Pantry Challenge Progress Report

Here I am, about a month into when I actually started the "January" pantry challenge.  It's time to assess how well I have stocked my pantry/freezer/fridge and what needs to change.

1.  I have way too many lunch-oriented items for someone who eats lunch at home only two days a week.  I generally take one meal to work, either yogurt or oatmeal plus a banana, then cave in and snack on something there if I'm hungry.  The Chef Boyardee was in case I was quarantined at some point and didn't feel like making even a grilled cheese sandwich.  I have split days off, and generally don't have a whole can at one meal, so they're just sitting there.

2.  I need to stop buying soup.  Full stop.  Unless it's purchased for a specific recipe, even broth just sits there.  I tend to make my own so it has either low sodium or not the same yield as a can or box.

3.  I'm really not eating much meat anymore.  It has been a challenge to find a good use for the pound of ground beef in the freezer.  I bought it in June on sale for $2.49/lb, which you will never find today.  I finally did the meat/eggplant/cheese parmisiagna stack thingy just to use it on something better than spaghetti sauce or burgers.  If I'm ever stuck at home for a couple of weeks, I have no problem having beans or quinoa as my protein for a while, as long as there are other ingredients to make them interesting.

4.  I don't go through a lot of boxed pasta.  It's nice to have when all else fails, but it isn't something I need on the shelf.  I don't regret getting those four boxes at clearance prices, but it's literally a whole year's worth.

Turkey Divan

5.  Stocking a wide variety of beans and other plant-based protein is a good idea.  See #3.  I'm far more interested in developing new uses for plant-based protein than for the meats in my freezer.  I did love my turkey divan, made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey shreds and some of the sauerkraut bread instead of white.  For Christmas, I made Stoo with a jar of apricot chutney.  But meat has become more of an occasional treat than an everyday thing.

6.  I love using the powdered Nido milk.  More to the point, I love not worrying about whether I have enough or too much milk in the fridge.  I mix it up as needed.  If I know ahead of time that I will be needing a specific quantity, I'll buy a quart or half a gallon.  But if I only need it for a few mugs of coffee for the week, I'll just make a cup at a time.  Yes, it tastes like powdered coffee creamer until you get used to it.  The first canister lasted me 8 months.  I estimate that I was paying about $6/mo for milk.  At $15 per canister, that saved me $33.  Not a lot of money, but little changes like that add up.

7.  No more canning until I make a serious dent in last year's inventory.  I've already gone over this, so I won't belabor the point.  Let's just say there will be at least one more loaf of sauerkraut bread (which I actually really liked and might make as hamburger buns next time).

As for how I'm doing on the spending, pretty awesome.  I've been saving receipts, and not counting anything I bought that was intended to be used after this month.  Because Pantry Challenges are not supposed to whittle away at your long-term food items, especially in an age when items you like might be out of stock for weeks, then come back at a higher price.  There was also a Target run for a few essentials that I'll need before April and wanted to get while they were still on the shelf.  So here is what I bought for weekly use (starting Jan 1st) and what I paid:

January 2 (Pavilions - Safeway/Albertsons brand)

Orange Juice (half gal)    2.99
Plain Greek Yogurt (qt)    2.99
Bananas 79¢/lb             1.81
                           7.79

January 10 (Sprouts)

Eggplant                    .98
4 lbs grapefruit           3.98
Bananas 65¢/lb              .67
Romano cheese 5 oz         4.59
                          10.22

January 16 (Pavilions)

Bob's GF flour (coupon)    0.00
Frz artichoke hearts       3.49
Ice Cream                  2.99
Frozen turkey sausage      1.39
Plain yogurt (qt)          2.99
Bananas 79¢/lb             1.14
$3 off any purchase       -3.00
                           9.00

January 25 (Pavilions)

Coconut milk               2.99
Tortillas                  1.79
Plain yogurt (qt)          2.02
Whipped topping            4.49
English muffins (10 ct)    2.33
Grape Tomatoes             2.50
Bananas (79¢/lb)           1.22
                          17.34

As you can see, my main motivator for hitting the grocery store has been running out of bananas.  Without that hiccup, I could probably have gone longer between trips.  And the one week I did, the result was a higher total.  $1.50 of that was the market being out of the generic coconut milk.  Some of this will be prepared on the 31st and eaten mostly in February, so it isn't a perfect metric.  Still, I spent $44.35 for items that I planned to open in January, when I usually spend that much per week.

While it's been amazing spending so little for the month, inflation really hit home when I didn't have time to cook one evening and went through the Carl's Jr drive-through, which I haven't done in at least six months.  One pretty awesome chicken-bacon-ranch sandwich without fries or a drink cost $9, roughly the same as my average weekly grocery bill during this challenge.

I can definitely keep this up through February.  I'm not going to itemize receipts, but I'll maintain the "do I really need this right now?" mindset when I go shopping.  There's a cup of brown rice that really needs to be cooked before it goes rancid.  I'll probably have that with the other baggie of leftover turkey, the rest of the open jar of cranberry sauce, and some canned asparagus or a salad.  I kept moving around a possible lamb curry until it finally was bumped off this month's menu plan.  In between, I have four varieties of beans (pinto, black, navy, and garbanzo), red lentils, and quinoa to play with as vegan proteins.  There's also quite a bit of bacon in the freezer that I stocked up in case it takes a while for California to figure out the Prop 12 pork issues.  And a whole chicken I keep thinking is a bag of flour because I didn't have room for it on the meat side of the freezer.

While being prepared for quarantine and/or stocking up on fairly priced items as a way to stave off inflation is a good thing, there's also wastefulness in not using what you've bought or prepared for the freezer and by canning.  Periodic inventory and pantry challenges are a great way to clear out the older items and reduce the effects of market fluctuations.