An organized, well stocked pantry is a lovely thing.

A pantry is a wonderful thing. Keep it well stocked and you could be ready for almost any mealtime emergency. The secret is to keep on hand what YOU use and to keep it organized.

So how do you figure out what you should keep in your pantry? Well everyone’s pantry will be stocked differently based on how they cook and the different needs of their family. If you look inside my pantry doors to some I may seem to have too many items and to others not enough. I may seem to have too many specialty items but then I have family and extended family with food allergies so I stock accordingly.

The key is to know how you cook on a regular basis and for drop in vistors and then keep those staples on hand. So when you go grocery shopping you are basically just rounding out your pantry items.

Start off making a list of the items you have on hand. Keep that list either in your homemaking journal or on the inside of the pantry door itself.

Then as you make your menu plan each week note which items you consistently buy for a month. If you find yourself buying the same items week after week those items belong in your pantry. Also note what items you like to pull out for guests. For me it’s cookies and tea. We have lots of cookie dough and makings and LOTS of tea!

I like to take a tip from by Emilie Barnes  . When I first started stocking up my pantry staples I would buy two of the item. Then as I pulled the last one out of the cupboard I would mark my grocery list to buy two more.

But before we get to my pantry list here are some of the reasoning behind my pantry supplies..

I make all of our bread by hand (or machine) and do a lot of baking so mixes and store bought bread you won’t find in my cupboards.  We also do not eat a lot of cold cereal for breakfast so you won’t find boxes of it in our store. We eat oatmeal, egg dishes, sourdough pancakes, biscuits and eggs and sausages. There are also items I don’t regularly keep on hand but buy occasionally when I know I’ll be using them for a dish. There are also items that would normally be on our list, such as tuna, which are not due to food allergies (something in the processing).

In our fridge. A lot of the space is taken over by condiments, salad fixings, milk products and leftovers.  I’m also amassing quite a store of sourdough so I may need to invest in a mini-fridge some day (that’s a joke).

In my freezer if there is no butter it’s a bad day.  I bake a lot. Birthday cakes, cookies, etc. So I buy it from the local warehouse store where it is cheaper even if on sale and even the organic kind.

next up, my list...