I have realized when I go grocery shopping I basically avoid the middle aisles.  Shopping is so much easier now.  Fresh fruits and veggies, meat , dairy and the bulk aisle.  The only problem I have encountered with my new healthier shopping patterns is what to do with all the bulk items I am now buying?  Where do I put them?  My pantry is looking a mess.  We refuse to use any plastic containers for food storage and try to avoid having plastic by our food as much as possible.  I thought about going to IKEA to get some glass containers to store everything in until I had a thought,  "What about using wide mouth canning jars?"  I tried it and for most smaller items it worked great!  I used it for items like yeast, nuts, beans, and grains like barley.  We used large glass containers from IKEA for items like flour, pasta, and sugar. 

You can stack them on top of each other and costs less then $1 a piece.  If you end up not needing the container anymore.  No problem you can just use it for canning.  Plus it looks attractive for open storage.  Extra bonus is you can use the lids that have been sealed already instead of throwing them away.  Just make sure to use wide mouth jars in order to easily put a scoop into the jar to access it.  Next I need to find a way to label them.  Anyone have any ideas?

Update:  Since this post I've discovered an easy way to label my bulk stuff and keep track of how much it cost per lb the last time I bought it.  At my local health food stores they give you the option of writing on a sticker the PLU number.  I also write on the sticker what it is and the price per pound.  This helps me to check and make sure I'm not overcharged, (once I had a clerk type in the wrong PLU and an item that was a dollar and some change per pound was entered as an item that was over $70/lb), and then I can use the same sticker as my label for the item.  

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