Comments on: Treasures in the Cupboard: Eight Tactics We Use to Maximize the Value of Our Pantry

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:58:24 +0000

If you shop during the sale and stock up, you save money.

I am lucky enough to be a savvy shopper. I combine coupons and sales for the lowest prices. I don’t buy three on sale, I buy twenty maybe forty identical items.

By: Rob in Madrid

Rob in Madrid — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:31:30 +0000

I don’t see how a pantry can save you money. Sure your shop less but then you spend more because you buy more. While I do keep an eye out for sales I’ve stopped stocking up so much, with just the wife as we don’t cook much. I’m still using tomato frito from a almost a year ago. I’ve been tracking my spending and stocking up is actually costing me more money.

What I did do differently is to have a specific shopping list for each reciepe that I use so that when I cook I don’t have to make extra trips becuase I forgot the mushrooms.

By: Jaideh

Jaideh — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:00:32 +0000

Just a note about bread machines – check your local thrift stores before buying one. I got mine from my neighborhood church thrift store for five bucks. I’ve been using it for a couple years now with no problems. I’ve also scored a food dehydrator and a vacuum food sealer for super cheap.

By: mamacita

mamacita — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:41:13 +0000

That’s a great tip about rotating the pantry to inspire new meal ideas.

BTW, food banks are really hurting right now. I work at a church, and we’re getting 3-4 times as many calls as usual for assistance of some kind. If there’s stuff in your pantry that you’re not going to use, please give it away before it goes bad.

By: beth

beth — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:10:27 +0000

This is such a good reminder to me to formalize my pantry contents a little better. Generally I buy 2 or 3 of something when I need 1 for a recipe, but I don’t really manage what’s in my pantry. There’s always enough to throw together at least a few days’ or a week’s worth of meals, but it’d take a little creative thought by Day 5.

I used to get pre-made meal plans from a site called “Saving Dinner” (savingdinner.com) and Leanne has a list for her perpetual pantry that was very handy. More than I would actually keep on hand of some things, but a great start for me. As we move in the next month, I should pull that back out and re-stock the new place.

By: HebsFarm

HebsFarm — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:47:16 +0000

I once lived in a house with no pantry, but the closet for the washer/dryer was located next to the kitchen. So I bought a washer only, then installed shelving and put food where the dryer was supposed to go, and hung my clothes up to dry. Very satisfactory arrangement.

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:43:58 +0000

Somoene made passing reference to this above, but the LDS Church (Mormons) believe in large pantries and therefore have some wonderful websites on how to build and stock a pantry.
In our house, when I see a good price on something we use, I buy 10-12 of them (sometimes more). By the time they are gone, we can generally find another sale.
Another way of thinking – not all disasters are natural. Our pantry saved us during a job loss – because we had a great stock, we ate through the pantry for a few months, keeping our grocery bills very low. Once the income was flowing again, we restocked, and are ready for the next challenge!

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:19:45 +0000

Don’t forget the most important rule of a well-stocked pantry: First In, First Out. This is a basic rule to ensure that you don’t let anything age while using up newer supplies. I like the idea of moving things around every month. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting “pantry blindness” when I’m constantly seeing cans of tomatoes at the front of the shelf at eye level.

By: karen w

karen w — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:08:47 +0000

comment #6 Yes, Tupperware (or Rubbermaid) will keep all of those pests at bay. The only caveat would be if it was infested before you brought it home. (grocery stores sometimes get bugs…ewww)

About a non-traditional pantry, I purchased a 60″ tall modular storage cabinet at Target that I use as a pantry. Then, I found some “shelf expanders” that organize the big shelves with small boxes or cans. With these, everything is visible and easy to get at.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:17:19 +0000

Sal, are you by some chance living at a high altitude? Recipes need to be adjusted. Contact your local Extension Service for how, or look in most any standard cookbook.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:35:26 +0000

Great post! Be careful with the baking powder and baking soda, though. Leavening should be replaced within 6 months of opening, or if it’s lumpy (moisture uses up it’s leavening ability, so never dip a damp measuring spoon in the box). Fortunately, baking soda can still be used for cleaning and freshening things up.

By: michael bash

michael bash — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:00:56 +0000

re pantry — Bravo, I couldn’t agree with you more. M Bash in Thessaloniki

By: Julie (fraises et tartines)

Julie (fraises et tartines) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:20:24 +0000

I love a well-stocked pantry! Unfortunately, I don’t have the storage space right now to buy my flour and sugar in bulk. I do have plenty of dried beans, barley, canned tomatoes…etc. I dream of someday having an extra freezer so that we can buy a quarter cow. Usually, I get funny looks when I tell people this. But I figure I might get a friendly face here.

