Monday 1 September 2014

A peek inside...

Our kitchen food cupboards and 'under the stairs' store cupboard. The latter is a bit of a misnomer as we don't have any stairs but that is what the space is known as!

Lets start 'under the stairs. I posted an article May 2013, on how we converted this space from a disorganised mess into a usable space.

Here is the full width top shelf where we predominantly store preserves:
We hardly drink wine but enjoyed this German white. Unfortunately, the next bottles we bought were a different year and don't taste so nice!

Under this shelf, the cupboard is divided up the middle, from top to bottom. Only the right hand side stores food. This picture was taken the day before this month's monthly food shop so a few more things were added:
Top right are some bottles of nice red wine which we don't drink at all. These are waiting to go out as gifts or to a raffle:
The above picture speaks for itself, bread things, tins and a few packets, kitchen and toilet rolls. Then into my kitchen, starting with top left cupboards. This one is odds and sods for baking and needs topping up a little:
Middle cupboard, with the spice rack attached to the door. Upside down jars indicate they need filling. Tupperware containers house cereals, rice, pasta, dried fruit etc:
Next, the dehydrated jars and extra dry foods:
Then the corner cupboard, drinks and other odds and sods again. This needs a bit more of a tidy and sort out:
The final top cupboard is jars, packets, tins and more dried goods:
Each month we do a monthly shop (delivered) from a supermarket of anything that is needed to replace things that have run out plus fresh food. Every 10 - 14 days, (depending on how things have lasted), we do a top up of fresh food. Our food bill has slowly dropped by about 20% from last year.


In fact, we are now spending only 15% - 20% more than we did when on war rations during the 1990's! I'm hoping that now we are using a menu this should drop more, or remain the same, as prices continue to rise. That isn't too bad considering the ever increasing price of food. We also have a 3 drawer indoor freezer and a tall unit outside. We could easily live off and empty these cupboards right down for 2 or 3 months if needed but then, it would cost us an arm and a leg to build them back up again.

I finally realised that the system my lovely mother in law used to operate (in her proper pantry under the stairs!), of use one item, buy another but also have one spare actually works.


8 comments:

  1. You are so well organised! I'd love a pantry so that I could see at a glance what we had x

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    1. I used to be envious of my mother in laws pantry, but this is the best I can do!

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  2. My Great Aunt V had a pantry with a cold slab in it. I loved it! I have my overflow cupboards in the attic which I use for extra stuff, but they are low and I have to get on my knees to see what's in them!

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    1. Worked well I should think as well. I remember before I got my first fridge, keeping my milk in cold water to stop it turning!

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  3. I love looking in other peoples food cupboards, its nice to see them well stocked, it makes me feel better about mine :-) i would love an old fashioned pantry too, we have a large "under stairs " cupboard next to the kitchen which houses the fridge freezer, we could easily manage without it as its a secondary one and then it would make a huge pantry, only thing is I would want to fill it!!

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    1. Does us all good to have a bit of a nose occasionally!

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  4. I m still not sure how menu planning is going to save more money - I buy the loss leaders in the produce department every week; mainly things that are in season. I am pretty expert in using everything up and portion control but find that menu planning is a bit restrictive and tend to cook what I want from what is available from my stores. I try and search out the best and freshest ingredients and am afraid dont buy from Approved. A herb garden is a good money saver and a veggie garden is bliss !

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    1. Neither are we but are willing to give it a try. Also the change will do us good as we were feeling more restricted not using a menu. We have been shopping the 'old' way for many years and do subscribe to the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't change it". However we also believe in, "a change is as good as a rest". We don't shop at approved either.

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