I am wondering if any of my two or three readers stock their pantries?
Do you have enough food stocked up for a week, a month, a few months?
I have some food stocked up but I think I need to learn to stock more complete meals.
I have some of this and some of that, but nothing with a specific meal plan or purpose.
It seems like a good idea to make meal plans and have complete meals stocked up.
Do any of you do this? Can you give me ideas?
I stock my pantry with the staple items that my family uses LOT of throughout the week. I stock it when there are good sales/deals at the grocery store or through bulk shopping at Sams. If I have the available $$ in the budget I will get enough of an item to stock my pantry until the next sale of the item. For example this week, one of the local grocery stores has Smuckers grape jam, my family's favorite on sale for 4/$5. I also have coupons for the jam. So I am going to get 6 jars of jam this week and this will last me until the next time the jam is on sale. Why 6 jars? because I know how much my family uses before the next time it is on sale.
ReplyDeleteThis month, I am doing a spring cleaning of my pantry and freezer because I have odd and end items(one of something) that I just haven't worked into my menu plans over the last few months. I have a a pretty good stash of things that I only have to use about $50/week for groceries to get the fresh items. :)
Stocking a pantry and freezer is different for everyone...what one has in their pantry might not be the same in someone else's. You need to stock your pantry with items that you know you will use over the next few months and restock when items get low. Another important item is to remember to rotate your stockpile!
We have 2 freezers and several shelves in the basement to stock non perishables.
ReplyDeleteIf we had to, I could probably get about 4-6 weeks of meals out of them without having to buy anything. They would be lacking on produce however, as we don't buy much frozen or canned veggies and fruit.
We have lots of pasta, rice and sauce to go with them. Lean ground beef, chicken pieces and frozen shrimp bought on sale will go a long way.
I don't plan meals - I just buy stuff I know we will eat - the combinations really don't matter.
Great question, I'm sure you're going to get some fascinating responses! I have an extensive food storage that would last us for over a year in the event of an emergency. I also routinely cook "food storage" recipes that require nothing more than what I have in my storage, so I can be sure we'll be ready. You may be interested in my blog, http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com - there are lots of preparedness articles, ideas and recipes. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI'm so thankful this is coming up more and more.
ReplyDeleteYes, we do stock our pantry and are working on a 6 month supply (we have a ways to go still!). I do a lot of canning (which totally rocks; we love having our 'own' food!) and we buy our main staples in bulk. It's been such a blessing always having everything that I need right on hand.
This is an interesting subject though, that I wish more folks would understand. Just this past winter our main interstate was shut down for 2 days, which then in turn caused our grocery stores
(2 in our little town) to run out of a ton of items.....hmmmmm, what if......?
Blessings on you ~