By: Sal

Sal — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:05:15 +0000

Melody –
I have a very small kitchen & no garage or basement to over flow into.
I have an old dresser in my bed room that I store bulk canned & jarred goods in (like a case of canned corn). When we get home from our monthly grocery shopping one of us goes to that dresser and pulls 3-4 cans of each to put in the kitchen for consumption. When a case gets down to about 8-10 cans then I’ll buy another.
Cans of soda pop get stored under a different old tall dresser & go un-noticed thanks to a skirt I made to go there (imagine a bed skirt sized down for an old Victorian dresser). The skirt also keeps the cans clean (according to my son).
Then in our “office/library/guest” room I have a big wardrobe type particle board thing that I store my potatoes, onions, bulk flour, grains, extra spices and other baking goods in (like baking soda, etc). In the kitchen I use bay leaves to keep creepy things away, in the bed & office I use cloves.
Both the bay leaves & cloves I can buy in HUGE bags for under $2 at an Indian market I go to once or twice a year.
My son has recently developed the “hollow leg” syndrome that boys tend get so, my pantry has been draining faster then normal. I think I’ll either have to start to get food twice a month or start buying twice as much when I go. Depending upon how close it is to payday, we usually have a month & half worth of food.
I wish I could get Trents bread recipe to work – my bread doesn’t rise much. It just explodes in the oven… I don’t think it’s the ingredients(I’ve tried different brands of yeast & flour) or the recipe – I think I’m just defective. At least I make a mean banana bread & yummy coffee cake :)

By: Sophia

Sophia — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:55:29 +0000

It’s interesting you mentioned disaster preparedness. Just the other day, in two different magazines, I saw a full page add from the Dept. of Homeland Security. It was a pyramid of food made from the random things people might have in their pantry (like old candy canes and honey and maybe a lonely tin of veggies) and it said “If a disaster struck, what would your family’s food pyramid look like after three days?” It then recommended having three full days of food.

Of course, I’m surrounded by my Mormon friends here, and they’re counseled to have TWO YEARS of food storage, so three days sounds like a tiny recommendation to me ;) I think your timeline of a few weeks is right on- not too little, not two years ;)

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:56:18 +0000

@comment #26…try Trents’s homemade bread recipe before you run out and buy a machine. It’s really pretty easy, and I’ve made bread (I double the recipe for my family)every week since I started using it..
As for the pantry, I keep a really well supplied pantry. When we bought our house, which was 20 years old when we bought it 10 years ago, it had some great shelving units throughout the basement. At first, I wondered what I would do with all that shelving, but soon realized that it would be the perfect pantry.
Once, I even went through and counted th number of meals that my pantry would produce, if a disaster did occur. While I was sure that I had perhaps 3-4 months worth (which is my aim), I was surprised to count out only about 25 days worth of meals and snacks. So, while I haven’t completely addressed it to have 3 months worth, I’m not fooling myself anymore, and have a better idea of what my pantry will see my family through. We also eat and rotate out of the pantry.
The garden is also quite a help also with the streching of food dollars. Last year, my friendly neighborhood gophers ate a huge portion of my produce, so a really good fence went up in the fall, including chicken wire well under the fence, so they will have to find another garden to eat out of this spring and summer!!!

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:52:09 +0000

We keep a large pantry for several reasons: in case of a job loss, in case of a natural disaster, I like to “shop” in my pantry rather than run to the store, and I’m able to take advantage of super sale items and really stock up on things that we use a lot of. I have a large pantry cabinet in the kitchen, 4 sets of shelving in the basement for the extras, plus a large upright freezer. If we had to, we could live off our pantry for at least 6 months! BTW, another item that doesn’t keep long is flour tortillas! Once they get buggy, they can infest your whole pantry very quickly! BTDT!!

By: Des

Des — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:09:34 +0000

@oneofnine

Artificial sweeteners into formaldahyde? Cite your source.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

By: richerandslimmer.com

richerandslimmer.com — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:30:55 +0000

As someone who has recently decided to save more money (and one of the ways I try to do it is by eating out less), I have started stocking my pantry with ingredients that can make my favorite restaurant dishes. For example, I used to love Olive Garden lasagna. But now, every time I have a craving to go out to Olive Garden, I just bake a homemade lasagna, which satisfies my craving without burning a hole in my pocket.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:47:50 +0000

Great article Trent, I salute you. A well stocked pantry is definately a must for any family. I can relate to the eating at home, I recently wrote an article on how to save money and that was a big point I made in there. I think others could benefit from the information aswell, here is the link:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4734331_save-money-year-round.html