[Pauline]

I have a more than modest amount of food in my pantry and freezer for my husband and myself. I want to use the seldom used items to make meals in order to be frugal – hey, I’ve already paid for everything on my shelves.

But… I bump up against a mindset that whenever I run out of my favorite foods, I start planning on when in the next couple of days I can get to the store.

Do you have any tips for me as to develop a new mindset as to how to use the food already at home, and delay the shopping trip?

[Margie]

There are apps where you can put in your ingredients, and find recipes for those.

Would this help you?

[Darlene]

I have this problem too. I chalk it up to the pioneer mindset of wanting a stocked pantry with enough “good stuff” to weather a whole winter.

But living in a time and place when it’s easy enough to get to a store at almost any time changes everything!

The temptation is real, to justify quick trips and buy more before it’s truly necessary.

When I throw into the battle of self-will that life is short and I don’t just WANT salad makings (fresh produce is my Achille’s heel) but that it’s good for my health, I’m a goner, lol.

I have found (some) success with the “ten-day rule”–when I’m really wanting to replenish certain item(s) I mark a day ten days out and if by then it’s still heavily on my mind, I GO.

(It can be a little less or more) And I buy extra things too! As long as the budget allows for it, life IS short and (I think) the pioneer above all would have embraced the option!!

[Polly]

I used to play a 5 random items game with myself. I’d get my normal groceries but first pull out 5 old random things and set them on the counter.

I wouldn’t allow myself another shopping trip until I had used all 5.

It was a fun game and I’m much less crowded in the cabinets now.

physically setting the 5 out in the counter by the fruit bowl and making a menu plan around them both help.

[Frances]

Sometimes, when I have ingredients I want to use up and no inspiration on what to make, I just ask Google, “what can I make with (insert list of ingredients)?” No need for apps or websites.

Then I look through the suggestions until something strikes my fancy.

[Mary]

Take a week shopping from your own shelves! Eat from your own stock weekdays and eat standard favorites on weekends.

It keeps you at home eating mid-week.

Also, make a double batch from your shelves and freeze for an repeat performance next week!

[Kym]

Everything should be rotated not just sit there, so use it in your rotation and buy again when it goes on sale.

When budget is tighter, eat a few more meals from pantry or freezer.

If not feeling well, eat a few more meals from pantry or freezer. Bad weather, same.

If there are no good sales that week I can eat entirely out of my pantry and freezer. At most I need a few fresh fruits or vegetables.

[Holly]

Challenge yourself to do a “no spend week”. Not allowed to shop / grocery or otherwise for a week. Pay your bills but no going out to dinner, no shopping, visiting, going for a drive etc.

Take stock of everything in your pantry/fridge/freezer then plan meals around it – each day do some other “project ” around the house, clean closets (gathering things to sell / yard sale / donate, find all the craft projects you have not finished and have all the parts to do, find the books you didnt finish reading.

Now expand on that no spend week to 10 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. All the money you just didnt spend is now for holiday, vacation, paying down a bill, etc . Challenge yourself to do it.

Have the will power to do it!! Tell your friends and family you are doing it. Use this to clear your fridge/freezer/pantry, your closets, make some extra money, finish up things you already started and you will clear your mind as well.

Reduce the clutter in the kitchen / the house/ your head. You can do it – YOU just have to want to do it. You can do anything for a week !! then make or extend your goal.

Dont be the person who cant do something for 24 hours before giving up.

Make lists for “later”. but set the goal ” not grocery shopping and only eating what is in the house ” and stick to it!! You are the ADULT.

You can do it – you just have to WANT TO and set your mind to DO IT!

[Versie]

Make food management your new hobby. Take three things from the pantry and plan a meal around that.

Q
1. Ceram of mushroom, corn, egg noodles — add a pound of cooked ground beef.

2. Canned salmon — add ingredients to make salmon patties.
3. Canned chili — have chili dogs for lunch one day.

Make meal lists that includes your pantry. Staying out of the grocery store takes real discipline

[Rita]

When I run out of something, I write it on a list in my phone. I don’t need to buy it right now, but don’t have that fear of forgetting about it.

