With the help of my kitchen remodeling project, I have actually managed to install more cabinets in my kitchen that I really have a need for.  Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% confident in my abilities to ultimately fill each and every one of those cabinets.  But, for now, I have some cabinets that have gone completely unused and I don’t have anything that needs to go inside of them.

As the result of all of this extra cabinet space, I have come up with a great idea.  It is so great, in fact, that it has become one of those “I don’t know how I lived without it” types of discoveries.  I call it….drum roll please….the “back up snack cabinet.’

It is so simple, yet so brilliant at the same time.  You see, I have four boys.  One just turned 14, the other will soon be 12 and the other two are 6-year-old twins.  So, if you are a parent, you should have a pretty good idea of just how much these kids eat.  Since my husband and I both work outside of the home and because we live in a small town where the only grocery store is limited in selection and overly priced, our grocery shopping is reduced to one night per week and requires driving 30 minutes to the nearest Super Walmart.  Therefore, we need to be certain to purchase enough food to cover the entire week - and that means keeping plenty of snacks on hand.

Well, there are certain snacks that my family enjoys the most.  Muffins is one of them.  In fact, on my last shopping trip, I purchased three boxes of banana nut muffins along with a box of blueberry and a box of chocolate muffins.  In all of my parental wisdom, however, I know that putting all three boxes of banana nut muffins in the official snack cabinet would result in all three boxes being opened at the same time…it seems no one in my family can find the box that is already open.  Hence, the back up snack cabinet.

With the help of the back up snack cabinet, I can keep the food pantries in my kitchen far more organized.  Once a particular snack is finished up, I can check the back up cabinet and refill the official snack cabinet.  Back up boxes of cereal are also in the back up snack cabinet.  That way, I can avoid having 8 different types of cereals open all at the same time while still keeping my family in constant supply of cereal.

I realize a back up snack cabinet may not be necessary for everyone.  After all, families with four children are becoming increasingly more rare in the United States.  But, if you are like me and you have more children than you have adults, having a back up snack cabinet may be just one way for you to maintain your sanity.