That is the question. What belongs in the pantry? I think we all know we need to keep pasta, rice, oats, dried beans - all types of "dry goods". I know not everyone can eat all those things - some have restricted diets. So in my opinion, when the question comes up "what belongs in the pantry?" - my answer is STOCK WHAT YOU USE!!!!!!
What you eat and what I eat are probably different. You need to be aware of your daily needs and stock those things.
I do not eat oats (except in baked goods) - but I keep them, because IF I were hungry enough, I would surely eat them. I could also grind into flour. I could extend my flour in other recipes. I could add nutrients to different foods. Many reasons to keep it on hand.
For me - rice, pasta, dried beans of all sorts, tomato products, baking items and canned veggies, fruits and meats are essential.
Sure, convenience foods are handy to have. I do have a few - like mixes of different sorts and snacks.
I find when I keep the ingredients on hand - I can make just about anything at any time.
I love fresh goods. Fresh produce, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. Those are some of my favorite foods. BUT, if times got bad, I had shelf stable milk & powdered, I can use canned fruit and canned and frozen veggies. I can freeze eggs and cheese. There are always options.
Remember things last a lot longer than the silly date that is put on the product. If kept cool, dry and out of sun - things last for a long, long time. That 'date' simply indicates the MINIMUM shelf life of the product for ultimate flavor and taste. Things last a long time past that. I very seldom pay any attention to dates. In most cases they just create waste of product and money! Be smart - the stuff in that package DOESN'T KNOW THE DATE!!!!!!!!
Keep items in a safe place. Use glass and tin when you can to store long term items to prevent bugs or rodents. Use bay leaf in items or on shelves. Peppermint is also good to deter ants and bugs. Orange spray also works. NEVER use chemical bug sprays around food products.
I freeze a lot of dry goods that I plan on using long term. Flour and rice mainly. That freezes any 'bug' eggs that may be in the items. YES, there is basically nothing pure and free of insect eggs - sad to say.
Just plan ahead and keep what you and your family eats. Always remember that the pantry is more than food! Your soaps of all sorts, health related items (medical shelf), pets and any paper products (TP). These are all important.
Keep watch of sales - and ALWAYS stock what you can when it is cheap. Lately, in my area - Meijer has had canned veggies for .39 cents a can, and WM has lowered canned veggies to .50 cents a can. Once one store lowers an item fairly low - others tend to follow suit. Competition!!!!!!!! Keep your eyes open!!!!!!!
This time of the year is full of deals - take advantage and play the game! The stores play the game and try to entice you with a deal - play along and stock up on the deal and then leave!!!!!!
So what belongs in the pantry?? Whatever you use!!!!!!!
Have a great day my friends. Happy stocking.
Christmas bit today:
Very good ideas Cheryl. Your information on canned goods is soooo useful. I cringe now when I think of canned goods I had at one time gotten rid of when they went more than one year over. Once in a while I will hear a vlogger warn about dates and I shake my head saying noooooooo they are making people waste good food : O
ReplyDeleteGreat candy cane story, very sweet looking meme too. I need to show that to my grandsons, they are three almost four and I think they will really like the little story now.
Have a sweet day and thanks for all of your great common sense info and encouragement Cheryl! : )
Thank you much. I bet the grandkids would love that little story. I think it is just sweet!
DeleteI cringe every time I see someone on FB groups tell people to throw things away. Same with You Tube. It just drives me up a wall. So much waste in this world - obviously those same people have never been "hungry" in their lives. I could eat about anything if hungry enough.
We just never know.
You are welcome - thanks for being here.
My Italian grandma always told me the story of having to wait for the hen to lay an egg to make my mother a sandwich to bring to school. : ) She was so generous though, drove an old car but bought others the best. Oh. And her pots and pans later in life were stainless steel and percale pillowcases! She lived very humbly but on those things she bought the best.
DeleteI know exactly what you mean, it blows my mind how people waste. Ugh. I'm just flabbergasted at times...Just flabbergasted.
(((hugs!)))
Isn't that something. What a neat story. People today would freak out if told "hold on - waiting on the chicken!" Things were much harder back in the day - yet I think they were better.
DeleteHeck, we all have the things we like and deserve.
Competition is fierce here and we benefit! Lidl has canned goods for .33 and butter for $2 this week but Aldi is cutting their price on hams so Lidl will have to meet that. Most holidays they have a ham war and prices can go down to .49 a pound! We have some DIL who are date phobic so I just take things out of packages and into another container before they come and they don't know the difference. Got that cat skinned!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how the stores compete - and we WIN! Yes!!!!
DeleteWow, .49 lb. for ham is incredible! Don't think I ever remember ham being that cheap.
It just amazes how much people waste. I guess they think things go magically BAD overnight! Good for you for not letting them win.
I know people who genuinely believe that on the dot of midnight of a given best before date then that product becomes not only inedible but poisonous! When did people stop using their brains?
ReplyDeleteI think they stop using brains a LONG time ago. It is just incredulous to me that people are that crazy. I see it every day - and it just shake my head and laugh at their foolishness.
DeleteGrowing up my kids would complain "there's nothing to eat" and I'd remind them there's food in the pantry. Their response was "it's all ingredients"!