[Michele]

Set yourself a challenge – say, “I am going to go two weeks without a trip to the store!” Then make a meal plan using what you already have on hand – if the idea of planning what you’ll want to eat in 10 days is too much, just plot out what 14 meals you can make, and then eat & cross them off the list as you go.

We are planning to hunker down and do this for the first 3 weeks of November.

This is also a great way for me to “save” on groceries and then use some of that for a few foodie splurges around the holidays.

[Sally]

I love options. I like to use the app supercook keep a digital pantry. The app can tell me what meals I can make with my current ingredients and also what I can make if I had one more ingredient

[Donna]

When I find certain cuts of meat on sale, it is usually a large piece of. (ie roasts) Always makes a nice company dinner & proceed to forget about it.

I have committed to rotating the freezer. You can make lots of things out of leftover roast beef.

[Denise]

Gather a few items in a basket that have been there too long. Start forcing yourself to use them up. Create a meal or use one item at least every week.

It’s ok to replenish stock so you always have plenty to rotate through but you need to eat the less desirable you bought by mistake up. Same fir freezer.

Pull up or place in a basket or a bag things that need eaten soon. You can make soup or chowder lots of times from things.

I had an abundance of chick peas so I started to roast them for a snack.

Look up the ingredient you have and get ideas how to use it.

[Melissa]

Eat out of your pantry.
Look for duplicates and start making meals from that. I’m obsessed with fire roasted and flavored tomatoes.

But 11 cans is too much.
Look for similar items and use 1.

A box of augraten potatoes and a box of scalloped potatoes. They aren’t the same but their job is the same. Use one.

Organize what is left in your cabinets
Freezer- pork loin sale was great but time to use 1/2
Frozen breakfast foods- use it all up and make what you need each week.

My honey loves frozen egg rolls and will bring boxes home. Once in awhile I make a meal of rice and a bunch of eggs rolls My focus is to use up at least half.

Frozen veggies? Yeah for soup season. Use up 1/2 for a big pot of soup.

You have some left so you can wait to buy (even if on sale). You are changing your mind set and habit.

Eating yet not feeling you need to restock right away. Eliminating automaticity

[Donna]

I watch Chopped for inspiration, and ask myself, ‘How can I not spend money today?”

It’s something I struggle with as well.

I have more than enough on hand and was inspired to make something when I bought it, but I apparently lost interest or energy.

[Sara]

Write down what you want to use, go to a good website and find recipes that have those items.

Prep what you need to cook the next few days and that way when it’s time to cook or think you have to go shopping you look around going weeell I already have this and that prepped to use and I don’t want to waste so let’s do this first.

Continue until everything is used.

If you do have to go shopping write a list out of the items you need to do those recipes and stick to it.

No extras, curbside even if you don’t trust yourself.

[Kody]

I am the same way!! I have a stocked pantry but get in a pattern of foods I like, crave and know what they do to my blood sugar and don’t want to eat the pantry stuff then end up back grocery shopping for favorites.

[Helen]

Recently started using SuperCook; I’ve added couple of new recipes to my collection; I have a well stocked pantry and freezer but I plan to replenish several items due to holiday cooking/baking plus winter will be here soon.

Hard to think that as we’re having low 90s as highs; crazy.

[Anna]

Pick out some items for the next few days and start shopping around them

Preferably of what is already in the pantry
Look up recipes ( Pinterest is great) with your main ingredients and see what you can make

I made last year a pineapple habanero jam, that I was just going to give away, yet it was so good that I kept most of it for myself.

[Susan]

I kinda suffered the same way. I did two things..literally had a change bottle and went “shopping” in my pantry and freezer…

I would use try and invent meals from what I had purchased out of the pantry…

helped my mind get use to shopping there.

I set a goal to shop the pantry every other week in order to not buy new food.

Then I used an app where you list what you have and it gives ideas for a menu. Its I pretty cool.

I can’t remember the name of the app. I’m sure with some searching you could find one.

[Roxanne]

Twice a year I have a no spend month and use up my freezer and pantry as much as possible. I use up my emergency shelf stable milk and my frozen dough.

[Dawn]

I write down a week’s menus in advance, taking into account what I want to use up.

I don’t always go with it exactly, I might swap around a bit if I’m late home, but it really helps.

[Author]

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