On the Shelves of the Pantry

1. Rice- what an easy and inexpensive way to fill up your pantry. To make your rice provide all the nutrients necessary read this, as it is very helpful and will ensure that the protein in rice will help you if you are shy of meats.

For my family a one year supply of rice is about 250 lbs according to this calculator. Rice is an incredibly easy food to prepare and there are far too numerous recipes to list...on the farm we eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner...just prepared a different way.

2. Brown sugar-this is such a great item to have. In the calculator above it suggest having 15 lbs for a family of five, but we use brown sugar much more than white sugar, as it is not refined. We do have white sugar, but I am thinning that out. We use this as a sweetener for drinks-yummy.

3. Store bought canned veggies- I try and buy veggies without anything but water...but sometimes I do buy because of a sale. We have an abundance of corn, peas, green beans, carrots, asparagus, and spinach. Did you know that combining a yellow vegetable and a green vegetable together will help reduce or lower your triglycerides? Did you know that you can make carrot cookies or carrot bread with canned carrots? We have a few hundred cans of veggies in the pantry-based on sales.

4. Condiments- mayonnaise, mustard, dressings, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Kikomon, Parmesan cheese and Ketchup. I confess that these are loaded with corn syrup and sugars, but I like to have them sometimes. I buy these items totally on sale. For example I just bought 12 BBQ sauces for $3.60!Oh and they are Kraft! If you watch the sales and use coupons you'd be amazed at what you can do for your pantry.

5. Peanut butter- I am giving this its own separate number as it should be!! I love peanut butter, peanuts and any side on either! We buy this from Costco as it is still the cheapest place to buy peanut butter so inexpensive.

6. Pickles- we eat about a gallon to two gallons each month! Yep we love them so I have a variety of pickles in the pantry. I buy the gallons for about $3.50 at Costco, and then supplement the slices or variety when they go on sale. I think I have 8 gallons in the pantry and five medium jars of slices. Don't forget that you can drink the pickle juice!!

7. Canned tomatoes gets its own category also! I have never canned my own tomatoes as we eat them as fast as they come in. So I buy gallons of tomatoes from Costco. We have about 15 gallons in the pantry...I use this for salsa primarily as we use salsa pretty much every day with lunch and dinner. Try tossing salsa on top of white rice- yummy!!! By the way the whole peeled tomatoes are superb!

8. Drinks- no not alcohol, although I recommend having something like vodka in your storage as you can use that to make tinctures, and sterilize wounds. Now back to drinks, black tea to make sun tea, flavored teas to get you through sicknesses, coffee, Gatorade, punch mixes. We also buy one or two canned drinks such as apple juice or orange juice. They are pricey, but last a good while and are not exposed to sunlight which changes the taste of the drink. We have the generic V-8 too which is my favorite. (approximately 5 gallons of coffee, 70 mixes of koolaid, 3 tubs of Gatorade, 6 boxes of teas, 25 cans of fruit drinks 2 qts)

9. Powdered milk- I use this when I make oatmeal, arroz con leche and what ever. I have two 5 gallon buckets. I bought on sale the boxes, then filled up the five gallon buckets.

10. tomato sauce- this is such a good starter for your cooking, it can be made into tomato juice or as a soup base, or in anything. I buy salt free type. I have about 200 cans of tomato sauce.

11. Oils- olive oil, I use this exclusively in my baking and cooking. I also have lard and Crisco. I use both...and have several of each. I have three gallons of olive oil.

12. Canned meats- I have tuna, sardines, and ham. We have the beef, so I will be canning lots over the next few weeks so I can turn off the freezer.

13. Fruits- I have raisins, prunes(yep) applesauce, peaches, pears, pineapples, fruit cocktail...some I have canned and some store bought. I buy only fruits in natural juices- again I have been reducing the corn syrup in our diets. I have a couple hundred or more. I canned 70 plus applesauce, so you get the idea.

14. Pasta's- we are like most Americans I suppose, as we do like our pasta. I have lasagna, spaghetti, elbow, shells, fideo and three colored rotini. I have about 30 or so lbs.

15. Spices- this is important- so I have several containers to resupply my spice cupboard. Don't forget salt and pepper. I have 25 lbs of salt...and about 8 lbs of sea salt for home made toothpaste.

Well that is the peek for now- The key to a pantry is understanding that balance should be maintained. If you have three hundred lbs of flour, and nothing else you're are going to be in trouble. One must also rotate foods and replenish ones supplies.

I have not gone over the complete inventory- just a peek!
(c) Double Nickel Farm