What would you have in a well stocked pantry?

[Johansen8]

what are some things that keep your pantry stocked?

[SnoopyCool]

Soup, wheat berries, powdered milk, sugar, flour, cooking oil, dehydrated apple slices, jello, canned vegetables (some of which I just canned myself!), canned meat (tuna & chicken), water, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, honey, spices, canned butter (did that myself, too... who knew you could do that?).

There's more, but this is what I could think of for now.

[mom-from-missouri]

My husband laughs at mine..We can go for 3-4 months without having to buy groceries. But we live in the middle of no where and I'm not driving for one item.. I stock up about every 2 months at aldi's, and hit the amish store when I visit my parents back home.

flour, sugar, salt, pepper, spices, oatmeal, brown sugar, powered sugar, yeast, powered milk, rice, honey and various dried beans which I buy in bulk at an amish store.

I can so our canned produce from the garden & orchard is in there as well-applesauce, apple jelly, apple pie filling, grape juice, grape jelly, green beans, tomatoes, wax beans, and a few peaches.

If the deep freeze counts, I have corn on the cob, butter, okra, more beans, green peppers & onions (I dice and freeze, ready for pizza or whatever), juice and deer meat. If we have butchered, there is also beef. I also keep cheese in there-it lasts longer

From aldis (by the case), mushrooms, olives, tuna, canned chicken, peaches, pears, mixed fruit, speg sauce,chili beans, soup, various pickles, pudding, jello, dried pasta, chicken and beef broth and any fruit or veggies to fill in where I was short in the garden.

Also from aldis, but not by the case, crackers, ketchup (didn't get enough tomatoes this year to make my own), mustard.

Then again from aldi, are my "cheat" food, for when I am short on time, or called to sub teach--that includes the frozen TV dinners (great for a teachers school lunch), some canned ravolie and some frozen fried chicken, chicken and parmision patties and salsbury steak, for a quick dinner when I get home.

I also keep a lot of soap and shampoo on hand as well. I used to stock up on TP, but since my house fire in 2001, I don't as that is flamable. Now I just get 1 months at a time.

But, I have a large pantry in the basement where it is cool to store my items. My shelves are 12 foot long planks supported by cememt blocks. Some items I keep in see through plastic totes--such as the pasta. (After all, we are a farm and every farmer raises mice also.... )

Raising chickens, I also have a never ending egg supply.

I have a lot, but at any time I can make about any dinner, and not have to run to town for one ingredent.

[mom-from-missouri]

Snoopycool,
How did you can butter? I knew it could be done, because Ma did it in one of the Little House books, but I never could figure out how.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

mom-from-missouri, canning butter:
CANNING BUTTER

The USDA recommends against canning butter and I understand why, but I can tell you people all over the world do it.

I think it could also be canned without lids, using a layer of paraffin, the way some people used to can jellies. Again, I think that is a method not approved of by the USDA.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Johansen8

what are some things that keep your pantry stocked?

Do you mean what you should have to last you through some emergency, the way people stockpile food, or simply what a well-stocked kitchen should have to be able to make a variety of meals?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I was wondering the same thing as disneysteve. My first thought was to answer, "whatever you eat." My second thought which would apply to the extended emergency situation was, "whatever you eat that stores well, plus something to drink that stores well."

[SnoopyCool]

I just learned how to can it from this lady:
Everything Under The Sun. I have never done it before but it was fun and I felt a sense of accomplishment afterwards.

That free online dvd is great for stocking your pantry, for a time of crisis or just for the everyday.

[maat55]

Canned veggies, fruits and meats, peanut butter, powdered milk, sugar, oatmeal, beans and rice. Saving a few two liter bottles with water( you need to put a couple of drops of clorine in them). Two 5 gallon gas cans with gas in garage.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by maat55

Two 5 gallon gas cans with gas in garage.

You really shouldn't store fuel indoors. If you have a shed that isn't attached to the house, that would be okay but not in an attached garage.

[Johansen8]

Sweetroll has pretty much covered it... I always have canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, tomato paste, dried pasta, evaporated milk, rice, couscous, potatoes, carrots, fresh tomatoes, a wide range of herbs and spices, flour, oil, chilli, ginger root, Asian noodles, balsamic and white vinegar, honey, lemon and lime juices (in case I haven't got fresh)... I like to have a bottle of ginger ale back there too for emergency marinade needs if I haven't got any other sweet liquids onhand. Oh and should always have a couple of bottles of decent wine hanging around! And gravy powder - very handy. And frozen veg (though that's not pantry).

