Food Storage Dilemmas

This week's project has been cleaning out my kitchen. After going through our food storage and having to throw half of it away because everything was WAY past the expiration dates, I am determined to follow the whole "eat what your store, store what you eat rule." However, this creates a big dilemma for me. I WILL NOT eat canned veggies and fruits if fresh are available. We are trying to eat more healthy, so that eliminates lots of pasta storage (and besides, Ramen is icky). I also don't want to have to rotate sugary things, so that takes out some of the stuff I have to "flavor" water and powdered milk, i.e. Nestle Quick, hot chocolate, etc. And then, of course, there is the never ending issue of space. I really hate to waste food by having to go through and throw it away every 5-8 years, but I don't know how else to store food that will actually work in an emergency. Anyone out there have any suggestions or ideas?