Yesterday I decided to make what I’m going to call “Quarantine Chili.” Now what is the recipe for Quarantine Chili you might ask? Well pretty much you take whatever fresh veggies or meat you have in your fridge that you worry may go to waste soon and throw them into a big crock pot of chili before they go bad. Waste not, want not!

Now for my chili I started with my typical chili “base”:

2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of red beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can of garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can of lentils (rinsed and drained)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1-2 teaspoons of jarred garlic
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

To that I then added all the things I wanted to use up - this will vary depending on what you have in your fridge:

1 lb of cooked ground lamb (lamb is definitely an unusual choice for chili. I had originally planned to make lamb stuffed peppers with it, but by using it in chili I am able to stretch it farther and get more meals out of it… And surprisingly lamb in chili is just fine! I was worried it would taste weird but it’s still great)
a lot of carrots (we had a bag of carrots that have been in the fridge for awhile and were close to being done. I wanted to use them up and not go to waste so I added them to the chili… it was definitely heavy on the carrots but I’m glad we used them up)
handfuls of spinach (we have a big container of spinach that will be getting wet and smelly soon… better use some of it up!)
green pepper (the ones I was originally going to make the stuffed lamb peppers with)
a large onion (that one has been hanging out on the counter for awhile…)

Then combine all ingredients in a large Crock Pot and put on high for several hours until it’s cooked through and ready. We’ll be eating this for dinner for two nights and then I will portion out and freeze the rest to eat later.

Definitely be aware of what you’re using - you don’t want to use any ingredients are actually spoiling (very bad idea!) - but by using up what good ingredients you have by making a healthy, hearty chili you will not let your precious groceries go to waste and will make something nutritious to feed your family during this time.

Stay healthy friends!

Our kitchen was lacking a pantry, so we often kept canned goods and backstock on a shelving unit at the foot of our stairs in the basement. But because half of our food and snacks were downstairs and half were upstairs it made for frequent mistakes when buying groceries… it was hard to visualize exactly what we had and where so we often ended up overbuying certain things and forgetting to buy others. Tired of wasting money, food, and time running up and down the stairs I decided to make over a coat closet into a functional pantry. | This post contains affiliate links |

How we Turned a Coat Closet into a Functional Pantry

Now while this coat closet (pictured below) was pretty jammed full, it was very underutilized. It’s where we kept our off-season coats, hats, and boots as well as some hiking gear and my daughters’ Art Cart - most things we did not need to use daily, or often at all. My solution to this was to relocate all these items to our basement - I hung a closet rod under the basement stairs and moved all our off-season clothing and gear to this new space where it was still easily accessible but out of the way.

| Adjustable Closet Rod I used for under the basement stairs |

Coat Closet - BEFORE

Relocated off-season gear to basement

The next step was to pull out the old wire shelf and closet rod system, patch the holes, and repaint the inside of the closet. Thankfully I already had spackle and some leftover white paint so I was able to get the closet to a clean slate easily and it didn’t cost a dime.

Now for the fun part! I got to decide how many shelves I wanted and the spacing, so I laid it out with painters tape to play with how I wanted it before I made a final decision. For our setup I decided on four shelves starting at about waist-height. I wanted to leave the bottom open to accommodate the dog food bin, the Art Cart, step stool, etc. Then I screwed in 1x3 inch “runners” that would support the shelves along the back wall. I used a stud finder to make sure I was screwing the runners into studs and a level to make sure everything was square.

Then I added runners to one side of the closet next, following the same routine - but with these pieces I had pre-drilled pocket holes with our Kreg Jig first so it would make for a clean and secure joint in the corners.

Before installing the runners on the opposite side of the closet, it’s wise to keep in mind how you will be able to maneuver the shelf boards in once all the runners are in place (it would be very difficult to get the top shelf in with all the runners installed, for example). So before installing the opposite side’s runners I slipped some of the trickier shelf boards into place first (I used 1x12”s cut to length for the shelves) before I finished screwing in all the side runners.

