~ from my home to yours, living the Working Pantry lifestyle ~ surviving today's economy ~ a can-do spirit and attitude ~

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Seven Things We Learned While Eating Almost Exclusively from our Pantry for Three Months!



If you’ve been following A Working Pantry for very long, you’ll know that my husband and I recently experienced an unexpected financial hardship that left us having to eat almost exclusively out of our pantry for 3 months.   We learned some things first hand during that time that will help us be better prepared for future events of this nature, so I thought I would share what we learned in the hopes that it will help others who might face similar situations in the future.


My well-stocked pantry was and is a life saver.  Being able to continue eating in the manner that we always had without worry about how to provide the food to do that was such a stress reliever.  We were already stressed enough trying to deal with the situation that not having to worry about how we were going to eat was a real blessing.
 

Variety is very important!  I can’t stress this enough … variety is very important.  In order to avoid eating the same meals over and over again and getting food burnout one needs to know how to take basic ingredients, add some spices, etc and create something that has a different taste.   Having a pantry filled with a wide variety of things your family will eat helps to be able to create those different flavors and dishes. 
 
You need a ‘strictly from the pantry’ menu. I would suggest a 30 day meal plan for ever how many meals you eat per day along with snacks, where all the ingredients come from your pantry without you having to go to the store. This will help with the ‘variety’ issue I mentioned above.
 
Your pantry will last half as long as you think it will.  It is surprising how quickly a pantry gets used up when you’re eating almost exclusively from it.  Some items that we thought we had plenty of were the first things we started running low on. 
 
You need special treats.  In my opinion special treats are essential to a well-stocked pantry.  They help keep moral up and give you a little something to look forward to.
 
You need to know how to stretch what you have.  Necessity is the mother of invention and during our 3 months of eating almost exclusively from our pantry we stretched and saved every bit of food.   Leftovers became another dish and even the little bits were saved for ingredients in a soup meal.

Now that our financial hardship is over, I'm making it a priority to take what I’ve learned and use it to build a better well-stocked pantry.


Do you have any words of wisdom/experience to share on this topic?
patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.