In the Using My Pantry post last week, Howling Hill asked “What do you consider “the essentials” of a pantry? What would you recommend those of us just starting out prioritize on our list o’ things to can?”  I did answer her briefly in the comments of that post, but I’ve been doing some more thinking about it and so this planning my pantry post.

I do believe a pantry should be planned around what you and your family eat.  It doesn’t do any good to make 15 pints of rhubarb chutney if no one is going to eat it, unless you plan on using it all for gifts.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, its important to stock up on what you do eat.  So how do I plan the pantry here at Two Frog Home?

Stock Up on Sale / Good Priced Items- I stock up when I see a good buy on something, this goes for everything from peaches to green peppers to local beef.  I buy in large quantities and preserve what I find to keep us well fed and our pantry well stocked.  I freeze, can, and to some degree dehydrate (hope to do more of that) everything so that we have ample stock on hand.  I sometimes buy beef in large quantities and split it with neighbors or friends, because we don’t have enough storage room for that and we don’t eat that much.

Menu Planning – I’ve mentioned before that I plan menus and I keep those meal plans for reference.  This has been handy for me in making sure I make enough salsa, pizza sauce, etc.  Obviously each year varies, but I can on the higher end of the spectrum.  This year we’ve eaten less pizza than last year but not terribly so, I should have about 3 pints of pizza sauce from 2007 when I make a new batch next month, salsa on the other hand I didn’t make nearly enough.

Windfalls- I never refuse when someone offers me extras from their gardens, orchards, etc.  I haven’t planted zucchini for years, but every year I get more than enough for the two of us.  I make it known that I practice home canning and because of that people tend to give me their surpluses often.  I also make sure to gift the giver of these surpluses with home canned goodies.  These windfalls have given has more local fruit than anything else over the years, but because we eat fruit most everyday with our lunch we can never have enough it seems.

Preparing my pantry- I can and freeze items as I’m going to use them.  I make a few jars of soups and stews in our favorite varieties to have on hand for quick meals.  I also keep my pantry well stocked with store bought goods (again on sale whenever possible).  These store bought goods include a variety of pastas (spaghetti, soba noodles, orzo, etc.), grains (rice, wheat, millet, oats), misc. baking supplies (flours that I don’t grind from whole grain, baking powder, cocoa, etc.), spices lots of spices and herbs, etc.  Basically, I keep things on hand so that I can whip up most anything my or Jeff’s heart desires.

List Keeping – I keep a fairly comprehensive shopping list and price book.  I make sure that the minute I’m close to using something up it goes onto that list.  I use that list when I shop, so that the pantry is properly stocked and I don’t run out of things like olive oil or salt, etc.  There’s just no reason to run to the store for staples in my opinion.

Inventory – I keep an inventory of my pantry, I have the pantry building page here, but I also keep a handwritten graph.  This is on graph paper with a square filled in for each individual can, bag, pepper, etc.  I mark off a square each time I use that individual thing.  I keep track of the date said item was stored and when I ran out, this way I know next year if I need more or less to get through.

Edited to add: This is a picture of part of my graph.  I knew my explanation didn’t quite get it explained.  I put the name of whatever is stored to the left and highlight one square for each item.  Note that peppers say individual, cherries have a q equaling quart, etc.  So each square equals one individual, one pint, or one quart, etc.  As I use a jar or pepper, I put an “X” in one of the highlighted squares meaning that it is gone.  I put the date the items were put up at the end of the highlighted squares an when an item is completely used up I put that date next to it.  Does that make sense?

Flexibility – I stay flexible, this year we didn’t have a garden, last year we did and had a banner year for green beans.  Without that garden, we won’t can as many green beans, so I’ll need to be flexible in my meal planning over the course of this next year.  Some years I make way more applesauce than others, it depends on pricing and availability.  I adapt and plan accordingly.

If you are already stocking a pantry (either home preserved or store bought) how do you plan?  If you are just getting started, how are you going about it?