being poor mean I eat whatever the hell I want to now, price be damned!), I knew there was more than enough food in my house already to see us through at least a week of dinners without having to shop. It turned out we had enough for two weeks (did I tell you I like to cook?), so I cracked down on that terrible urge I have to eat what I want rather than what is practical, and trawled through my cupboards for that week’s menu plan.
Quite shamefully, this is what I found:
PANTRY
12.5kg bakers flour
cornflour
cornmeal
breadcrumbs
quinoa
various nuts and seeds
millet
sushi rice
brown rice
risotto rice
coconut sugar
coconut flour
spelt flour
rye flour
white sugar
raw sugar
icing sugar
yellow and green split peas
brown rice and lentil mix
bread
burghul
chia
flaxseeds
flax meal
puffed rice
oats
cornflakes
dried cranberries
buckwheat
buckwheat flour
popcorn
barley
baking powder
yeast
chickpeas
baked beans
refried beans
lentils
red kidney beans
black beans
mung beads
cannellini beans
coconut milk
canned tomatoes
pineapple rings
homemade jam
homemade tomato sauce
homemade chutney
homemade enchilada sauce
homemade thai curry paste
homemade raspberry chia jam
sultanas
cocoa
honey
maple syrup
golden sryup
molasses
glucose syrup
lasagne sheets
sauces and packets of stuff I don’t even know
bagels
muffins
pizza bases
potatoes
sweet potato
onion
garlic
ALL OF THE HOT SAUCE
FRIDGE
butter
haloumi
cheese out the wazoo
sundried tomatoes
corn
spinach/greens
carrots
milk
cream
18 eggs
cream cheese
mozarella
black olives
ricotta
homemade thai curry paste
about eight jars of homemade jam, chutney, and sauce
various sauces and curry pastes
truckloads of Loving Earth chocolate
kimchi
pumpkin
1 eggplant
2 beets
4 x sweetcorn
3 red capsicums
2 zucchini
2 chillies
celery
FREEZER
corn chowder
cauliflower soup
curry leaves
kaffir lime leaves
stuff to make stock
cooked brown rice
cooked white rice
chipotle lentil taco filling (the picture above, which I made here)
mock mince (two bags)
pastry
various leftovers
peas
corn
tofu
ice cream
ON THE BENCH
4 avocadoes
rockmelon
countless apples
juicing oranges
I spent a few minutes putting my head in order and figuring out what I could make that would mean I didn’t have to buy anything extra (except for milk and bread and whatever that we get delivered). here’s what I came up with:
WEEK ONE
Macaroni and cheese (pasta, cheese, breadcrumbs)
Zucchini and sweet potato curry (rice, coconut milk, sweet potato, veg, kaffir lime, coconut milk, curry paste)
Zucchini slice (zucchini, corn, carrot, eggs, cheese, flour)
Pizza (flour, yeast, cheese, sundried tomatoes, pineapple, red capsicum, onion)
Crumbed eggplant steaks, mashed potato, carrots, peas
Saturday we were going out for dinner.
WEEK TWO
Lasagne (lasagne sheets, mock mince, canned tomatoes, herbs, flour, butter, milk)
Pizza (flour, yeast, spinach, milk, cream)
Quinoa veggie balls, mashed potato, carrot, corn
Corn chowder and homemade bread (flour, yeast, frozen chowder)
Roast pumpkin risotto (stock stuff, pumpkin, arborio rice, cheese)
Spinach and ricotta ravioli (spinach, ricotta, eggs, flour, cheese, cream, milk)
And as you can see, I’m still DROWNING in pantry staples. So I’ve been trying to at least add in one or two pantry meals in my plans each week. I don’t know what I’m all hoarding it for if it’s not getting eaten! It’s nice to have there, but those whole flaxseeds are basically laughing at me from the depths of the cupboard, where they’ve never, ever been used.
So tell me – when you plan, do you look at what’s already in the cupboard? or do you just plan to eat whatever looks good or that you’re craving?
Erin says
June 4, 2015 at 6:06 amAhhh Veggie Mama, so timely! I am moving in a couple of weeks so I have been trying to not buy new pantry items. My list lookd exactlly like yours. HELP.
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 10:03 amHahah well there’s two weeks that should sort ya! Make some risotto 😉
Elizabeth@thebackyardlemontree says
June 4, 2015 at 6:31 amWhat is it with vegetarians and their overloaded pantries. My sister took me to my first ever visit to Cosco so I tried to be restrained I picked up a kilo of organic quinoa and my sister pointed out a huge bag of flax seeds, I luckily I had no idea what I would use flaxseeds for so declined.
