Eating from the Pantry
 

I have long appreciated having a full pantry. While I don't live too terribly far out of town, it is far enough that going shopping every day is a hassle. And my frugal self appreciates the advantages of buying in bulk.
I got into preserving food back when stretching the food budget was of highest priority, and I still dry extra veg, and jerky. And can soups & broth. And tomatoes, but I only do that every few years. One big tomato filled processing day, and we are set for at least 2 or 3 years :lol:
A year ago western Oregon experienced an unexpected heavy snow. We had no electricity for 5 days, and had a tree fall on our driveway, blocking us in. I didn't want to open the freezers, and thus let the cold out, so was very happy for my full pantry. Not LC, but a jar of home canned pea soup, heated on the wood burning stove, was very comforting as we wondered when would we ever get down off our hill.
Who else appreciates a full pantry?

Last night I rehydrated some dried mushrooms from the pantry, and added them to a cream sauce, seasoned with some herbs from my extensive spice cupboard, along with some diced ham. Served that over a chaffle. A 20 minute dinner that was filling and satisfying

I have an urge to buy a dehydrator but haven't a clue where I would put it since my kitchen already is too small for all the gadgets I have already!

Merpig--- store it and only pull out as needed. We store ours in the original box. Something has to be moved to the floor to use it.

Pantry-- mine is full. Only last summer 2019 did I try to can tomato sauce, just cooked down tomatoes from our garden.

Have tried in the past to can meats, like duck and chicken. A woman shared her method [lost when PC died] to can fish scraps, fed to the dogs at a later date as the bones dissentigrate after high pressure canning. Found thus true of poultry bones.

Also canned up a batch of meat and beans. Rather easy to make own "canned" beans from dried beans. [harder for mice to steal and ready to eat, like a REM. lol]

My storage freezers are chest type. THe cold air does not fall out when it is opened. HOWEVER, the items will start to thaw after about 3 days. We had a generator to use during a 5 day black out, but not now. This worries me. I feel too dependent on the grid. IT is not as reliable as I need if a big storm knocks out power for more than 3 days.

THree freezers are full. Trying to eat them down to two. Saving the pantry stuff, for the most part. THere is always an item to add to the menu/recipe.

We have been repackaging the rice from plastic bags, as the mice will chew open and steal the grain. Has been a long process to kill off all those ^&*((*& rodents. the buggers.

Im looking forward to more canning next year. AND more pickling. We love pickled hard boiled eggs! Great alternative to freezing liquid eggs.

Trying to become more self sufficient......taking years to learn how to......

{when out power goes down, the food at the grocery is tossed as that too lost power. such a waste.]

VERBENA,, you almost killed me ! Dying of laughter ......

~ Medical science is making such remarkable progress that soon none of us will be well ~ Aldous Huxley ~

DS2 just fried up potatoes.

Heated up beef tallow, and fried plank cut baking potatoes. Not our own potatoes as these were sprouting. Our potatoes are awaiting their turn.

Planning to make twice baked potatoes. Pick out largest Kenebecs from storage, combine with onion ( mine from garden are long gone) , chipped ham from freezer and last of sour cream, salt and pepper. No cheese, as kids used it up.

Mine is rather louder than I like, so I have it out on our covered deck. That was meant to be a stopgap measure, but somehow it has been out there for a couple of years now.

:lol: Glad you appreciate it. :lol:

I like having a decent pantry, too - but I have to fight my hoarding tendencies. It's just hubby and I, and we both eat at work during the week. There's no need for me to have a virtual grocery store in my kitchen, which is already tiny. When we moved in here, I set myself a limit of ONE cabinet.

That said: I try to replace my staples before I run out. It's nice to be able to throw together a decent meal when you can't/don't want to leave the house, lose electricity, etc.

Goal for the near future is to eat the canned crab (make crab cakes), and get going on that jar of jalapenos. I'm not a fan of pickled jalapenos, but I'll figure out some way to use them up, even if just on pork rind nachos. I don't know why I bought them; I can buy fresh jalapenos any time and/or chop and freeze them for cooking.

Did a bit of freezer and pantry this evening. Found a jar of carnitas in the freezer, and heated the pork up with a small jar of green salsa, home canned, from the pantry.

Pulled a pkg of burger from freezer to mix with jarred pesto. Make into meatballs for kids school lunch. Served with jarred marinara. :thup:

We're surveying our pantry and freezer too, taking inventory and rearranging.

Made a batch of tonnato sauce today from tuna, anchovies, & capers from the pantry. Had the 2nd half of a bunch of asparagus in the fridge. Roasted the asparagus, with onion, garlic & herbs, bathed in olive oil, and then served with some of the sauce. Seemed like a good way to get the goodness of fish, as well as all the little anchovy bones, without being made too aware of it. (I'm OK with fish, but it isn't my favorite)
The sauce is quite nice, though I shouldn't have added extra salt; the anchovies contribute quite enough. I think I might serve it with some hard boiled eggs tomorrow.
The tuna was from my experiment a few years back of getting the fish at the harbor [about 1 1/2 hours drive from here] and canning it myself. It worked great, but I overestimated how much I should buy :-). Regular bought canned tuna would work equally well.

https://nomnompaleo.com/post/51555264490/tonnato-sauce

What kind of LC food do you have in your pantry. I know about canned fish like sardines, anchovies and tuna but what else is there for LC that is shelf stable?

I keep my rice and pasta in canning jars. No bugs....No rodents.
I'm a pantry shopper...so if we use it out of the pantry it goes on the grocery list.