Have you ever gazed lustfully at some of the mega gorgeous pantries on Pinterest?  You know the ones.  With open shelving reaching skyward, ceilings spacious enough to warrant a rolling library ladder, each food item from the sugar to the corn chips tastefully decanted and labeled in a frosted glass jar?  You know those ones?  This is not one of those.

This is my pantry:

Oh, the shame. I can’t quite believe I’m even sharing this.  I swear I didn’t purposefully mess it up to look worse than usual for the before picture.  I literally just opened the doors and snapped this shot.  Woof.

But I think I deserve a little slack, because as you can see, this is a most worthless pantry.  The shelves are deep and dark.  I have to sit on the floor to find anything in the bottom shelves and I have no idea what’s beyond the first few inches of the top shelf.  One large cabinet door would have made this slightly better, but instead there are two, thus necessitating that thick board straight down the middle, crushing any further hopes of functional possibilities here.

But it’s a new year! A fresh start! (February still counts as the new year, FYI).  I’m going to get organized!  And eat healthier! And finish that one thing!

So, I started with my pantry.  Purged the junk that was taking up space, whittled it down to the necessities, and then identified the six ‘pantry zones‘ that we use most.  Starting from the top we have: breakfast, dinner, lunch, drinks, snacks, Tupperware, and bulk products.

It may not be Pinterest-worthy, but hot dang, it’s better!  I wasn’t willing to spend a ton of money on fabulous frosted glass jars, or fabric-lined baskets, or anything really. Not only because they would probably be destroyed in a matter of days, but also, I want to make sure this system is actually efficient first. So, I spent a grand total of $4 on popcorn tubs from the dollar store.

So far, so good!  They are large enough to corral all the little things that can easily overrun the pantry like spices, drink mixes, granola bars, pudding cups, etc., while leaving enough room in the back for larger products and canned goods.  Plus they are lightweight and easy for the kids to maneuver. I cut the chalkboard labels with my Silhouette, and all in all, it seems to be working out!

Now that my pantry is on track, I thought it would be a good time to get my eating on track too.  (Having a baby is also good motivation. Nothing like your kids asking you if you’re still pregnant).

That was right about the time I was introduced to NatureBox.

Have you heard of it before? It’s a subscription-based snack service, meaning you get a box of tasty, healthy snacks delivered to your doorstep every month. Yes, yes and yes!

Their products are made from wholesome, nutritionist-approved ingredients, and abide by strict quality standards:

• No High Fructose Corn Syrup
• No Partially Hydrogenated Oils
• No Trans Fats, No Artificial Sweeteners
• No Artificial Flavors
• No Artificial Colors

I was sent a box to try, which included these full-size bags with 3-5 servings each.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Figgy Bars, Dark Cocoa Almonds (YUM!!), Roasted Kettle Kernels, Garden Tomato Crunchies, Sticks n’ Stones, and Oat Bran Dippers (seen below, also YUM!!)

Everything was GOOD!  I was so impressed.  I thought there would probably be one or two that I didn’t care for, but I really did love them all.

NatureBox is available in 3 sizes at 3 different price points:

• Deluxe Snacker (5 bags for $19.95)
• Happy Snacker (10 bags for $29.95)
• Smart Snacker (20 bags for $49.95)

Your monthly box always ships for free within the continental US.

They have over 100 different snack options to choose from, or a ‘snack expert’ will choose for you. (PS: I want that job). You can request the same snacks month to month, or add additional snacks; NatureBox is all about flexibility, making sure you’re happy and can get exactly what you want!

I’m very much a snack-lover, so I will be signing up for sure.

And right now I get to give away a 6-month NatureBox subscription to TWO Better After readers!

To enter, simply visit the snack page at NatureBox,

then leave a comment on this post about which snack you’d love to try.

That’s it!

And here’s more good news: you can try your first NatureBox of any size for 50% off with the code BETTERAFTER.  That’s only $9.95 for a one-way ticket to snack city!  (Valid only on 1st month’s box. New customers only).

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