Organize this

In today's food story, Polly wrote about the plethora of food storage containers.

Gone are the days when Tupperware was the end all. The company that gave birth to product-pushing "parties" now has lots of competition. Heck, I can't remember the last time I've heard of someone even having a Tupperware party. But I do have fond memories of the orange, brown, green, etc... cups. How I loved those little lids that came with them. When I could find them, that is... (Peep this sweet ad from the November 1975 issue of Better Homes & Gardens! So vintage... Wait, I was born two years later. Does that make me vintage? Oh well. The frightening thing is my mom still has and uses her Tupperware canisters! She refuses to trade up! If you go to her pantry, you'll find sugar, flour, etc in a yellow version of the green ones seen here. Ha!)

I like containers for leftovers (great moneysaver), but I also think about which are the best ones for staples like flour, cereal, etc... I have the ubiquitous stainless steel set of canisters, but I think of them as more for show than practicality and better for leftover Halloween goodies than keeping goods fresh.

In my mind, I have a well-organized pantry, The cans are sorted with labels facing outward, and my pasta, rice and cereal (and food for my 10-year-old dog and my 4-month-old puppy) are all in clear containers labeled with sell-by dates. The truth is just the opposite. I can live with the fact that a can of tuna is upside down and sitting on top of the cannelini beans, or that the bags of dog food - which are closed with chip clips - are sitting on top of my Crockpot. But I hate the barely reclosed boxes of pasta, bags of rice and boxes of cereal that have been in there for months.

How do you keep your pantry in order? Do you have favorite storage containers?