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Thread: Pantry preparation: What could you make right now if you couldn't get to a store?

  1. #1
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
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    Pantry preparation: What could you make right now if you couldn't get to a store?

    Inspired by another thread: what if for whatever reason, you couldn't get to a store for a few days. Whether that be from some weather conditions, health issues that prevent you from going out or what not. What could you make with what you typically have on hand?

    My husband decided to mostly forego meat this year, so I've expanded our bean/lentil stocks. I usually have several kinds of pasta and rice as well as flours. We have seeds to sprout (though typically only do that in the winter months after there's nothing else in the garden). I keep typical spices and seasonings (oils, vinegar, herbs). There is usually milk, eggs and some kind of cheese in the frig. Almost always have onions, potatoes in pantry, carrots in frig.

    Here's what I think of to cook off the top of my head:

    various breads: french loaf, white bread, tortillas, muffins, pizza crust
    soups: split pea, black bean, a soup that is African inspired that uses rice and peanut butter with carrots and celery, onion soup
    Pasta and sauce (have marinara I made from the garden, after that it would be canned tomatoes with herbs, onions)
    pasta and whatever veggies are in the frig - right now its "root vegetables" of butternut squash, carrots and parsnips.
    White bean spread for bread to make a sandwich with shredded carrots, and maybe sprouts in a few days- I have frozen basil to add to this.
    crustless quiche- made with eggs and flour, whatever cheese is around, and veggies
    tuna salad
    pizza with cheese and thinned out tomato paste, maybe add onions or peppers if available.
    bean and rice bowl or burrito
    quesadillas with beans or sauteed root vegetables and cheese- or black beans and sweet potato and spices
    various Indian dishes with either chickpeas or kidney beans and rice
    Baked potato with a veg on the side or on top with cheese
    vegetarian jambalaya (from https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf- a great resource of food for $4/day)
    black bean burgers (from http://theprudenthomemaker.com/black-bean-burgers)


    What about you? What could you cook from what you currently have on hand?

  2. #2
    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    I like this thread! I hope it catches on.

    For me, I would say that I could easily whip up a few kinds of pasta, mountains of beans and rice, and huge stacks of chapati. I have some things in there I could dress these items up with -- like some cans of coconut milk, spices of all sorts, some veggie broth, a can of tomatoes, and several cans of veggies.

    I also have three energy bars (made with cricket flour), a container of almonds, and a few other odd items.

  3. #3
    Yppej
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    Beans, popcorn, oatmeal, caramelized onions with cinnamon, butternut squash is still growing outside and I have real butter to go with it, a salad from lots of cans of olives someone gave me, bags of chia seeds and coconut, eggs, cauliflower, teas, mints growing outside, tomatoes, walnuts, or any variation thereof.

    I could also fast to try to kick up the ketosis on my diet, but I do plan to go for groceries sometime over the long weekend. Tomorrow I am taking my car in for service and they usually have free coffee and fruit.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    I also have some vitamins!

  5. #5
    Yppej
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    I forgot I am still harvesting chives also.

  6. #6
    Low Tech grunt iris lily's Avatar
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    I couldnt make soups for many days because I buy all of the stock. I suppose I could make my own, though, we have a freezer full of meats. We have frozen vegetables, too.

    We would miss fresh dairy after a few days.

    But we have bushels,and bushels,of apples and quite a lot of vegetables and a few greens, so the fresh stuff is here, but it would be repititious if no supplimented for a few weeks.

    Of course we have rice, a fair amount of freshly harvested hard beans. At the moment we are low on potatoes and we did t grow any this year.
    Last edited by iris lily; 10-7-17 at 8:56am.

  7. #7
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    I always have eggs and some kind of breakfasty meat around--bacon, sausage--if meat were proscribed, I guess it would be egg and cheese and a frozen vegetable. Lately spiced canned pumpkin, cream cheese, and heavy cream is in rotation.

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    I always like to ponder how long we could get by with what we have on hand. I think we could do about three weeks of meals with what is here - rice, pasta, beans, cheese, tuna, shrimp, frozen homemade broth, potatoes, onions, garlic, frozen veggies, canned tomatoes, eggs, oatmeal and quite a bit of meat in the freezer. My neighbor gave me several pounds of yellow squash too.

  9. #9
    Yppej
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    I opened the fridge this morning and was surprised by all the stuff I hadn't remembered - kale, applesauce, guacamole, marinated olives, pickles. I think most people have a lot more than they realize on hand. And before winter storms I stockpile.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    In the cooler months I stock pile frozen soups. It might depend on my shopping cycle, but the vegetable and fruit drawers in the frig are almost always well stocked. Actually, the choices might be a little narrower, but my normal food fare probably would not change if it were just a week or ten days. Beyond that I'd start getting into the flours for home made breads, a stock of rice, beans and legumes, pastas and sauces, and oatmeal and cereals. I should probably get an emergency food stock sometime, but it would might be a month or more before food became critical. If you're talking right now, right now, apple pie is getting high on my kitchen projects.

    Now, if the power were out too, it might be a little more dire. I have a little cook stove for camping, but the food in the fridge and freezer would soon go bad. I'd probably be down to two or three weeks supply.

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