Pantry Staples

The things that get you excited as an adult are so different from the things that get you excited as a teenage, but in a good way (I think). We have gotten in a pretty good grove of stocking our pantry AND staying in our monthly spending budget. Having food on hand is a good idea all the time, but we also live 45 minutes from our grocery store so a quick trip isn't really all that quick. I'm going to be sharing our staple items that we always try to keep on hand. With that in mind, I wanted to share a disclaimer too (because people on the internet can be unnecessarily mean): this is what works for us. We don't have any dietary restriction to consider, these may not be the most healthy things (I'll be honest I don't think a single thing is marked as "organic"), but they are affordable, and at this stage of life, that is where we are.

At the end of this post I'll share a spreadsheet I made (yep, I am a nerd, but also proud of that) comparing our pantry staples at the three stores we shop at: Aldi, Sam's club, and Walmart. We are store brand people, so as much as possible I am comparing store brands, not name brands, because 99% of the time those are the cheapest option.

Our goal with our pantry is: 1. to make sure we have food on hand if we get snowed in at home or if someone is sick and we can't make the trip to the grocery store. 2. It makes life easier to know we have the items to make a meal or sides to add at any point. When I grocery shop, I meal plan for two weeks at a time (we have a small fridge/freezer so we can't do much more than two weeks at a time), and only buy what we need for those meals, so having extra things on hand is helpful if we have to go longer than two weeks (or if I forget something/we have a change in plans).

Canned items:

-corn

-black beans

-kidney beans

-green beans

-peas

-carrots

-pineapple

-peaches

-mandarin oranges

-pears

-tomato paste

-tomato sauce

Dried goods:

-pasta

-corn bread

-flour

-sugar

-brown sugar

-rice

-pancake mix

-dried beans

-brownie mix

-cake mix

-pizza crust mix

-coffee grounds

Seasonings (we keep most of our spices in the kitchen, but we buy some in bulk and keep the large container in the pantry):

-taco seasoning

-chili mix

-salt

-pepper

-garlic powder

-cinnamon

-lemon pepper

-slap yo mama (cajun)

Sauces:

-terryaki

-soy sauce

-hot sauce

-spaghetti sauce

-alfredo

-pesto

-honey

-worcesterschire

-apple cider vinegar

-vegetable oil

-olive oil

-distilled white vinegar

****I am still working on the price comparison spreadsheet, but I will update this post when that is ready.

Anything I am missing that we should add? We just started a pantry/stock pile the last 6 months or so, which means we could be leaving something out!