20-25 Item Pantry List + Garden + Weekly Bonus Item Challenge

[Amaranth]

In the thread on possible food challenges for 2013, Mer05 talked about a planned challenge:


I've been playing around with the idea of using a limited number of recipes/ingredients, and rotating them by season. (Like the 333 clothes project, which I did this year and have enjoyed.) There are lots of different goals around food, and they aren't easy to all fit in! Eat healthy/local/organic/seasonal/cheap, grow/cook your own, reduce food waste, etc.

What I have so far is: 21-item grocery list, plus one farmers-market freebie per week. Garden produce, spices, and tea are exempt. Eating out with company is fine, but no 'convenience' food.

I made the shopping list based on recipes I already make regularly; the farmers market clause allows a little extra variety (also bacon and donuts, which did not make the list somehow). I haven't decided what to do with pantry items that didn't make the list - I may pack them away at first, or else just use them up without replacing them.
Mer05 would like to do a Pantry Challenge of 21 items plus Garden Produce and a weekly bonus item. There are also several exemptions. In the past we have talked about pantry lists ranging from 12-25 items. It seemed like a list in the 20-25 item range was the most suitable for the majority of people. What would be in your 20-25 item Pantry List?

[Gregg]

Below is the "Wine Lovers Pantry" list from the show Pairings with Andrea. It's a little different take than a pantry filled with main ingredient staples. This list is pretty spot on for the way we cook around our house. Fleur de Sel usually becomes Kosher salt and Manchego cheese only comes home for specific recipes, but pretty much all the rest are things we always have around.


Shelf One: Just Good Cooking
Kosher salt
Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
Good quality butter

Shelf Two: Red Wine Boosters
Dried thyme
Dried oregano
Dried rosemary

Shelf Three: Magic Fairy Dust
Shallots
Manchego cheese
Pine nuts
Dried mushrooms

Shelf Four: Really Special but Worth the Splurge
Extra virgin olive oil and pure olive oil
Good quality aged balsamic vinegar
Fleur de Sel
Demi-glace

Extras:

Sherry vinegar
Garlic
Fresh lemon
Goat cheese
Sesame seeds
Sesame oil
Corn — any form
Bittersweet chocolate
White pepper
Dried fruits
Vanilla bean
Coconut milk

[Mer05]

Just realized this was a thread! Posting my list for the winter. This list will work for my breakfast bread, quiche, gyoza+kale, potato soup, and curry recipes. I don't have a garden at this point, but last summer I enjoyed the surplus of others.

1. Onion
2. Mushrooms
3. Kale
4. Potatoes
5. Garlic
6. Grapefruit
7. Half&Half
8. Egg
9. Goat cheese
10. Leek
11. Carrots
12. Crackers
13. Flour
14. Oil
15. Curry poowder
16. Rice
17. Gyoza (frozen)
18. Soy sauce
19. Peanut butter
20. Seitan
21. Wild card from the farmers' market (one per week)

[Amaranth]

Gregg, that's an intriguing pantry list. Is the idea that including those items in recipes helps create an ideal food for pairing with wine?

Mer05, Looks like you could make a lot of tasty meals from that list that would be nutritious as well.

We like to make gyoza and some people we cook for need a gluten free wrapper. Do you know of any US brands of rice dumpling or wonton wrapers? I have seen some fresh spring roll wrappers made of rice flour but they are very large and so far all of them are imported from overseas.

[Gregg]

Gregg, that's an intriguing pantry list. Is the idea that including those items in recipes helps create an ideal food for pairing with wine?

Since the items on the list are mostly ingredients that promote specific flavor profiles that is how I took it Amaranth. Pairing with wine is no different than pairing with anything else so it seems like a pretty versitile list. You can't do it all, but can go a lot of different directions with it.

[Gardenarian]

My pantry:

1. Olive oil
2. Vinegar(s)
3. Rice
4. Whole wheat flour
5. Pasta
6. Barley
7. Oats
8. Tomato sauce (in a jar)
9. Dried seaweed
10. Dried beans
11. Canned beans
12. Honey
13. Peanut/almond butter
14. Coconut milk
15. Walnuts
16. Raisins
17. Jam
18. Grapeseed oil

(Are baking supplies here? Such as yeast, baking power, baking soda, cream of tartar, sugar, vanilla, cocoa? How about dairy? that would add eggs, milk, whipping cream, soy milk, cheese, and butter. Also condiments - mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, etc?)

[Mer05]

I've been buying premade gyoza, and haven't yet gotten around to making my own. I waffled on including that because it's frozen prepared stuff, which I'm trying to get away from. But it's also really quick and simple to make, so it made the cut for now.

Gardenian - I'm keeping spices/herbs/leavening separate from the challenge, generally. If food doesn't taste like something, I probably won't eat it. But I'm leaving dairy, sugars, and fats in, since I'd like to reduce those categories. If not my actual consumption, then at least the number of different types. I have at least five types of sugar on hand right now - sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, maple syrup, molasses, honey, possibly corn syrup for pies... it strikes me as a little excessive, and it takes forever to use each one up.

[Amaranth]

There's a new cookbook coming out in April 2013 that might be helpful for this challenge. It's called The Fresh 20.


The Fresh 20, the popular budget-friendly meal-planning service founded by working mother Melissa Lanz, is now a cookbook, offering families an all-natural and easy approach to mealtimes.

Using just 20 organic, non-processed ingredients per week, home cooks can create 5 wholesome, delicious meals in just minutes. A busy home cook herself, Lanz understands the “What’s for dinner?” conundrum and has developed a program that gives parents healthy cooking options.

Inspiring and educational, The Fresh 20 is filled with gorgeous color photos, shopping lists that take advantage of seasonal fruits and vegetables, prep tips, and, of course, easy and delicious recipes — including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.

[Amaranth]

Any more ideas for the pantry list? How about some of these?

Apples
Amaranth seeds
Apricots, dried
Blueberries, dried
Cherries, dried
Cranberries, dried
Greens, frozen
Fish, canned
Quinoa
Winter squash

For the farmer's market wild card, what would round out the nutrition best?
For lists here and elsewhere, either greens or an orange vegetable look like they would help a lot.
A couple friends locally who are doing this challenge have set a money limit for the farmer's market wild card. So they might have multiple items within the limit. They each have different money limits.

[Amaranth]

Rebecca Currie who does the Less Is Enough blog has a good post about cooking from the pantry.
http://lessisenough.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/pantry-cooking/
She plans a follow up post on it about cooking from the pantry.

Rebecca is the one who did the $1 a day for food challenge a few years ago on the Less Is Enough Blog.