

I verbally say, "This is for x. Don't eat it."

I hear you about the cereal. I won't buy it anymore unless the box is nearly empty because people would abandon the older box. Maybe put the unopened boxes out of reach/sight until the current one is used up?

[cristeen]

I dont have to have a particular place yet, but i do have DH well trained. He can have all the prepkgd cheese sticks he wants. He can also have prepkgd nuts. Those are the only prepkgd foods i buy. When hes getting low, its his responsibility to tell me or he has no snacks. Hes also allowed fruit on demand, out of the fruit bowl, or carrot sticks. These are all things that go in his lunch every day, so i keep them stocked.

Nuts for baking are kept in the freezer, where he won't go.

As for the cereal boxes, there is a trick to keeping them from going stale. The bag inside the box is impermeable, unlike most plastic. If it is opened carefully (i.e. Not torn), fold the 2 corners of the bag toward the middle (like you're wrapping a present), and then roll it shut. Use a tight clip (i use binder clips, they squeeze tighter than those designed for the kitchen - cheaper, too), clip it in the middle. You shouldnt have any excess air in the bag. I never have stale cereal since i discovered this, and i only buy cereal rarely.