A Pretty, Well-Stocked pantry
Ok, it's certainly not my pantry, but I do like the set up. I prefer way more in terms of home-canned foods in my pantry vs store-bought, but hey...a pantry is a pantry and well-stocked is the thing to go for.
She also shares some recipes and menus using her pantry and garden.
And some thoughts on what to store, as well as how to store it.
Right now, we are still employed and still have an income. There are no promises of that in this day and age, so the pantry work needs to be never-ending. As long as there is income, you need to be setting aside some storage. Just a bag of rice or beans, some jars of spaghetti sauce, some flour, some sugar. Little additions to the grocery list and budget, but once the income is gone, you'll be wishing you had done it.
Don't over-whelm yourself with 50# pails of grains if you don't bake fresh. But don't stock a bunch of sugar-coated nothing-of-nutrition either. Find a middle ground and go for it.
Like pasta? Start learning to make your own egg noodles and stock some spaghetti and elbow macaroni.
Like spaghetti and pizza? Learn a basic recipe for canning your own sauces, and stock up on some sale jars while shopping.
Stock what you eat. Man, you just can't say that enough. Folks go one way or the other with pantry stocking -- they store bags and boxes of whatever is on sale, grabbing and foraging like a wild man, just to find when life deals some lemons they don't have any basics in the storeroom.
Or they'll stock a bunch of rice when the family doesn't like to eat it.
Find your middle ground and get to the business of pantry storing. There isn't a job in the world right now that can claim any sort of safety from bankruptcy, lay-offs or shut-downs anymore. Your days are numbered, plain and simple. Only those with the foresight of pre-planning a bit will have any kind of comfort level to look forward to. When are you planning to learn how to do ________? You need to learn this or that skill now, not later when you really need it.
It's not a scare tactic. It's just plain common sense living these days. Limit leaving your homestead and start setting aside a little extra budget money to get the things you really need...not the things you think you want.
1 comment:
Thank you so much for sharing my website with others!
Since I took those pictures, I have had the opportunity to can a lot more of my own foods, including applesauce, tomato sauce, and apricots. I'm hoping to take a new picture of that section of the pantry to put up on my site after I can pears. Right now I have a lot of empty jars, waiting to be filled with peaches and pears! We are eating some of it faster than I can can it!
I would love to have my own green beans and corn to can, but they don't do well in the heat here, so I get them from the store when they have case-lot sales. I can't grow enough tomatoes to can for all of our needs, so I buy those as well. I also get canned olives and mandarin oranges. I'd love to grow mandarin oranges, if I can find a spot! Olives are illegal here because of the pollen.
If we had a bigger garden, I would grow much more. I know that right now, we are where God wants us to be. I am working on growing as much as I can with the land that He has blessed us to use.
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