I started in on one cupboard in the kitchen yesterday morning. And then Patrick and Veronica came over. Patrick couldn’t resist and, while Veronica sunned herself poolside, he came out into the kitchen to help out. We filled at least 4 trash bags with expired food items. The worst were the decorative spice jars still filled with spices that I received as a wedding gift in 1968! I also found a packet of spices to make Chex mix that had a coupon on the side of the packet that expired in 1991!

I was amazed at how many food items in my cupboards were expired. Mostly this was the result of where I was keeping my canned goods. I was using a cabinet at ground level that was very deep. Thus, things at the back of the cupboard never got used ’cause I didn’t even realize they were there. I found numerous things I didn’t even know that I had and many that made me wonder why I ever bought them in the first place! I wasn’t sure just how long you could keep packets of teabags and cocoa mix, but I decided to toss them since I’m sure I hadn’t used any of them in over five years…or maybe 10 in some cases!

I now have some empty shelves in my kitchen cupboards! And the items I kept are well organized into spaces where I can see what I’ve got. And I actually have room to put things away when I return from the grocery.

The last cupboard I cleaned was the one where I keep the pet food. In the back was a basket filled to the top with cat toys. I will never have to buy any additional toys for Nate and Hayes. There are enough there to last until they become senior citizens! I also found the catnip stash–at least 10 bags of catnip! If you didn’t know any better, you would think I had been hoarding pot.

Still have a few more cupboards to go through, but these are filled with dishes, pots and pans, and plastic ware. Not sure what I’ll find deep in the back and am thinking of putting that off until next weekend. I’m sure there are pieces of Tupperware and empty Cool-Whip containers that have long outlived their usefulness. However, my trashcan is filled to the brim and I’m ready to take a break from dehoarding and getting back to real life–doing laundry, cleaning the litterboxes, etc, etc.