What's in your pantry?

[barleychown]

I've been working on my food storage for the last week or so. I'm moving away from storing my food in plastics, and because I buy in bulk, I need to be able to keep smaller containers of my flours, sugars and such where I can get to them easily.

Do you have a pantry?

What are your staples?

How do you store them?

[Triss]

We do not have a pantry, really.  Just cupboards beside the stove that do go all the way up to the ceiling. 

I also do not keep food in bulk but when I do keep staples on hand.  Flour, sugar, brown sugar, oatmeal, cornmeal, stuff I canned, canned goods, powdered milk, rice are all things I make sure I have on hand.  Then I house the cereal, pasta, beans, pedialyte, extra spices, boxed foods, snacks for the kids and pretty much anything else I do not have room for in the same area.  And after looking at it to see what was in there, I see it is a fine mess too.

Most of the time, I keep things in their original containers but I do store my rice in the freezer.  I go through the rest of it so fast that it does not have a chance to go bad. 

If I had a walk in pantry I would keep more on hand, buy in bulk and store in tupperware containers.  They seal tight and it is easy to see what is inside. 

[Tina]

I do use plastic to store most. It remains air tight and keeps out critters. I don't buy in bulk much. Not more than 10 pounds of flour or sugar at a time for the most part. I even use and reuse plastic zip lock bags for my pastas, beans and cereal for their air tight features. I am into keeping out the bugs.   Why aren't you using plastic, may I ask. Is it because it isn't re-used, recycled  much?
My pantry contains the things listed above and some canned goods, soups and such. Our family eating habits are morphing with John's illness. Right now, simpler is better. If I cook a lot then quite a bit is wasted. My freezer is full of some homemade foods for quick meals as well as baked goods, bread and rolls type things. And frozen veggies. I also try to keep an assortment of fresh vegetables in my fridge. I really don't have much meat in the house right now. No one has been in the mood for meat dishes.

[barleychown]

I got a wild hippy hair, as Mike calls them.   I just don't like the thought of plastic touching all of my food, all of the time. Plus, I live with two teens who seem to have somekind of mission to melt all of my tupperware.

I've started storing things like specialty flours (whole wheat, rye, pastry, ect.) in quart jars, but my main flours and sugar are in 2.5 gallon plastic jar shaped things. Nuts, dried fruits, dry milk, ect. are also in quart jars, because I have jars comming out my ears. 

My pastas are in ziplocks, in a deep drawer. Beans are treated the same. I have two big freezers...one for half a beef, and other meat, the other for fruits, veggies and quick meals.

I buy bulk when things are on sale, and try to keep enough on hand to get me to the next time that product is on sale. I've found buying in bulk has made a huge difference in my grocery bills, plus I almost never run out of anything mid-recipe.

[Triss]

My freezer is stocked with meat right now Tina plus rice, yeast, chicken nuggets, frozen soups, and leftovers.  I also have some prepared apple juice for apple jelly, prepared peaches and strawberries.  Ice cream of course and english muffins. 

[Triss]

I would be scared to death of having all of my stuff in quart jars.  I know the kids or I would break them and what a mess that would be.  As it is, my canned stuff is all on the bottom so that if it slips, it does not have far to go and I have still broken one... a big mess of glass and strawberry jam all over the place.

[barleychown]

So far, no real problems with the jars, but then again, I'm the only one who cooks, really. Plus, it gives me something to do with all the jars that have a chipped rim. Once the rim chips, it won't hold a seal for canning, but for storing things they work just fine.

Strawberry jam and glass would not be a fun mess to clean up. 

[Triss]

The kids help me too much and they love to get stuff out of the cupboard.  It is a good plan for all of the chipped jars though.  I use mine to store beans up on the counter.  Looks nice there.

[Tina]

I think I would like the jars. They would be pretty. But too tall for my main pantry cabinet. It isn't a pantry at all. It is a cabinet of wide drawers meant for blueprint storage. But cans and pasta packages sit on the shelves very well.  And I can slide the shelves  out to see what is in the back. I like that feature a lot. On each shelf I could fit 150 standard cans of Cambells soup. I don't but I could. Three of the shelves/drawers are set up for that size or taller item and three are shorter where I have smaller items in (think that same soup can on its side). Great for kid snacks and things. The bottom is a large open cabinet where I have larger food item stored plus my waffle makers and hot plates and things. When I build the kitchen of my dreams, this cabinet will be a central part of it.

[Triss]

That sounds like a VERY cool cabinet!

[barleychown]

It sure does...I would LOVE pull out shelves in my pantry. I'll add that to my list of ideas.

[Dianna]

I have a pantry, but I am scared to open the door to see what is in it...

Sounds like I might need to rearrange stuff in there tomorrow. I might be better able to answer the questions then...

[barleychown]

Hey! That's been my week. 

[Bonnie]

Sounds like I need to come eat with ya'll. All I have is rice, a bag of beans, a can of peaches, some dog food and a whole lot of stuff that doesn't belong in the pantry.