Living the Pantry Lifestyle - A Healthy Pantry

I have to assume that the second time around for this blog post will result in a better post?  For those who were not here last week, my entire post disappeared just before publishing it.  If we must find a reason for everything (and believe me, in this crazy world I don't!), we will assume this week will be better.

A couple weeks ago now, YouTube had a video pop up... as they often do... that is similar to some I watch on a regular basis.  Normally, I don't watch many new-to-me videos but this one intrigued me for it was a channel of a vegan physician offering advice on stocking a pantry.

He had some good information and much of it what I have already been doing.  The most important was to concentrate on basic food items when beginning to stock a pantry.  For instance, his first suggestion was old fashioned oats for they are healthy, filling, and can be used to make recipes such as granola.

He recommended tofu, which didn't surprise me, but it was a reminder of a dessert I made long ago where I put an aseptic package of tofu in the food processor (or blender?) along with melted chocolate chips and blended them together.  Mixed together and chilled, it made a simple chocolate mousse that was delicious.

In the States, the most popular brand of aseptic packaged tofu was (and may still be) Mori-Nu tofu, which has a shelf life of about a year after it was produced.  As with all aseptic packaged food and drink, it does need to be used sooner rather than later because mold has been known to develop when kept too long.

I'm going to give a list of his suggestions below to make it easier to give you ideas for your own pantry.  I put back some cans of meat instead of tofu, although remembering that dessert recipe may call for a package of tofu to make its way into my grocery cart soon.

As far as building up my pantry this past week, I bought one can of chicken and one large can of small whole potatoes.  Both go along with my basic pantry ingredients at the time since I do not have a lot of shelf space.  

My usual store was out of the brand of kibble I use again (except for the huge bag that I cannot budge) so I went to Walmart for two medium size bags of kibble.  I probably should start putting back even more bags but you have to store kibble properly in the garage or it attracts mice (ask me how I know).

Oh, I did buy two cans of another food to try another recipe I haven't made in ages!  A favorite cooking-from-scratch TV show that I watched long ago (and cannot remember the name) often gave suggestions for easy and inexpensive recipes that were quick to make.

One item they suggested keeping on the shelf was Italian Style tomato paste.  The cans are small so they do not have much of a footprint on your shelf but when mixed with about 1 1/2 cups of water and slowly simmered fifteen to twenty minutes, it makes a delicious marina sauce.

I use Red Gold tomato paste and I haven't seen that brand in Italian Style, although one can obviously just add Italian Style herbs to regular tomato paste.  However, I was curious to see if Italian Style tomato paste still exists and I saw that it did in the store brand.  I bought two cans and I'm going to make the marina sauce again soon.

There are so many additions you can make to the basic recipe of one can tomato paste and 1 1/2 cups water.  You can saute garlic in olive oil and then add the paste and water.  You can add red pepper flakes for heat.  You can add garlic powder and onion powder.  You can add balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt. You can also begin with ground beef for a hearty sauce.  Obviously, the recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. when necessary to feed more people.

I was trying to remember why I stopped making spaghetti sauce this way and I think it was when I went back to work full time before homeschooling and used a pre-made sauce that I liked.  Also, once we had no kids left at home, I didn't make spaghetti as often.  

The combination of high inflation and some packaging getting smaller (shrinkflation) makes going to the grocery store more interesting, even when they do have what we need in stock.  

The price of produce has risen substantially, enough that the usual higher prices at the farmer's market are well worth it and the money we spend there goes directly to the farmers. I'd definitely be starting a garden again if I could.

Below is a list of items recommended for the pantry by the vegan doctor.  I added a few ideas of my own that he didn't mention.

Grains:  Oats, pasta, rice, whole grain breads  I would add other grains like couscous, Israeli couscous, quinoa, etc.

Legumes: Dry or canned beans, lentils, peas, tofu, soy milk

Fruit:  He suggests stocking your freezer with various frozen fruits but while I do have fruit in my freezer, I would definitely suggest also stocking some of your favorite canned fruit for the pantry shelves (remembering that pineapple does not last long in the can).  He suggests fruit that last awhile without refrigeration such as apples and pears to keep on the kitchen counter.

Vegetables:  He suggests keeping a freezer well stocked with frozen vegetables and as with the fruit, I have packages of vegetables in my freezer but I believe canned vegetables are also fine for the pantry. I keep quite a few jars of Aldi organic salsa on the pantry shelf, it can be used for all kinds of things.

He also suggests vegetables that can last awhile without refrigeration such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic.  I know various kinds of winter squash have lasted awhile in my garage.

He doesn't suggest these but I would add cans of various nuts, trail mix, peanut butter (with or without sugar), almond butter, cashew butter, dehydrated or freeze dried fruits and berries, etc.

I buy freeze dried strawberries at Aldi for a snack for me once in awhile. They are very reasonably priced. My husband cannot eat any berry that is not organic and I'd love to find a good source of organic freeze dried strawberries that don't cost a fortune.  We do keep organic strawberries in the freezer.

I know there are many other options and if you can add to them (or recipes such as you have before!), it would help other readers... and me.  This blog post has been written and saved a few times this past week so here is hoping it does not go poof like last Saturday's blog post.  ;)

Image:  Cookbook and Apples