Living the Pantry Lifestyle - Check for prices and how I prioritize what I buy for the pantry

I have noticed how the price of food and objects are either missing or harder to find these days.  When my husband was in New England, I stopped for a pizza from a restaurant where both of us have enjoyed pizza before we even knew each other.  

I was surprised (although one should not be these days) that the menu they display had the prices crossed out and a small sign was up saying the prices would be available upon ordering.  I had heard that some menus were now without prices but that was the first one I saw like that.

Reminds me of those rare times we went to a fancy restaurant and the price for lobster was usually "Market Price" since it changed according to the time of the year one was ordering.

Last week, I bought a birthday gift for Piper while I was at Meijer.  I didn't see a price but I figured it couldn't be all that bad for a baking set.  When my husband was looking through all of our receipts, he asked what I had bought for $34.50.  Yikes!  No wonder they didn't have a price on it.  

I would have taken it back but you know... granddaughters are worth it. I know she will enjoy it. Instead, that gift along with a Brambly Hedge book purchased for her collection, will be quite sufficient for a birthday surprise.  I was going to add some kind of frilly dress but it can wait until Christmas.

It was extremely hot here this week.  Our weatherman says it is the same heat we had in 2012 when we were under extreme drought conditions.  We are praying it doesn't get that bad again.  The local news station continues to warn that the crops are beginning to get distressed.

We had some rain yesterday, which is not nearly enough to relieve the drought but my deck flowers were happy.  I hope it helped the local crops, too.  It seems there has either been too much rain or too little rain these past few years. You don't hear a lot about normal weather conditions these days.

I've been asked about my pantry priorities, especially being on a budget and not having very much space.  I learned from stock up failures in the past that it didn't work for me to stock up anything in bulk.  So, I've been purchasing a bag of beans off and on until I now have a variety of dry black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, lentils, and 15-bean mix.  It is much easier for me to make them a regular part of meal planning this way.

I had two rather large bags of rice "put back", which kind of broke my "no bulk" rule.  I now remember why it didn't work because I don't want to open a 10-lb bag of rice for just a few meals.  So, I have just started putting back a few small bags of rice and this way, I can have a variety of grain mixes, rice mixes, jasmine rice, and my most recent purchase... a bag of Lundberg Organic Brown Rice.  I plan to cook the brown rice and freeze it in smaller freezer bags next week.

I concentrate on deepening the pantry by having extra cans of what I often use in recipes.  I have extra spaghetti and orzo stocked because both are easy to stock up on without taking a lot of room.  I often use orzo instead of rice in recipes.  I have a couple extra bags of Essenhaus dry noodles in the pantry but they need to be quickly rotated since they have egg in the recipe.  

Otherwise, I have used pasta that is two years old with no trouble. I store most pasta in the original boxes and the boxes are placed inside a medium size Rubbermaid container to protect them.  Orzo is usually poured into half-gallon Ball jars for easy use.

I always like to have extra canned vegetables, especially green beans and organic corn.  I have some extra cans of "cream of" soups, as well as soup to open for lunch or to add to recipes (like tomato soup).  Except for canned salmon, I didn't buy much in the way of canned meat until it was recommended we have some on hand.  I concentrated on canned chicken when the poultry virus hit. 

Of course, I have always had extra flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, baking soda, extracts, and spices.  Doing our own baking saves a lot of money (even before inflation) and I have never known a cake or a plate of cookies not to bring a smile when people need their spirits lifted.  I need to add a bag of gluten free flour or a few gluten free mixes to my baking pantry since I know a few people now who must eat gluten free.

I don't use a lot of mixes but they are handy to have in a pinch.  I do always keep one large bag of the Krusteaz pancake mix that only needs water added and one backup bag.  My husband likes those pancakes better than my made from scratch recipe.  It reminds me of my son who decided he likes boxed brownie mixes more than my made from scratch brownies.  Go figure...

I keep Old Fashioned Oatmeal on hand for breakfast and for making homemade granola.  I'm shocked by how much it has gone up in price this past year.  Of course, flour has gone up in price, too.  Especially the King Arthur brand, which is my favorite. 

I think not having very much space to store extra food helps me be more careful about what I purchase.  Pre-Y2k, I was an Admin on an emergency preparedness forum so I obviously stocked up "just in case" and back then I lived in a large house with a good size room I used as a pantry.  Now I only have some extra shelves and I need to put a lot more thought about what I buy and the footprint they will take up on the shelves.

I set aside about $20.00 on stock up day to purchase food items for the pantry.  That can still purchase cans of vegetables, fruit, soup, etc. This month more was allocated so we could purchase almonds, pecans, and cashews in bulk when we were at Sam's Club, as well as the case of green beans and the case of Bush's Original Baked Beans.  I've already used some of those.

After that, I usually purchase one or two items each week when I go to the grocery store.  On my last visit to Meijer, it was a can of Keystone Ground Beef.  It tends to sell out quickly and when it does, it can take awhile to get back in stock.  I think it was unavailable about a year the last time they sold out.  So, it is a priority since they have it some weeks and not others.

I try to have what I need to put meals on the table and they don't have to have meat at every meal.  I also look to see if I have at least a few items that I could open during a power outage.  The obvious is what is in the refrigerator that doesn't need to be cooked.  Also, most canned meats, most canned vegetables and pretty much all canned fruit can be eaten without cooking. 

With prices being what they are now for food (and everything else), I don't want to waste anything.  This next week, I plan to take the cans out of my kitchen cabinets and check for dates (I now put the Use By date on the top of the can with a Sharpie before putting them on the shelf).  I will make a list of what needs to be used soon and concentrate on using them in recipes soon.

Almost all food can be used past the Use By date and some food like pasta is good long after the Use By date.  Food like salt, vinegar, honey, etc. last almost indefinitely.  I have heard that real maple syrup does but it never lasts that long in our house.  ;)

I have mentioned that food sold in aseptic containers need to be used before the Use By date if possible.  I have had some go bad even before the date so I rotate them in and out before the date these days.  Mold has been found in the containers that were past the Use By date.  Especially in juice packs and such.  Perhaps because they have a lot of sugar?  I don't know for certain.

I continue to have to tweak shopping habits that have worked for decades.  Not, anymore.  I finally gave in and I'm ordering the "wet" cat food online.  For awhile I could buy enough cat food for Florentine by going to numerous stores, even though it was "hit and miss".

It finally became very difficult to find any of her favorites at any of the stores.  I realize places like Wal-Mart and Kroger are national stores but at least they have local workers and I tried to give them my business as long as possible.

Like most people, I am stunned just about every week by how quickly prices are going up.  So, anything we can put in the pantry now will be a hedge against inflation later.  Just remember lessons learned from Y2k... buy extra of what you actually use already.

I have heard numerous people recommending purchasing the food you will need for the Holidays now.  Not a bad idea if you have the room.