Any extra veggies get roasted together
Building a Pantry, Step 5: Check in
After your first big food shop, you really need to keep tabs on what you use up and what is extra. This will help you get a sense of what you actually need to have on hand without over or under buying. If you have a note by the fridge you can add things as they run out, and update your master list. If you find yourself avoiding certain things or notice items starting to go bad, take them off the list! This seems obvious but for many of us, food has a lot of emotional connections and it can actually be pretty difficult to think clearly about it. I know for a long time, my shopping list was basically a carbon copy of the one my mother used while I was growing up. It took me a few years to realize that I had different preferences and a different lifestyle, so that list was not most effective.
Before you shop again it is important to evaluate everything you have that is opened, close to expiration or otherwise needs to be used and make a plan for it. This seems daunting but does not actually take long and sets you up well for your subsequent food shops. If you do this regularly it becomes second nature. One way to work this in to your schedule is to do it at a time when you would be cooking or making food anyway. If you are making a dish or a meal, you can also deal with the extra odds and end you have on hand.
Some ways to save the random bits you have:
Soup! If you have extra bits of veg or meat and even grains you can knock out a soup you can either eat or add to the freezer
Cut up fruit to freeze
Roast off veggies to eat warm or cold through the week
Building a Pantry, Step 4: Keep your Food Storage Organized
I think that food storage and organization are two of the biggest obstacles to home cooks. Many of us are limited on space and it can be hard to know where things actually belong. When items get pushed aside and lost, it can be very discouraging especially if you only notice it once the item has gone bad or doesn't make sense anymore. While I cant personally arrange everyone’s refrigerator and pantries (as much as I would love to!) I offer two tips from my time in restaurants and grocery stores:
1. FIFO
First
In
First
Out
When you put your groceries away taking the time to make sure that you are putting new items literally behind older or open items of the same will save you time and money. If you have open boxes of cereal but you just open the cabinet and put new ones in, the older ones will get gross and stale. This is true for almost everything you buy. Before you put it away, check if you already have some, and organize it so you grab the most perishable items first.
It is totally fine for your food storage to get disorganized over time!
Group like items together, with the ones that have a shorter shelf life in front
Make a plan for anything that will go bad soon. We will juice these lemons and carrots to freeze.
Our top shelf is strictly left overs and things that should be cooked or eaten ASAP
This honestly took 10 minutes
2. A dedicated spot for items that should be eaten first, and open communication about it
For me, this is literally the top shelf in our fridge and that is where we put leftover, and anything else that will soon spoil. When someone opens the fridge they know to look there before they open something new for a snack or meal. I also post a note on the fridge when I cook something or make something I want others to eat.
I have so many of these!
Building a Pantry, Step 3: Food Shopping for 2 weeks
Now that you have your list, you are just about ready to go! Some things to think about before you head out to the store:
Budget make sure you have a realistic sense of how much money you actually have to spend at the store. It may make sense to take your total, than literally make a mini budget for each area of the store (for example if you have $100 maybe you decide to spend 25 on meat, 25 on produce and 50 on general groceries). Keeping close tabs on how much you spend every single time you shop will give you a better idea of how to work within your budget. For years I would literally use a calculator with my available amount punched in and then subtract the amount of every item i put in my cart. Now that I stick closely to a list that I have shopped repeatedly it is a little easier for me to keep track with some mental math.
Money savers things like sales and coupons take the extra moment when you are choosing your item to evaluate what the most economical option is
Communication within your household Before you go to the store it is important to have very transparent conversations with the people you live in your home about food supplies. This way you can limit how many people actually go to the store and avoid having multiples of the same items if more than one person typically shops. It might also be necessary to create some sort of understanding around what you are trying to build up as pantry staples and what needs to be eaten more quickly (like produce items or leftovers)
Know how to compare prices across package sizes! The orange box in the upper left corner shows a volume price- use that to compare prices across brands. You may be surprised to find that sale prices might not actually have the best value in a category or some generic brands that cost the same as brand names but are sold in smaller containers!
Beans are a versatile way to use any extra vegetables
Building a Pantry, Step 2: Shop What you have on hand
Before you leave your home to go shopping it makes sense to take some time to clean out your fridge and tidy up your food storage areas. As you do this, think critically about your list and literally cross off the things you already have. This is especially crucial if you live somewhere that multiple people buy shared food. Its also a good time to see if you have things that you have partially used that would be good to prepare soon and add anything to your list that might be needed in that instance. An example would be if you came across some random pieces of cheese and opened spinach and decided you wanted to make a frittata for the upcoming week- add eggs to the list!
Before I make my shopping list I make a plan for any extra things I have on hand. These veggies and some dried beans became my lunch for several days
Building a Pantry, Step 1: Make a Master List
If you can, set aside some time to brainstorm your master shopping list. This is a time to be honest about what kind of home cook you are or are not. If you like to eat small snacks throughout the day and hate to use your oven, that is totally valid, and you will be more successful if you shop for that! It is not a time to start a highly specialized diet or to make overly aspirational menus because it is important that right now all of the food we bring into our homes will actually be eaten. Think about your standbys and habits and what you will actually want to make each day.
If there are a few specific meals or recipes you want to make, try to build out your list from there. Think about versatile ingredients and the flavors you love, and adding on pantry (and fridge, and freezer) staples to that.
Try organizing your list by types of food so you can be flexible if there are specific shortages at the store and so that you can build up your reserves each time you go. If you think in generic categories, and buy what is most affordable in that category each time you go you can build up your supplies in a strategic way.
