Pesky Pantry Pests

Have you ever had your pantry/ kitchen invaded by bugs of some kind?

Isn't it just horrible?
It literally DOES make you feel quite "invaded" upon, doesn't it??

(I've got to get this off my chest, and hopefully in the process, SOMEBODY will get some useful help.)

These past few weeks I've had some horrible things happening. Here's my 1st clue of an invasion:

Say, like I just made this awesome salad with the WORKS!! Yumm... and I get out my bag of slivered almonds from the pantry. And I'm humming along, smiling so cheerfully, ready to dig in, when out w/ the almonds, I'm greeted by lots of cob-webby, crumbly, gross stuff, and worm-looking things!!!! GRRRRRROSS!!!!!!
Needless, to say, I'm avoiding almonds and salad for awhile, okay?

I since then of that incident, had purchased MORE almonds...... I soon had the same problem. Hmm.. perhaps it really is coming from MY pantry.....

I HAVE been noticing tiny moths flying around the pantry. I wondered if that had anything to do with all this....

Finally, after a few incidents, I got around to looking it up online (Yay!- for the internet!!) & found really helpful info.
Apparently, they say you can actually wind up bringing these pests home w/ you from the grocery store, unknowingly.... ESPECIALLY if you buy bird-seed!!! Well, I DO have birdseed in the pantry, but my goodness- that's been in there for like a year, and it's just now been an evident problem..... Hmm...

Anyway, the advice was to (obviously: get RID of the infested foods), and clean out, sanitize, an vacume the pantry/ kitchen, being sure to get nooks and crannies.

So, we began clearing out the pantry last night, and are still clearing it out....
We've got all the food out, and linens, and other things, but still have some things in there. In the mean time I found funny lil cocoon/ worm-things, along the ceiling crevice, shelf-crevices.... We found about....almost 10 or more....

I also found some in my cornmeal. Also, each time I find something I tell the kids to come and look. I asked them to look in the bag of cornmeal and tell me if they see anything. I'm teaching them to always look for "trouble" before they get all the way into the food or eat it. -Pretty helpful thing to know, huh? -I'd say so!! ;)
(Don't worry. The cornmeal I am currently use is in a sealed Tupperware container!) ;)

I eventually got to the corner of the pantry, where the bird seed was kept, and couldn't wait to see if it was the bird seed that was the problem. It did seem to have all kinds of yuckies in it, and out it went!! I figure, we should all learn now, that if we are gonna' have bird seed, we'd better be sure to keep it in a SEALED container. (Sealed REAL container. These pests get through plastic & cardboard okay? Use a Tupperware- type container.)

While cleaning out the shelves of their contents, one thing I wondered about momentarily, whether I really needed to take that out or not was a roll of cotton batting, in a bag, still un-used. I was thinking at first..... "Nah.... this isn't a FOOD...." But then started thinking "Well... wait a minute, they might think this would make a fancy, conveniant nest!" And sure enough, they DID happen to think so!! And they DID lay their larvae there.... Ugh!!! :(

There were 5 or 6 buried just 1 cm. beneath the top of the batting. I thought maybe I could try to save the batting, and cut out the larvae.... and also peeking throughout it, checking for more possible bugs, but..... I finally got them all cut out, and decided I'd be safer to just chuck it out. I don't want ANY more pests!! Gross!! I just HATE to see all the stuff I've had to throw away today!! -Wasted $$$ money!!!

What a shame!! All because of the fall of man, sin, and the curses.... I bet Eve would have never eaten that fruit had their been a bug in IT!! (I couldn't help but throw that thought in there!) I NEED a good chuckle!!

We're almost clean, and lil by lil, new "wormies" keep showing up. I have a wipe ready to squish it with, but no!! It creeps into the crack between the shelf and the wall! :( Rrrr.... The advice I had read included NOT using poison, but guess what? Out came the poison!! I sprayed all the nooks & crannies!! No mercy for those pesky critters!!


Well, I tell ya, if you're looking to lose you're appetite, get yourself invaded by Indian Meal Moths. I didn't want to eat a thing today!! I finally attempted to eat something from the fridge, but couldn't.... The thought of all those "things" I saw... Gross!!

So.... We headed for Taco Bell.... (Which by the way, don't ever order a Nacho Grande, thinking your gonna' get a "Grande salad toppings, w/ refreshing lettuce, and stuff, cause that ain't gonna happen!" I was bummed about that! NO lettuce on a Nacho Grande?!?? Ah well.... It was food that did NOT come from my kitchen... and that, I was pretty thankful for! :)

Now.... perhaps, I hope, that the pantry has aired out enough to go finish my pantry project..... See, I have food ALL over my kitchen counters & everywhere, and I basically can't do ANY thing, until that food gets out of the way....

Happy Pantry to YOU!! May all your pantries & kitchens be blessed & pest-free!! ;)

-Kt