How to Reduce Expenses: Eat from the Pantry

A mix of things on hand: quinoa, kalamata olives, black beans, etc.

When we moved into our current rental, I was so excited because it had an actual pantry: a small closet in the kitchen with multiple shelves wherein I could store all types of dry goods.  I had never had one of those before and I was eager to put it to good use.

I know a lot of people buy things in bulk and then store those things in the pantry.  I have tried that, but our pantry is so full of all of the other stuff that I rarely get to stock up like I would like to.  Let me explain...

It wasn't until a couple of months after we moved in that I realized that the pantry is the point of no return for a number of my grocery finds.  If the kids don't like a particular brand of chips or cereal, it all ended up being stored in the pantry.  There are countless boxes of dry goods that are partially used because someone didn't like it.

Well, during the past month I slashed our grocery bill almost in half and much of that was by doing some creative pantry digging.  I gently prodded my children to re-try some things that they previously swore off.  Some things they discovered they liked, others not so much.  I also found new ways to use things that weren't fan favorites.  A box of low-fat granola became chocolate chip granola cookies.  Beans appeared in all types of meals.  The ends of bags of rice went into soups and stews.

The pantry is not yet bare, but it is looking much much lighter! And we survived!  Keep in mind that we did not use anything expired...all of our goods were within the use by date range and perfectly consumable.

This challenge to eat from the pantry this month forced me to use my imagination.  I pulled out my cookbooks a lot more this month than I have in a long time.  I had to get creative so that all of our meals were covered.  It also forced my children to really try new things and not just discard something because it wasn't what they expected the first time.  They have no clue what most children throughout the world in food insecure locations endure in terms of lack of access or options when it comes to food.  Encouraging them to try some different foods hasn't (and won't) kill or harm them.  Prayerfully, they will one day appreciate their mama who tried really hard to be resourceful and not wasteful :)

What creative ways do you use bits of discarded and unwanted food items in your pantry? How do you encourage your children to try rejected foods over again?