Living the Pantry Lifestyle - Keeping the pantry simple and dealing with shrinkflation

My goal was to have my pantry replenished by November and it is almost there already.  I have replaced what was used up during the lock down and added a few extra items that I wouldn't have thought a priority before there were shortages.  Having had to use our pantry a lot, I now knew what became unavailable that was a surprise at the time.

It has been fairly painless to the budget since I am keeping the pantry simple these days.  I've added a little at a time for a few months now.  This week my husband was getting a haircut in the area where Sam's Club is located so he stopped by there to see if they had in stock what they have been out of before.  

He was finally able to get pecans, Quaker oats, and a large package of toilet paper.  All three are much cheaper in bulk and both the oats and the TP were unavailable a lot during the shortages.

On my monthly stock up day, I mostly added canned goods... a few cans of organic corn, diced potatoes, peaches, one can of Essenhaus beef, a can of Essenhaus chicken, and a few cans of mushroom gravy.  The gravy adds a nice addition to potatoes, rice, etc., even when no meat is available. 

Besides the toilet paper purchased at Sam's Club, I added to our paper products by purchasing two small packages of "paper" bowls.  With just the two of us, I don't need a deep or complex pantry but I took the time a few weeks ago to think through items I wish we had during power outages and when our water was turned off.  That's when I remembered the "paper" bowls that came in handy.  

During a water emergency (and when we have no electricity, the well pump does not work), disposable plates, bowls, etc. keep us from having to use precious water to wash dishes.  I do have two plastic dishpans that I fill with water ahead of time, one with soapy water and the other with rinse water, when there is a possibility of needing them.  I will add a link to the dishpan because I use the two I have for all kinds of things.  Back when I could still garden, they were used for washing veggies, too.

Going through the shortages a few months ago showed me that I do not need to stock up for the Apocalypse to have enough.  The whole concept of deepening the pantry (as opposed to food storage) came about from my Y2K experience when I did have a very deep pantry.  Even when we experienced a long term job loss, we didn't use everything.  We did use what would have been in our everyday pantry, anyway, so I should have just added more of those items. 

I have mentioned that I have the ingredients for at least five meals (one can be as simple as pasta and sauce with canned green beans "just in case"), some meat in the freezer, canned goods to supplement what I purchase fresh at the store, a couple jars of peanut butter, paper goods, and items needed for baking.  My only real emergency food I bought that I don't eat everyday is white rice and it lasts a long time.

I always buy coffee and tea, of course, but this month I added a large container of instant coffee from Aldi.  I'd rather have an option of instant than none at all in an emergency.  I have enough tea, if one every really has enough.

Oh, I was asked what non-aluminum baking powder I use.  It is Rumford Aluminum-Free Baking Powder, usually in a red container.  It is the only baking powder I have used for a long time.  I'm including an Amazon link if you cannot find it at a grocery store (and it can be hard to find) but it is often available at a health food store.

Another question I remember is if I still used the same amount of pasta in a recipe when I also add vegetables. I usually do use the same amount of pasta, especially if it is part of a recipe.

Shrinkflation

Okay, one thing I wanted to mention this week was to ask if other people were noticing just how much "shrinkflation" is going on now?  I heard that term on a homesteader's video and thought it a perfect explanation for smaller packaging at the same price.

The first time I remember experiencing it was back when they changed half gallons of ice cream to smaller packaging at the same price.  That has been a long time now.  One may also remember when candy bars cost a nickel and were huge.  They keep shrinking, too.  Not that I buy them these days but I see them at the checkout line.  

Before the pandemic, I always bought a package that contained two mega rolls of my favorite Meijers brand paper towels.  They were handy because they lasted a long time on the paper towel holder.  Not only are they no longer available (at least, for months now) but when you do buy a package of paper towels, the rolls are much skinnier than they were before).

I remember when I bought one package of toilet paper each month with four rolls in them and that was plenty of TP for a family of four.  I found out a few years ago that the manufacturers were not only making them with less sheets on each roll but that the rolls themselves were much shorter than they once were.   Shrinkflation at work again.

I was looking at Mountain House pouches on Amazon a few weeks ago just out of curiosity to see how much they cost now. They were not available for a long time.  While I knew they were coming out with new packaging, I didn't know they would hold less.  

I found that out in the comments when people were complaining about it.  There were less servings in each pouch and the prices were often higher than before the pandemic.  I feel sorry for people who depend on these products for camping, hiking, etc.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.  There continues to be spikes of COVID cases in my area and now the president has contracted it.  Will there be a second round of closings?  I don't know but I want to be prepared.

Here in the States, there is still a lot of talk about civil unrest in November.  Which is why that was my goal for replacing what we had used from the pantry during the shortages.  It took spending a little extra in the grocery budget each month but not a lot taken over time.  

Deepening the pantry is quite do-able when I am not trying to prepare for the end of the world like I did in Y2K.  A lot of us learned good lessons twenty years ago!  Has it really been that long?

Mentioned in this Blog Post

Rumford Non-Aluminum Baking Powder... here.

Sterilite plastic dishpans... here.

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