I secured the shelves into place with some finishing nails, then taped off the shelves and runners to get ready for paint. I used primer and then several coats of white semi-gloss paint since it’s a little easier to wipe down and keep clean.

I just love how farmhouse and “Shaker” the exposed rails on the sides look and I wanted to play it up. Once the paint was dry I added some functional hooks to hang aprons, lunchboxes, etc on the side rails.

| Skip Hop Fox Lunchbox | Similar Style White Metal Farmhouse Basket | OXO POP Containers |

And now the project is complete! I am so happy with how it turned out and it’s wonderful to have everything in one place. I can see this project saving us money on groceries in the long run now as everything will be in one place now and we’ll be less apt to waste food.

Eventually, I would love to replace the closet door with a fun screen door and get some more glass jars and baskets for a cleaner looking pantry - but all in good time.

Shop my Kitchen + Pantry Favorites on Amazon

| Similar Clear Plastic Storage Bins | Dog Food Container (on the floor, just out of the picture) |

| Flour, etc. jars were made using Cracker Jars with custom vinyl labels I made on my Cricut | Vintage Pie Tins |

Over this past winter I added a few simple add-on organizers to our pantry to maximize the space and love how functional they are. Here they are below (and please excuse the glimpses of clutter in the pantry… as it now holds extra groceries and our family board games too - because, real life):

Additional Storage for the Walls

| Similar Wire Wall Basket | Mason Jars to store Trail Mix |

Under-Shelf Storage

| Wire Under-Shelf Basket - Perfect for Storing Potatoes! |

Decal for Pantry Door

How we Turned a Coat Closet into a Functional, Organized Pantry

It turns out our door is an odd size and in order to get a screen door for it we would have to custom order one (at a cost of about $300+! Yikes). So instead I decided to cut a custom vinyl label to stick to the door to make it more finished. I could have designed my own but I found a design I really liked on Etsy and bought the digital design file. After purchasing the design file, I used my Cricut and 651 Permanent Vinyl to make the label and then transferred it to the door. In hindsight I probably should have made it slightly smaller, but overall I love how it came out and how budget-friendly it was since I already owned a Cricut Machine and the vinyl.

| Pantry Digitial Design File | Cricut Machine | 651 Permanent Vinyl in Matte Black |

Back of Door Organizer

How+we+Turned+a+Coat+Closet+into+a+Functional%2C+Organized+Pantry

Finally, we decided to add a ClosetMaid Adjustable Organizer to the back of the pantry door to fully utilize the space. It was very simple to install and I am impressed with how sturdy it is once it's assembled and screwed in. We used the lower baskets for foil, parchement paper, ziplocks, silicone bowl covers, etc. The middle baskets we designated for frequently used canned goods, smoothie mix-ins, as well as salad fixings and rice cakes. Finally on the top two baskets we put convenience foods that we rarely use since I'm so short. Note: If you have a hollow-core door, you might want to use a specialty set of anchors/screws to attach it to the door for stability, rather than just screw into the door with regular screws.

| ClosetMaid Adjustable Organizer (18 inch) | True Nature Silicone Food Covers |

Stackable Canned Goods Organizer

Another later addition to our pantry organization are these amazing stackable can racks for organizing canned goods. Before I had quite a few canned goods just sitting on the floor of the pantry and in a separate kitchen cupboard, but I never could see everything at once and often cans in the back got forgotten -- Now everything is in one spot where I can see them and I can meal plan more efficiently.

| Stackable Can Rack Organizer (I have two racks stacked here) |

OXO POP Containers with Scoops for Snacks

Another thing that's been a huge game changer is moving dry snacks into OXO POP Food Storage Containers. We love these for our snack crackers and pretzels. They keep everything fresh and it's easy to see if you're starting to run low on these staples. To keep the kids from going too wild with serving sizes we added clear OXO 1/2 Cup Scoops in each container too - making it easy to grab a serving.
I used my Brother Label Maker to make labels for the containers. These can easily be peeled off and relabeled as needed.

| OXO POP Food Storage Containers | OXO 1/2 Cup Scoops | Brother Label Maker |

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