ReplyDeleteTuesday night I vacuum sealed 25 pounds of oats into smaller packages. That's just for me! I love oats. I do eat it for breakfast or a snack. But I also use it in a variety of recipes.
I do need to either freeze some of my leftovers or buy a few healthier freezer meals to keep because when I was sick last month I didn't feel like cooking and I had nothing in the freezer I could pop in the microwave. I ate a lot of peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches and all I got dirty was a knife. Oatmeal required too much effort! Lol
~margaret
LOL -- G was the same way. If it wasn't prepared - there was nothing to eat! He knew we had lots of food - just nothing ready to go!!!!!
DeleteGood for you on the oats - my word that would last me 2 life times!!!
Yes, we need to have simple things on hand just for those days when we don't feel like cooking. If nothing else, canned soup or a box or 2 of this or that. I usually have homemade soup of some sort in the freezer in individual containers. It sure makes it easy.
Love the Legend of the Candy Cane, Cheryl — thanks. Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteMary
I think it is so sweet. Thanks.
DeleteGreat post Cheryl. We don't take too much notice of sell by dates on cans and packet foods, especially foods stored safely to keep them dry. I was lucky in the supermarket and bought 6 cans of soup for 50p each today on clearence. I don't store chocolate or potato crisps as they are too much of a temptation :)
ReplyDeleteThis week we went to a Christmas Tree Festival in a church nearby. They had the story of the candy cane which included...
Peppermint flavour is like hyssop which is served at the Passover supper....Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.
Best wishes, Heather from the UK
Glad you got a deal on soup. It is always nice to have on hand. Snacks are very tempting to me as well.
DeleteOh how lovely. I bet the festival was lovely. I like that added tidbit. I had never heard that part. That is neat. Thank you!
Alas, we have only ONE grocery store in town... so the prices never go down. There was another store but it was chain having a hard time so it closed that store. We all hoped another grocery would buy that property. Sure enough, our ONE grocery bought that property and there it sits, empty. :( All the different stores are 20+ miles / half an hour away and that can eliminate the savings. I do shop when I'm out of town, and the prices are for sure better away from here.
ReplyDeleteMaryB in NC
WOW just one store. Talk about eliminating the competition - isn't that something. I am sorry you have no deals to speak of. I would sure take advantage of every adventure out of town and SHOP!
DeleteOne last reminder, CHECK THE RECEIPT! I went yesterday to restock from sales, loss leaders. Lots of great bargains but as I was doing self check out so I could make sure everything came up correctly there were problems.
ReplyDeleteI had to have a clerk come over and fix a bunch of the prices. I had the sale paper in my hand. It was clear what the price should be. In the end, I had been overcharged by $17.00. Imagine how much they get away with this trick. They also did not have the sales price posted by many items. I still got those for the price listed in the paper.
They count on people being rushed and tired. They count on us not paying attention. What we don't know is the length they will go to in able to get our money on way or the other!
GREAT ADVICE!!!!! Yes, always check. I know when I go on Wed., many of the sale signs aren't up yet. Should be, but aren't.
DeleteIt is amazing how quickly it all adds up. Indeed, if they over charge everyone by that percentage - they make a tons of extra dollars. It sure isn't right.
Please take this advice everyone - CHECK RECEIPTS.
Oh yes, always check the receipts. The Farmer went to Meijer today and apparently people are taking advantage of lower prices, as some of the shelves were sparse.
ReplyDeleteOh I believe a lot of people are taking advantage of cheaper prices. Can't say that I blame them. Now is the time to stock up if needed.
DeleteSo many GREAT tips today! The kitchen I had for 5 years before moving for retirement didn't have a big kitchen and very little storage. Meaning I got out of the habit of keeping plenty of "ingredients" on hand (it was a 2 story home, so bedroom storage wasn't practical). Once we moved in here, we were starting all over with bare cupboards, pantry, fridge and freezer. It felt a little overwhelming! That was also when grocery inflation had really kicked in. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteFor those who've made a goal of getting at least a month or more of food stockpiled and stashed is set aside a little extra in your grocery budget each month. Encouragement here really helped me. It took several months, but we now have a well stocked pantry and freezer. Say there's a good sale on dry pasta and jar sauce... buy just one extra of each. Little by little you can do it! --Elise
Thanks for encouraging others. Yes, it takes time - none of us did this overnight. Slow and steady wins the race. Just a couple jars or boxes or $5 extra spent each shopping trip ADDS to that stock. You never know what is around the bend, so it is very important to have EXTRA!
DeleteI do everything you do except for the last paragraph. I do not buy WM Great Value items. No way. I do not trust them or their suppliers.
ReplyDeleteI am not a WM fan at all - but if hungry, well, I would eat what I could find. Many of their items are packaged by the same suppliers as other stores. Some are not.
DeleteI came looking for your Sunday blog post, Cheryl. But it’s not here, so I am hoping you are ok but visiting with family and friends.
ReplyDeleteIt is here. I made it early Sunday morning. Many have posted. Not sure why you aren't seeing it!!!!! All is good. Thank you for asking!
DeleteHave a great week.
Yay! So glad to see it. 😊
Delete