Stocking Your Pantry {and a peek into mine!}

Let me start out by saying that I do NOT have a large pantry! In fact, I have 2 rather small ones. I split them into 2 categories, My "opened" pantry is in my kitchen, it has all of the opened boxes, cookies, crackers, cereal, things we are in the process of eating. The second pantry is in our laundry room, and it had my "stock pile" in it. I thought I'd give you a peek into that pantry to see what our family likes to stock up on. I love seeing other people food storage to get new ideas, so hopefully I can give you a few!

I don't keep a lot of your average food storage items, I don't have wheat, oats, powdered milk, things like that. Mostly because I have no idea what to do with that kind of stuff!! Okay I lied, I have powdered milk because I use it in my rolls. But for the most part, I stock up on things that my family eats everyday, and that will keep for long periods of time. Here's a few examples...

  Rice, Pasta and Boxed Dinners: I got all of this for SUPER cheap, and thats why I started stocking up on it. The Rice a Roni I got for like .50 a box, the pasta was .25 a box. All these things keep for a fairly long time, so I knew it wouldnt go to waste. I use the rice often for a side dish, or add chicken and veggies for a super fast dinner.

 Cans: I just have one stock up tip on cans. When you buy one, buy another. You'll be amazed at how fast your pile grows if you just buy one or two extra everytime!

 Condiments: These are my FAVORITE pantry item! they come on sale for really cheap and I get as many as I can! I think I payed like .40 for the mustard, .50 for the hot sauce, and .42 for the soy sauce. Other than that, I always try and remember when I take the 'spare' out of the pantry, to write it on my grocery list, so I always have 1 or 2 extra.

 Bottling: I've just gotten into bottling, and when I say just, I mean last week! My father in law has an AMAZING garden, and was kind enough to stock me up with tomatoes! Between that and our garden... My mom and I went to town the other day and ended up with all this! This weekend will be homemade relish, peaches, pie filling and peach jam! This is a cost efficient way to get veggies! I know that the church farms here is southern utah sell peaches for really cheap, and I'm sure everyone has a neighbor or two with extra produce!

Beverages: Normally, I'm a water kinda gal, but sometimes you need a little something else! We have a lot of koolaid, mostly because it's inexpensive and quick to make. I dont buy a ton of pop, but I will usually pick up 2 or 3 when they go on sale for .69 cents. I use lemonade to BBQs and parties with friends, I will make a big pitcher and add frozen mixed berries, and that's it!

Laundry Soap: Laundry products are another good item to stock up on! These come on sale fairly often for like $1.50 a bottle. I usually stock up like this once or twice a year, and then I never have to worry about running out!

I hope this gives you some new ideas, or at least a little inspiration to start stocking your panty!

I'll leave you with my stocking motto...

"I'd rather but 20 at a time at 1/2 price, than 1 at time for full price"