Pantry & Freezer Challenge - 6 Month Update

 

One of the things I did prior to retiring early was to stockpile some groceries in preparation of my retirement and I did a really good job.  I had a full pantry, a full refrigerator and freezer and a small chest freezer out in my garage that was filled to the top.  Along with that I also keep a long term food storage (LTFS) pantry which is designed to help me out in case of an emergency or change to my circumstances.

 

During the winter I went through and emptied the chest freezer canning much of what was in there and adding it to my LTFS.  At the same time I pulled some older items from LTFS and placed them in my kitchen pantry so that I can use them.  I try to rotate and replace so nothing gets too old and goes to waste.  In March I made the decision and sold the chest freezer so now I only use the refrigerator freezer which seemed to be enough for me at this time.  More on that subject later.

 

I love to meal prep for the week ahead

I plan and prepare my meals based on what I already have on hand.  A lot of those meals are a combination of home canned foods and items I purchased from the store which allows me to eat a variety of wholesome and healthy meals.  I eat my leftovers and any food waste is very minimal, in fact practically none.  My kitchen scraps go to the chickens and I have a compost bin in my backyard.

 

Once a month I take inventory of what I have before I go to the grocery store and fill in the gaps.  So far this year most of my shopping as been fairly minimal and included mostly fresh produce and dairy purchases.  This month I actually did some stocking up of fresh meat as well as a few pantry items to replace what I was getting low on.

 

At the present time I have a very full pantry, refrigerator and freezer.  My LTFS is still intact and doing its job.  I have no doubt that if I needed to I could go without grocery shopping for an entire year, possibly longer, and be able to eat very well.  I am extremely grateful that I do not have to worry about that.  I am doing well and feeling quite blessed to be in this position.

 

Now that my freezer has been replenished with some meat and the pantry has been topped up I can now move forward and continue with my pantry challenge.  I intend to use more of my home canned goods to prepare meals with and hopefully, if I’m lucky, I’ll even have some fresh produce from my garden to can and put up in my pantry.  I will keep you posted on that.