A Girl and her Pantry

At this moment in time a lot of my friends are doing some kind of "eat out of your pantry" challenge. They're posting their meals on Facebook and whittling down the contents of their food storage. And while I applaud their efforts I have to say that the mere idea of depleting the food in my pantry gives me goosebumps! (I also think of the huge bill to restock the entire pantry vs. replacing what's consumed as you go!). So this is in no way a commentary on the idea of eating the food in the pantry but rather a confession on my pantry tendencies.

I have to be honest and tell you that I am addicted to having a well-stocked pantry and food storage. No - I'm not Mormon, but many of my best friends are and growing up I was well aware of the amounts of food my friend's families had stored away.

And I have to say that I am a big fan of that idea myself. I probably don't have a year's worth of food, but I think we could stretch our food stores pretty far if we had to.

No- I'm not a conspiracy theorist - I don't think the world is going to end or that the grocery stores are going to disappear - I just like being prepared. I like knowing that if money is tight or I can't get to the store I can go to my freezer or pantry and make a nutritious meal for my family.

We have a freezer full of venison that I'm forcing myself to incorporate into our diets. Thankfully venison is very low in fat compared to other red meats (which I'm really not that big a fan of...) and MOST of the time it can be cooked in a way that is tender and delicious. Last night I sliced off thin pieces of backstrap (tenderloin) and tenderized them and made chicken fried venison (I know -not really that healthy since it was fried, but there is very little fat in the meat itself and the eggs were from my own yard!).

My best friend Becca and I talk about food storage and being prepared sometimes and we're fairly like minded. I was happy to find out that my friend Shay is also a fellow pantry nazi like I am.

So while some of my friends are emptying out their pantries and eating all kinds of good things - I get nervous and anxious at the mere thought of an empty space in my pantry. So to make myself feel more secure I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and stocked up on some of the mainstays I was running low on. As I was putting them away I was shocked to see less than 10 cans of beans - so I'll have to go pick up some more of those soon.

What do I store in my pantry you might want to know?

Canned Goods:
diced tomatoes
tomato sauce, paste
canned beans (black, cannellini, red kidney, garbonzo)
mushrooms
green chiles
tuna fish

Pasta
Rice (brown, basmati, jasmine, sweet, sushi)
Flour (whole wheat, bread, all purpose, self-rising and rice)
Sugar (powdered, granulated, brown and turbinado)
Popcorn (the real stuff)
dry milk
bread crumbs
asian noodles
dry beans (brown lentils, green split, yellow split, red lentils, black, pinto)
snack foods
cereal
oatmeal
pancake mix
spaghetti sauce
chocolate chips
nuts
dried fruits (raisin, mango, cranberries, etc)
potatoes (red, russet, sweet)
onions (sweet jumbos)
hard squashes (acorn, butternut, spaghetti)
peanut butter
nutella (yum!)

There's more but those are the basics I can't live without!

A new stove!

Mike took Maddie out Christmas shopping last night and this is what they came home with! If you read the house falling apart blog I posted a few months ago you'll know that about three years ago our oven mysteriously stopped working on our gas range. Luckily we have a small- 1969 wall oven that is original and still works wonderfully. However lately the main burner on the stovetop has been acting weird. The flame is out of control at even the lowest setting and it's been scorching my pretty pots and pans! I have also missed having a larger capacity stove with multiple racks - as mine only has one rack and the size inside is very small. 

I am beyond impressed (and a little concerned about the amount of money spent, but it was all bonus money from good customers). Thank you honey! I love you!