Today on the blog I have the lovely Sarah from the Routine Queen guest posting. I love food, but I am not great at organising meals or keeping the pantry in order.  Or baking. Sarah, on the other hand, is a gun at household organisation and she’s just the gal to share her knowledge. You should definitely check out her blog for more.

Sarah shares some simple tips on food organisation. Ones that even I can follow.

One of the biggest expenses in every household is food. We enjoy it, we need it and we also waste a lot of it. But I’ve found that by taking an organised approach to food in your home you can save not only lots of money but time too!

Here’s how we do it …

Organise your pantry/fridge and freezer

You need to start by organising what you already have. Set aside some time to give your pantry, fridge and freezer a big clean out.

• Pull everything out and throw out anything past its use by date.
• Write a list of things you have that are coming up to their use by date (you’ll need this later).
• Use labelled containers and baskets as much as you can to store your food items.
• When you put everything back in think about how you stack things. Put the stuff you use the most at the front. Longer lasting items like tinned food should go towards the back. Your aim is to be able to open your pantry, fridge and freezer and easily see what’s inside without having to dig around.
• You might need to repeat this process every few months or so to stay on top of it.

Menu Planning

Take an organised approach and plan your main meals in advance. This cuts down on food wastage and also puts a stop to last minute runs to the supermarket!

• Remember that list you made of items nearing their use by date? Start there. Look at what ingredients you already have and see what meals you can come up with. Try typing some combinations into google and see what recipes you can find.
• Fill your weekly meal plan into a basic template (there are loads of free printable ones online) and stick it on the fridge.
• The ingredients needed for all of your meals then become your shopping list. Also come up with some snack ideas too, people often forget this when menu planning but it’s important to list these too so you don’t over buy.

Grocery shopping

Now it’s time to shop!

• Take your shopping list and make sure you stick to it.
• Consider shopping online. This can save not only time but also money because you won’t be tempted to buy things you see on the shelf that aren’t on your list.
• When you get to the register make sure you group your items in order at the register to make it quicker and easier to unpack when you get home (i.e.  Put all your cold items together, fruit together etc.)

Prepare

The more you can pre-prepare the better (especially if you’re a working parent and short on time!)

• Look at what you can make on the weekend and then freeze to use during the week. This applies not only to main meals but snacks too!
• A slow cooker is your best friend. Turn it on in the morning; come home to a cooked meal!
• Pack lunches the night before to save precious time in the morning.

And that’s it! It might seem like a lot but it’s actually really simple and once you start it just becomes part of your weekly routine. And when you can save so much money and time isn’t it totally worth it?

Do you take an organised approach to food in your home?
Do you have any tips to add?

Let me tell you a little more about the gorgeous Sarah….

She is a mother to a 3 year old boy and slightly overweight golden retriever and wife to a man she’s known since they were 10. She’s a day dreamer, chocolate fiend, routine and organisation lover.

She lives in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. Her days are busy, working part time in the early childhood field, studying part time and being a full time Mum. The Routine Queen is a place for her to share the many tips and tricks she’s learnt along way that help to make everyday family life fun and easy.

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Thanks so much for being here Sarah
(we met through Blog with Pip, in case you were wondering)