I think a well-stocked pantry is essential for meal planning and in case of emergencies. I try and keep basics plus TP and other nonfood items. But over the last year I’ve read some interesting blogs on minimalism and food storage. The idea that space is valuable in your house and why fill it up with more stuff than you can reasonably use. Or fill your garage or another room in your house with shelves of STUFF!
Ha Ha, this picture says it all.
Just because you can use triple coupons to get 6 candy bars, should you?? I do think there’s a balance between stockpiling and hoarding. If you’re just out for the mega deals and loading up on hamburger helper boxes or Kraft macaroni( both which don’t count as healthy eating) then I think it is hoarding of a sort.
Back in 1975, right after we moved to California, a member of the firefighting crew that my husband was on introduced me to a better way of eating and buying in bulk. Shelley was an unusual woman for the time. She was strong and one of a few women fire fighters at the time. This is USFS firefighters. But she and I would drive an hour and a half to a tiny co-op like store to buy bulk oats, rice, beans, honey, shampoo, rinse,( we even brought our own bottles.) I would go around to restaurants and ask for their empty gallon pickle or mayonnaise jars so I could use them for storage. That kind of stockpiling is okay and really, in my opinion, a good thing.
When you have bulk beans or rice you can always whip up dinner. Plus, now with a freezer, I try and freeze tomatoes and sauce in the summer for winter use.
In trying to streamline our pantry, I’m looking at less condiment type things and just the basics of beans, rice, pasta, canned tomatoes and beans. But I don’t need a case of canned chili or whatever case deal could be bought.
I guess it’s a balance and finding out what your family uses.
Some of my essentials are
- Lundberg organic rice
- organic pintos
- organic black beans
- organic canned tomatoes
- oats( not always organic)
- sugar/honey
- a jar or two of salsa
- canned fire roasted chiles
- tuna
That’s about it.
PS
I had written about 2 more paragraphs but the blog gremlins made them disappear and I can’t find the original post, so this is the modified one. If I think of what I was saying I’ll add it later.
PPS
Here’s a picture of some of my Ball Jars
Tahoe Girl 
thank you for this post, i really enjoyed reading it. for me, stock piling is very important since i never know from one day to the next how i will feel………having basic essentials like beans, rice, canned tomatoes, etc. makes life easier.
I remember being on Chemo and especially dexamethasone and really needing pantry stuff just to plan meals for my family. Thanks for reminding me that when we don’t feel good, we need backups and a pantry does that.
a stocked pantry is a beautiful thing. praying your day is full of wellness!
I totally agree. I was reading blogs where I was feeling behind on my “stockpile”, but then after a while I thought it was ridiculous and I didn’t want my pantry to be stuffed, but just reasonably stocked. There may be a snowstorm in January, but it would be a day or two, NOT A MONTH OR TWO. Funny that the “deals” are usually for junk, not for apples. Interesting post, I enjoyed reading it.
Yes, those bloggers that have rows and rows of ‘deals’. But a lot of it is crappy food or cases of toilet paper. 🙂