Busiest Moms Clutter Challenge Day 3

     Garlic, Cinnamon and Curry

Take 5 minutes and toss out all the outdated spices in your rack or cabinets.

This is the easiest way to start  Clutter Busting in the kitchen.

Keep it Simple:
Great Rule of thumb for tossing out old spices.
If it does not smell fragrant anymore then it is time to let it go. Ping!

If you want to get a little obsessive a by the date rule of thumb is as follows.

1. Ground Spices 2-3 years
2. Whole Spices  3-4 years
3. Blends especially things with sage and oregano 1-2 years
4. Herbs 2-3 years
5. Extracts 5 or more years

I generally go with the smelling idea, it usually gets me in the mood to cook dinner that night.

If you are at the bottom of the barrel try mixing up your own blends and putting the mix in small mason jars.

1. BBQ Rub
2. Italian Blends
3. Mexican Blends
4. Curry Blends

That should free up some space for a bit of shopping. I enjoy spice shopping. Hands down my favorite is Penzey Spices.

Now,if you are not a big collector of all things spicy and you have 20 jars or less lucky you. You may not even need to do the sniff test.  I suggest you revisit challenge days 1 or 2 and give them a little repeat.

Now, I am a collector and the picture to the left is the exact same spice rack I have hanging in my kitchen. I have two completely full hanging vertically on the wall and am ashamed to say that I also have two shelves in the pantry full as well. My Five minutes are going to go be very rapidly this morning.