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 10:02 amI bought them because I was sure I saw a muesli bar recipe that required them, and now I can’t find it anywhere. When I run out of flax meal I’ll just grind them up, but until then… I’ll just get lost in my cornucopia of non-meat treats!
Jenny Tiffen @ Love Wednesday says
June 4, 2015 at 7:42 amAhhhhh this is such a good post! My neighbor and I were whinging the other day about how every time we go to the shops for milk it ends up costing $70. We made a pact to try and NOT pop down for that one missing item and make do with whats in the house already but you’ve taken this to level Master Chef! Love!
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 10:01 amHa! I’ve so been there. I’m always wanting to try something new and it needs just that one little thing I don’t have and before you know it I’ve been in there an hour. No more! I could probably do another two weeks with what’s in there, for real. I need to harden up!
Tina Lacy says
June 4, 2015 at 10:30 amI do a months menu plan and then go to the supermarket and buy everything i need to make each meal so its all there i dont need to think about what to make and i don’t need to go and get that just one thing (that turns into 5 things plus chocolate). I get veggies weekly from a vege co op that i belong too which means i just need to buy milk each week.
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 10:32 amSuch a good idea! I need to be more like you. I do menu plan but I only do a week at a time. I need to be more strict and not decide at 2pm to make eight things I’ve just found in a new cookbook, haha!
Melinda says
June 4, 2015 at 12:58 pmI’m a meal planner, but I always grab extra staples when they’re on special (flour, tin tomatoes, rice etc) so my meals are always based on what’s in the cupboard and usually I just need to grab veggies and/or meat.
I’ve also started doing a fortnightly shop and spend less than the cost of two weekly shops. Weird.
Would love your zucchini and sweet potato curry recipe!
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 1:06 pmit’s the kaffir lime leaves – always make curries better! I’m terrible, my meal plans all come from cookbooks or websites I want to try rather than being practical and using what I have. Must… not… be … so… naughty
Vicki @ BoiledEggsandSoldiers says
June 4, 2015 at 1:16 pmI meal plan but my pantry and freezer are full to overflowing as I’m a sucker in the shops and think I have to get whatever because I might use it one day! This is a great post especially given a house move in the future – it’s going to take me months to get through it all I think – at last count I had 16 tins of crushed tomatoes and every different type of sugar alternative possible. Also, randomly, 8 cans of Glen 20 which I know I don’t buy!
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 2:24 pmHAHAHAHAHA! That’s quite the Glen 20 overdose. I buy tomatoes and pasta and stuff from Costco so at any one time I’ve got like 30 cans and packets of each. I have to put some in the garage :-/
Jessie Reid says
June 4, 2015 at 1:17 pmI like to keep a kitchen well stocked with basics so I can whip something up as my fancy is taken. I also try yp eat on the cheap as this offsets the cost when I decide to eat out. When I try to meal plan I get all rebellious and the voice in my head screams “But I don’t WANNA have quiche, I WANT A TAKEAWAY PIZZA!” and the such like. However my kitchen is not as well stocked as yours! I have envy and hunger.
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 2:26 pmIt’s born from from my desire to have everything on hand should I decide to make some whizzbang thing I see. But I can guarantee, there’s ALWAYS some odd ingredient I don’t have. So I buy it, and then it sits there for aaaaages. Speaking of takeaway pizza….
Mel Kettle says
June 4, 2015 at 1:26 pmI really, really, REALLY have to say that pineapple does NOT belong on pizza. Ever. And as for the rest, yes, we could live for a month or two with what’s in the freezer and pantry. All I would need to buy would be some fresh veg and milk. Maybe I should give it a go .
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 2:27 pmSo disappointing, Mel. That’s like the one time I declared unsalted butter should never exist and got howled down. I just don’t understand the point of it!
Lila Wolff says
June 10, 2015 at 6:59 pmMan I cannot stand pizza without pineapple or something juicy on it, even more so since we had to stop having cheese!
Stephanie Jefferson says
June 4, 2015 at 3:23 pmI meal plan most of the time and try to use what we hav.e. I really need to do another audit of our pantry and make sure I use things we have the use by date! Perhaps I shouldn’t go to Costco next week!
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 3:37 pmhaha definitely audit before you go there….
The Plumbette says
June 4, 2015 at 3:35 pmI meal plan weekly and adjust my groceries to suit. Seems like you got a fair few good meals out of your pantry. X
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 3:38 pmyeah they were all right!