I have several bottled sauces sitting in the pantry that have been there for months that I've never touched, so I'll probably never buy them again as clearly they're not something I use! Start with the basics, then keep track of what you do and don't use, and you'll get the hang of your particular pantry needs.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

You really shouldn't store fuel indoors. If you have a shed that isn't attached to the house, that would be okay but not in an attached garage.

Why not? my truck has more than that everynight. 10 gallons of gas is not alot. It sure would have come in handy last winter when we had our ice storm. Glenn Beck is also advising this.

[Bimmer]

A properly working fuel system in a vehicle is air tight. Those generic gas cans are not. The risk is minimal, but a spark or cigartte ash or could ignite any fuel vapor that might be leaking from the can.

Best to store them near the garage door, so the fresh air from opening the door gets to them easily.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by Bimmer

A properly working fuel system in a vehicle is air tight. Those generic gas cans are not. The risk is minimal, but a spark or cigartte ash or could ignite any fuel vapor that might be leaking from the can.

Best to store them near the garage door, so the fresh air from opening the door gets to them easily.

No offense, but that kind of reasoning is what debilitates people from taking necessary risks. Yes, where you store your gasoline isn't life and death, but fear of possible risk/danger (and the resulting refusal to accept said risk/danger) is something I just can't understand.

There are reasons gas stations won't let you pump gas into any other sort of container--because they're designed and certified to be safe. If you keep the caps closed, the concentration of gasoline fumes is so small that the surrounding air is about as combusible as the air around your kitchen sink. Even if the caps are only loosely secured, similar conditions exist. It's more likely to set your own hair on fire in sparking conditions.

[rob62521]

Here's a site that recommends on how your organize your pantry:

Organized Pantry: Beginner Guide to Pantry Pride | Organized Home


I keep lots of canned goods and whenever canned vegetables and tuna and chicken go on sale, I stock up. We keep quite a bit of soup as well, and crackers. I have been buying both sugar and flour when it's on sale and storing it in the freezer.

[GRITSinMS]

There is a definited difference in what I would stock in the pantry for everyday cooking versus emergency preparedness. Actually, I just issued an interesting challenge on another site to cook from your pantry and lower your grocery bill for a while. It's another way to rotate your stock. Even if you are stockpiling, things expire and you still need to rotate.

[AmbitiousSaver]

We don't usually stock up.

I go thru my recipe books, plan out what we are going to eat, look thru the pantry for what we need and then buy that. And as we go through the day if we notice we are out of something that we plan to use again, then we'll add that to the list.

I'll also try to make our grocery list revolve around the coupons I have so I've been saving a bunch with coupons lately.

[mom-from-missouri]

I did some online searching around on stocking up on food. Somehow I ended up on a couple of LDS websites. The recommend stocking up for a year, which I think is a little excessive, although I admit I probably do have a years worth of some items (mainy those I get for free when combining sale items with coupons). Some items they list I don't understand why. For example, they list whole wheat, as in wheat the grain, not wheat flour. What the heck is a person going to do with a barrell of wheat, unless they have poultry or cattle? I would rather stock up on the flour than they wheat. A barrell of flour will go further than a barrell of wheat, not to mention you have to thrash and grind it. They did have some good ideas though on food storage methods and rotating the food.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

For long term storage some people recommend un-milled (but threshed!) wheat instead of flour because the nutritious germ of wheat is not included in white flour, and because whole wheat flour can go rancid since the the oily germ is exposed to the air (I've had that happen; it tastes bitter.) Stored as a whole grain, air gets to the germ only very very slowly, so it keeps for years without becoming rancid. Yes, you would need a grain mill to make your own flour from un-milled wheat.

[belic3000]

As a diabetic, I have to keep certain things on hand in case I find myself slipping into DKA or my sugar being to low. Diet Ginger Ale. Chicken Brooth and Sugar Free jello. This is for the DKA. I also have a six pack of Pepsi and little cups of applesauce.

The rest of my pantry runs similiar to everyone else's. But those I mentioned above I have to have on hand.