One of the things that I love about having a clutter-free home is that I can welcome friends and family over whenever the mood strikes. If a friend calls to say that she is in the neighborhood, I can tell her to drop by the house instead of getting bundled up to meet her at a coffee shop.

I like the idea, too, of being able to offer my house guests a snack when they stop by. The other day, I spotted this terrific suggestion for a Cheese Plate Jar on Maggie Mason's blog. Maggie recommends stocking a jar with snacks so that you always have a few items to offer your guests:

You can stock it with all kinds of shelf-friendly snacks, but our favorites include:

• Bars of Dagoba or Scharffenberger dark chocolate
• Raw almonds, pecans, filberts
• Roasted pistachios or pumpkin seeds
• Dried apricots, cranberries, or mangoes
• Crystalized ginger

If you happen to have some cheese in the fridge and a little drizzle of honey, you can make a killer cheese plate with that stash. If not, take three little dishes (we use sushi plates), and put out almonds, dried apricots, and chopped chocolate. You can put it together in five minutes with no cooking and no stress.

Having an organized home and an organized snack jar for guests means that you can be a host or hostess without any worry. Thank you, Maggie, for sharing your great idea!

image via the MightyGirl website