Stocking My Pantry

I've been trying to find some blog entries of pantry lists to see what other people are stocking up on in the "Real Foodie Movement." That's not really what it's called, I'm just trying to be cool and start a trend... oh, me..

Many people have some great lists out there and I found them very inspiring. Lots of good ideas for what to have on hand in a pinch (and avoid excessive grocery shopping, blagh- Amazon anyone?). Alot of this stuff I already have on hand, and some I'm still trying to stock up on. Someday I dream of buying everything in bulk and eliminating my constant trips to the grocery store.. ahh someday.. 

Anyways, I wanted to make up a list of items I want/need on hand to work towards that goal, so here goes!

• Dried beans (kept in small amounts, I don't tolerate legumes so well... Go to bulk bins at East End Food Co.) 
• Cannellini
• Kidney
• Black Bean
• Black Eyed Peas
• Lentils 
• Rice 
• Brown Rice mostly (Costco or Whole Foods)
• Basmati or Jasmine (Whole Foods)
• Arborio (for risotto) (Whole Foods) 
• Grains 
• Quinoa (WF)
• Barley (can buy 1 or 6 if ya really like barley!) 
• Oats
• Popcorn Kernels
• Nuts/Seeds
• Peanuts (Costco)
• Almonds (Costco)
• Walnuts (Costco)
• Sunflower Seeds 
• Chia 
• Dried Fruit
• Bananas (homemade)
• Pears/Apples (homemade)
• Craisins (Guilty pleasure..Costco has huge bags)
• Prunes
• Unsweeted coconut
• Canned products - I'm trying to switch over to only home-canned items, so far I have:
• Apple Pie Filling
• Blackberry Jam
• Strawberry Jam
• Salsa
• Corn Relish
• Canned pears
• Canned apples
• Hot Mustard (Mom canned this- yum!)
• Hot Pepper Rings (Mom again, double yum!) 
• Apple Butter
• Jalapeno Apple Jelly (Holy delicious heaven) 
• Garlic Pepper Jelly 
• Someday plan to also can marinara, tomato sauce, tomatoes, lots and lots of tomato things..oh and PICKLES. Pickled EVERYTHING!!! 
• Wheat Berries/etc
• Soft White Wheat
• Hard White Wheat
• Hard Red Wheat
• Dried Corn (for grinding to make cornmeal) 
• Fats
• Olive oil (Costco) 
• Coconut oil (Costco has a big jar for $15.00 also- good, good deal) 
• Almond oil 
• Baking supplies 
• Cornstarch/Arrowroot powder
• Baking Soda (Costco sells ginormous bags) 
• Baking Powder
• Dry Active Yeast (Costco) 
• Cheese Making supplies
• Citric acid
• Rennet 
• Sweeteners
• Rapadura
• Raw, Organic Honey <-- This honey is amazing
• Maple Syrup (Costco: $13.00 for 1 quart)
• Vinegars
• Distilled White (Costco)
• Cider (Whole Foods) 
• Balsamic (Whole Foods) 
• Spices
• Kosher salt (Costco) 
• Smoked salt (Pgh Public Market) 
• Peppercorns (Costco) 
• Garlic (Costco) 
• Cinnamon, Nutmeg, etc. I'm trying to build up this department (Costco) 
• Coffee Beans (Costco)
• Tea lots of tea

I also plan on having: Kefir grains, Kombucha SCOBY mushroom, and vinegar "mothers" so that I can make my own Kefir, Kombucha and vinegars- but those are all works in progress. 

The rest of my food is basically meats, fruits, vegetables, and dairy that I buy as needed.

Anything I missed? 

East End Food Co-op

So there's a beautiful thang about 10-15 minutes from my house. I don't know why I don't go there more often. I used to say it was because of the cost but then I realized I was just lying to myself because it's actually really affordable. 

It's the East End Food Co-op and it's the most amazing place on earth. It's downright magical. I've been there before to pick up veggie items in the past, but I never took my time and actually perused the area. I clearly wasn't aware of what I was missing...

This time, instead of rushing past the bulk bins, I malingered, savored, and explored. 

Man oh man, was I impressed. This place has every type of dried bean known to man, every grain, every rice, every nut, seed, and spice. Lord almighty they even had my wheat berries, every single type!! 

Many, many of these items I was considering buying on Amazon for lack of finding it elsewhere, but after seeing the prices (and also the benefit of reducing my carbon footprint by buying from closer to home) I won't have to! 

This is the part where I got really excited and embarrassing: they have bulk honey, vinegar, oil, and maple syrup!!! And you can FILL your own JARS!

You just weigh your mason jar, write down it's weight, fill 'er up, and write down the product number! Oh and along the top they have bulk pumps of Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap- AWESOME!




Oh! And they have peanut butter machines so you can make your own fresh, raw peanut buttery goodness! Also, they have lots and lots of bulk options for coffee beans...also known as the elixir of life..

At this point, my arms were too laden with goodies (forget taking a cart in this place, it's too small and packed!) ergo, I was unable to take anymore pictures but I was still in my own personal heaven. They have organic eggs from local, pastured chickens as well as non-homogenized, gently pasteurized milks. They also had tons of organic, free range chickens and grass-fed, pastured beef from farms local to Pittsburgh. I was stoked to see that the whole roasting chickens were on sale, so I scooped two of those up as well as some milk, kombucha, kefir, and eggs. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that all of it wasn't that much more expensive than the prices I'd been paying at Giant Eagle, for much less quality items! 

Needless to say, this is my new grocery store.... Boom.