The Well-Stocked Pantry, part deux

A couple of months ago, I proudly shared the story of how it took six months to stock my well-stocked walk-in pantry.  Alas, the downside of renting means that a home is never truly your own, (but then neither is the mortgage which is what landed the owner in hot water, so I’ve got that going for me,) and I’ve recently found myself back on “Pantry Earth.”

Always one to look for the silver lining in every situation, (or make lemonade from lemons might be a more apropos metaphor here,) I’ve taken this opportunity to actually cook from my pantry.  Rather than being lauded as a collection or work of art, my pantry has once-again become useful.  (Not that it wasn’t useful before, but really, how many boxes of Beignet mix does one really need?)

The New Pantry

The challenge with my new pantry was obviously space – this one is about one-third the size of my last one – but it really forced me to get back to my core belief of using what you have, reducing waste and being much more sustainable in my cooking practices.  “Well, I guess I’ll be eating a lot more from the pantry,” I told Joel when he stopped by to see my new space.

So, using my “Rule of Three” and “Super Staple” list, I’ve been able to whittle down my pantry footprint.  I’ve still grouped ingredients according to purpose, but the party supplies have moved to the garage and I cheated a little by making another trip to IKEA for some MORE shelving to house the appliances, grain canisters and spices.

It also gave me the opportunity to sort through some of the cans, mixes and marinades I hadn’t even used and either donate them or trash them if the expiration date had passed.  NOBODY deserves food poisoning from a well-meaning donor.

The New Spice Rack

The other upside to this new pantry is that it should dramatically decrease my food costs for the next few months.  Shopping and cooking for three meant always stocking up on peanut butter and ketchup when it was on sale.  Now I have the luxury of purchasing items only when I need them – a much more sustainable practice.

And I’m really looking forward to FINALLY using all those Indian ingredients I purchased last year with the intent  of making “the world’s best curry.”