Reannon @shewhorambles says
June 4, 2015 at 5:04 pmThis was the sirutaion in place over the weekend-16 litres of milk, 1.5kg of butter, 14 kgs of plain flour, 4 kg of self raising flour & 62 eggs in my fridge & pantry. I just like to have BULK of everything just in case. In case of what I’m not sure, the husband thinks I’m some kind of prepper…. I try to meal plan but then I get out & plan to what’s looking good. I’m a bit hopeless but we never starve!
Veggie Mama says
June 4, 2015 at 7:40 pmYou can make a lot of quiche and meringue…
Trish says
June 4, 2015 at 9:08 pmI’ve been trying to work a bit more from the pantry and freezer too. Next week out comes the meal plans, again.
Veggie Mama says
June 5, 2015 at 1:08 pmYou can do it! Plus freezer dinners are almost like a night off cooking 😉
Lauren @ Life at Number Five says
June 4, 2015 at 9:54 pmSuch a good idea. I recently sorted out our freezer and realised we had so much meat in there that I needed to stop buying meat until we’d used it all up!
I (sometimes) meal plan but I forget to check what we already have before I shop!
Veggie Mama says
June 5, 2015 at 1:08 pmHahha I’ve done that. I’m pretty good at remembering what we have, very shit at remembering if we’ve run out. I need a running list!
sammie@theannoyedthyroid.com says
June 4, 2015 at 10:46 pmThis is a cracking list. I’m a shocker. I read Z for Zachariah when I was at high school and I think it scarred me for life. My pantry is so well stocked, it could probably feed a small town in the event of a nuclear holocaust. I meal plan like a ninja but I just keep adding to my the survival pantry. I have a feeling that there are some things in there that will never get eaten – here’s looking at you frekkah!
Veggie Mama says
June 5, 2015 at 1:09 pmI read that too! Also will probs never by freekeh.
Carly Findlay says
June 10, 2015 at 11:04 amI use frekeh a lot – in salads in place of brown rice, and in risotto (it seems healthier than arborio – but also mixed in with butter and cheese!)
Veggie Mama says
June 10, 2015 at 11:13 amhaha you won’t tear me away from my arborio! unless I hace carnaroli…
Shari from GoodFoodWeek says
June 5, 2015 at 3:25 pmLol – sometimes my husband opens the pantry and asks if I am prepping. The other week we had some friends around for dinner and a very drunk partner of a friend of mine stood in our pantry and sung out to everyone – ‘come and look at how much food they have in here, it’s amazing!’
Shari from GoodFoodWeek says
June 5, 2015 at 3:24 pmI weekly meal plan every week and yet the other week I had a weeks worth of meals in my fridge/freezer/cupboard. Things pop up – you have people invite you around last minute, you have a bad day with the kids and you ask the hubby to bring home fish and chips instead of cooking a meal, you can’t be arsed eating spag bol again and you put the mince into the freezer!
Veggie Mama says
June 9, 2015 at 11:36 amHAHAH yeah, staring down the barrel of a spag bol can be depressing.
That Bettie Thing says
June 9, 2015 at 7:49 pmI plan a week at a time and I have themes for many nights of the week (I know, I’m a food nerd). We try to do a trip round the world each week so I might have an Indian night, Greek night etc. also, that way I can make sure I remember to feed meat to the carnivores in the house a couple of times a week!! But recently Ive started making a pantry meal or two at the end of the week so I can put off going to the super duper a few days!!
Veggie Mama says
June 9, 2015 at 7:56 pmHa I’m still trying to make Taco Tuesday a thing.
Carly Findlay says
June 10, 2015 at 11:03 amI love this post! A well stocked pantry means we will never go hungry.
I also can’t believe how much flour you have! If the girls got into that, you’d have a snowscape!
Veggie Mama says
June 10, 2015 at 11:13 amThey have. Twice. I have learned to keep it in the garage now, because the second time I actually cried.
Lila Wolff says
June 10, 2015 at 7:02 pmI don’t meal plan but I do the grocery shopping online so I can walk to the cupboard and check if I really need something before I buy it.
Doing that fortnightly and trying my best to avoid the shops in between means I almost always use up my pantry stores thankfully!
That being said I bet if I really looked there would be stuff lurking there needing to be used up.
Veggie Mama says
June 10, 2015 at 7:21 pmI did the groceries online last night for the first time in ages – so nice! glass of wine and all.
StyleOnV says
June 11, 2015 at 9:42 amA great idea. I enjoy shopping online.
StyleOnV says
June 11, 2015 at 9:42 amI just love this. Our pantry is choc a block filled with stuff that just needs to be used and cleaned out. I love your ideas and will start next week. V x
Veggie Mama says
June 11, 2015 at 10:00 amGood luck! I feel like I barely made a dent in mine!