Cleaned out my pantry and the total was way more than I thought

I finally went through my kitchen cupboards yesterday, pulling out all the half-used bags of rice, lentils, and canned stuff. When I laid it all out on the table, I realized I had enough dry goods to make meals for at least two weeks without buying anything new. It hit me that I'd spent maybe $40 over a few months to stock this, but the value sitting there right now was easily over $100 in avoided takeout. Has anyone else done a pantry check and been surprised by what you already have?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_hill13d ago

Read an article that called this a "prepper pantry" for regular people. It's just buying a little extra of shelf stable stuff each trip. Makes you feel less panicked when you can't get to the store.

the_nancy14d ago

Oh the "food graveyard for good intentions" is too real. My pantry has a whole shelf dedicated to quinoa I bought during a health kick, which now just sits there silently shaming my current diet of frozen taquitos. It's like a museum of my past ambitions.

fisher.thomas14d ago

Just did this last week and found three different half bags of brown rice hiding behind a box of crackers. My pantry is basically a food graveyard for good intentions, where every "I should eat healthier" thought goes to die. It felt like winning a weird, dusty lottery when I lined it all up and realized I could probably make some kind of bean and rice situation for a solid month. Kind of embarrassing how much money I've spent on pizza while all that was just sitting there judging me.