Tag Archives: pantry

Quick Pantry Design Tips

Having an organized kitchen pantry can make those hectic evenings so much easier. You can just grab what you need for a quick dinner prep. Whether your pantry is large or small, you’ll be able to incorporate the following design tips to build or improve your pantry. The quickest way to build a pantry, other than by purchasing a stand-alone pantry, is to take over an existing closet and then install shelving. One great way to do this is with wire shelving, which is both inexpensive and easy to maintain. The narrow shelves are just right for a reach-in pantry, … Continue reading →

Overhaul Your Pantry

When you open your pantry, do you find a tumble of cereal boxes, cleaning products and snacks? As homeowners, we tend to stash everything that we possibly can into a pantry. There is something about being able to stash it and close the door that can make a pantry quickly become a mess. A pantry can be so much more. You can have an organized food pantry, or an extended butler’s pantry that is truly functional. Turn your pantry into a purposeful space with the following tips. If you have a large, walk-in pantry, consider moving the microwave, the mixer … Continue reading →

10 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill

Who couldn’t cut their grocery bill down a bit? Aside from rent or a mortgage, food tends to be the biggest monthly expense that most people have. Just saving a small percentage on your food bill can yield big dollar savings. And if you use all of these strategies, you’ll actually save a large percentage. Here are 10 ways to cut your grocery bill. 1. Use everything you have on hand. Take a good look at your pantries, your fridge and your freezer. What meals could you make without buying anything? Take everything out so you can see exactly what … Continue reading →

Cleaning out the Pantry and Cabinets

This is a really good time of year to start fresh, and that means fresh food too. It’s a great time to go through your pantry and kitchen cabinets to see what’s lurking in there. Check the expiration dates on canned goods and packaging, rotating the oldest items to the front and the newest items to the back, as mentioned in Cleaning and Organizing the Freezer. You can do a little “pantry cooking” to use up things that are getting close to their expiration dates. Keep a pad of paper and a pen handy, to write down items you need … Continue reading →

What You Should Have in a Frugal Pantry

Wondering what you should stock in your pantry in order to have plenty of prep materials for low-priced meals? Use this guide to create your own well-stocked frugal pantry. Having a full pantry doesn’t mean that you have a well-stocked pantry. Often we buy ingredients and never use them, or we buy items for meals that we can’t make because we are missing other things. So, many times, we will have a pantry full of food and nothing at all to eat. Having a well-stocked pantry means that you can make many meals from scratch without giving it a thought. … Continue reading →

My Frugal Stockpiling Session

Yesterday was grocery shopping day. Yes, I know that Saturdays can be tough, but as I was mentioning on one of the forums, when I go shopping, I need help. So, my husband comes along, and we make it a family affair. I do all of the price research and coupon cutting before we go, so that we are all set. Once we get there, and it is just a matter of zipping through the store or stores quickly and efficiently. My stockpile in the past few months has been looking pretty anemic. This is because we purged a lot … Continue reading →

Meal Planning, Saving Food and Cluttered Pantries (2)

After spending all that time cleaning out my cluttered pantry yesterday, I was absolutely amazed by what I found. More than enough meals to cover several weeks without more than a $10 grocery bill to boot! Since I had so many items I had forgotten about, and found a need to incorporate them into meals in the upcoming weeks, I set out to create a good meal plan. Here are a few tips to help you after you clean out your pantry: Canned Veggies go great in casseroles, soups, add them to some noodles to create a pasta dish. Canned … Continue reading →

Meal Planning, Saving Food and Cluttered Pantries (1)

Today I spent four hours cleaning our pantry out. We’ve always had a spare large portable pantry in our kitchen, along with the built in pantry closet. We stored mostly snacks in it at the beginning, but in the past year it has expanded to hold canned goods, boxed items and much more. It was time to get the second pantry out of the kitchen and condense the items into one. I never dreamed it would turn into what it turned into. If your pantry hasn’t been cleaned out in awhile, and you aren’t sure what’s in there, do it … Continue reading →

What a Good Cook Keeps On Hand

Yesterday we talked about how to make a menu plan and I shared my process of choosing meals for the week. However, everyone knows that a well stocked kitchen will help you make the most of food that’s on sale, and will enable you to pull together a last minute dish. Here is what I consider absolutely essential to have on hand in our house. I keep a list similar to the one below (except organized according to the aisles of our own grocery store) and take it with me every shopping trip to make sure that we don’t run … Continue reading →

Cooking by Numbers Makes Pantry Shopping Easy!

Imagine being snowed in and not knowing what to cook? This great resource makes it easy to just whip something together from items in your pantry. If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been trying to use up some of my food stockpile before I move. I have been doing this through a self-imposed pantry challenge, well, one of my good friends, Kelly, who has been reading my blogs has just alerted me to a great website that will make my life a lot easier, when it comes to pulling ingredients from my pantry. The … Continue reading →