I will post lists you can use if it makes sense for you to work from that. This post is a longer, for people who like to brainstorm from a prompt. We will think through each section of a store imagine a Master List. Think of this like the best case scenario, your perfectly stocked pantry. Once you have that list, you can go through the supplies you already have on hand, and make your actual shopping list for your trip. If you are just starting to build up a pantry, you may decide to add a bit extra each time you shop as your budget allows.
I keep a version of the master list in my journal and each time we food shop, I quickly double check what we have and basically get everything else on the list. It would be just as useful to keep this as note on your phone, or a file you can print out when you need.
Keep it simple
The most important part of this process is being aware of what you already have, and building a habit around checking in with what you use during a given week and making adjustments to your list as you move forward. It can be really easy to assume you will use up a certain amount of something and keep buying it and then one day realize that it’s all still hanging out in a dark corner of a cabinet!
Here we go!
I’ll outline some staples, and give examples of whats on my list but of course your household may have different needs and preferences. Your store may also have additional or different departments, like a bakery and a specialty cheese department. You might want to grab flowers or a houseplant. Since I’m brainstorming about hardy pantry staples, I’m sticking to these basics, but your trip may look slightly different. Take that in to consideration!
PRODUCE DEPARTMENT
Be really selective in produce because many fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and will contribute to your loss if you have too many on hand. Depending on your freezer space it might make sense to get some of your fruits and veggies there
Versatile aromatics
Onions- this is an example of something you can build up over time, maybe buying a bag of a different type each time
Sweet/vidalia
Yellow
White
Red
Shallots
Garlic
Hot peppers
Sturdy fruits and vegetables that don't need to be in the fridge
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Hard Squash like butternut
Citrus like lemons, oranges and grapefruit (wipe them down and watch for mold)
Apples
Pears
Vegetables that keep well in the fridge
Carrots
Hearty greens like kale (limit bagged salads or tender greens like baby spinach that mold quickly)
Peppers
Tender fruits and veggies to limit
Salad mixes
Tender lettuces
Spinach
DAIRY DEPARTMENT
Think about fridge space and shelf life in this department!
Eggs- space is the issue these keep well
Yogurt tends to have a long shelf life, larger containers may be more space efficient than cups
Butter (can be frozen)
Cheese Aged cheeses like aged cheddars will keep for a long time and cheese sold in blocks will keep better than shreds
Tofu
Miso
GROCERY DEPARTMENT
Here is where shopping by type comes in to play. Try not to think to specifically in this part of your list so you can adapt based on what is available and what is affordable. Think like this: Egg noddles could replace spaghetti if it is sold out. Choose things like grains, beans and spices based on what is available or has the best price per unit. Oats take up less space on a pantry shelf than boxed cereal…
Grains
you can buy bigger bags of ones you like and rotate what you buy each time, building up a more versatile supply over time
Rice
Farro
Barley
Oats/ oatmeal
Grits/polenta
Nuts- if you like a variety buy what is on sale or cheapest per pound and build up over time
Beans, lentils & legumes canned or dried
Chickpeas
White beans
Black beans
Packaged bean meals (like ready made dal)
Oils
Build up, depending what makes sense for your budget. This is also a category where you can make a self assessment of what you actually need. In our home we cook with a variety of fats and oils and love to experiment or use specific recipes, but we could also go for months with the large can of Olive Oil. Think about what you use the most and try to work your cooking around that.
Vegetable blend
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Ghee
Vinegars
Another category where it makes sense to choose a staple, then add over time if budget allows.
White (remember to get extra if you use this as a cleaner)
Apple Cider (our go-to)
Balsamic
Baking supplies
Think about what you will actually use!
Flour
Baking soda
Sugar
Boxed mixes
Stocks and soup
Canned or boxed, even if you make your own this could help if someone falls ill
Ramen noodles/ packaged soup meals
Canned coconut milk (often in this area)
Condiments
These may seem like extras but if you know a few you like, they will go a long way to make your pantry staples more exciting
Soy sauce
Hot sauce
Ketchup
Mustard
Pasta (and things in that aisle)
Pasta/ pasta meals (like mac & cheese)
Pasta sauce- canned crushed tomatoes is a good alternative if these are sold out
Canned and jarred things
Artichokes
Olives
Other grocery staples
Dried fruit
Nut & seed butters Another category when you can pick a favorite or buy what is on sale. We always have peanut butter but i also find tahini very versatile
Jelly/jam
Tinned fish
Cereal
Granola bars
Bread
Snacks! think about things that won’t take up too much space like pop corn to pop on your own
Coffee even if you use beans, some instant could come in handy
Bottled or Canned beverages
Soda
Juice
Sports drinks like Gatorade
Seltzer
Spices- the best way to build up spices is to know what you like and add as they go on sale. If you do not usually cook a lot at home some blends might give you more bang for your buck.
MEAT
this is a category that has been selling out quickly in many stores so try to be adaptable and think about what would freeze well if you want to build a stash
Chicken breasts
“Stew meat”, chuck, meats that freeze well and are versatile
Sausage can be frozen
Bacon freezes well
Remember some meat may be sold frozen in a different area of the store
Meat balls
Sausage
Chicken tenders
FROZEN
Frozen fruits and veggies are great!
Butternut squash
Peas
Spinach
Medley
Frozen meats
Frozen meals are great but be aware of how much space they take up in the fridge
Bread sold frozen is great, you can take it out as you need it by the slice
PAPER GOODS AND MEDICINE
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Tissues
Hand soap
Dish soap
Disinfectant spray
Medical supplies incase someone gets sick
Decongestant
Did I miss any favorites or things you know you like to have on hand? Add them!