From the stockpile to the pantry

You all know by now I love my stockpile. It has helped us save a lot of money over the years but it's also helped me organise myself and it's stopped us wasting time at the supermarket every week. Now we shop monthly, but we could easily go a lot longer than that without shopping.

Most of my stockpile is kept in a cupboard right next to my kitchen. It's convenient and easy to check and clean. My pantry is in the kitchen. When anything is taken from the stockpile and opened, it is either eaten straight away or what remains in the packet, jar or tin is poured into a glass jar and stored in the pantry or the fridge. But I also store packs of rice, lentils, nuts, grains, cereal, flour etc in our chest freezer - that sits in our second bathroom. Again, when we open a pack, it is transferred to the pantry and sits in a glass jar.

Most of the jars I use are canning/preserving jars but I also have a number of jars my chef sons have saved for me from their work places. These used to be large catering packs of pickles/gherkins/olives etc and they hold around two litres/quarts. They're very handy for storing rice, self raising flour or dry pasta noodles, which we use in Alice's food. I also recycle old jam and honey jars and although I used them mostly for the jams I put up, they're also handy for small amounts of beans or lentils.

Every pantry needs a few large containers that will safely hold about 5 kilos (12lb) I have a few icing buckets I got from my local baker and a couple of Decor bins that are currently holding groats and plain white flour. My icing buckets hold a couple of types of bread flours, it's mixed grain and rye at the moment. If you go searching for recycled bins and containers make sure you only use food grade containers. A good rule of thumb is that if a manufacturer originally used it to hold food, it's probably food grade. Most old food containers are safe to use, make sure the lids fit properly and if it has a metal lid, it's not rusty and has no small holes.

If you're in the process of establishing a stockpile it's a good idea to see it as an investment - both of time and money. Like any investment you need to look after it. ALWAYS be on the lookout for pantry moths. They're a small brown moth that can be brought into your home in newly purchased bags of grain, flour or rice. Putting dried good in the freezer for a few days when you first bring them home will kill any lurking eggs or larvae waiting to hatch out. But still be on the lookout for them because they can fly into your home and lay eggs in your uncovered and poorly stored goods.

Make sure everything you open is stored in a container that can be properly sealed. You don't have to have everything matching, I quite like the madness of my pantry with jars of all different shapes and sizes. We have a wonderful topic over at the forum where you can see photos of stockpiles and add photos of your own if you wish.

Your stockpile cupboard and pantry should be emptied and cleaned out at least every six months. When you remove the items, check the contents of jars and make sure everything is in order. Wipe over the shelves and inside walls of the cupboard, wipe dry and replace everything. Some ladies use bay leaves and other herbs to keep bugs at bay but I've always found that if I store my larger packs of dried goods in the freezer or freeze them for a few days they're fine.

If you haven't thought about stockpiling yet, I encourage you to do so. It works well at our home - for just the two of us - and it would be an even greater money and time saver for a larger family. I've written more about stockpiling here, here and here.

And now I'm off to get ready for work. It will be very exciting there today because we have the nutrition students from the local university coming up to talk about eating local and sustainable foods and to show us how to cook frugal meals using local ingredients. :- )