Do you have a well-organized stockpile? It doesn’t take too much effort to maintain a stockpile if you know a few tips. Yesterday, I started talking about how to manage your stockpile and avoid waste. Now, let us continue with the tips, including some recipe secrets.
When you have a stockpile, it is important to be flexible enough to adapt when there are dietary or taste changes. For example, my husband used to take lunch meat as his lunch to work almost every day. Now he prefers soup. So, I have a couple of jars of mayo and salad dressing that might have been used up before but are now just sitting on the shelf. I can take the mayo and use it for other things, such for chocolate cake, as a coating with bread crumbs on chicken, and of course in salads.
Most canned foods can be used in casseroles whether we are talking about canned vegetables or canned meats, so if you find yourself with too many canned foods, turn them into something else. Canned fruit can be made into cobblers and even pies. The crock pot is a wonder for canned fruit when you add spices and butter.
While we are on the subject of recipes, keep your stockpile in mind when you shop for meals. When I have a lot of kidney beans and diced tomatoes, for example, I make sure to pick up some pinto beans for a vegetarian chili.
Finally, if you want to be super organized, you can keep an ongoing list of what you have in your pantry, adding and checking off things as you buy or use them. This could be a written list or a digital list, depending on your needs. Personally, I get more ideas looking at the shelves themselves, but a virtual list can work well too.
Thanks for reading!
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
Three Ways an Organized Pantry Saves Money
Five Reasons to Stockpile Food
Ideas for Cooking from Your Stockpile
Getting Creative with Almost-Expired Food
Hidden Storage for Stockpiling
More Creative Ideas for Stockpile Cooking
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