pantry foods Archives

If you’ve ever read a Little House on the Prairie book, then you know how much (especially in the earlier books) of them are devoted to describing food. Everything from recipes to what they gardened to how they used animal organs as toys is covered. And one of the most descriptive parts is when Laura discusses how they stocked their pantry for the winter.

This is not my actual pantry closet. Mine is too disorganized to put on display.

It’s pretty amazing how much food they were able to stuff into that small house. I mean, I suppose they had to if they didn’t want to starve to death, but given the fact that Laura’s description of her home implies that her family’s entire house could fit in my living room, the volume is impressive. Pretty widely varied, too, with their meat and fruit and vegetables and grains. (Although the variety puzzles me because it didn’t really seem like they cared much about mixing it up back then. Survival was important. Eating something different every day was not.)

So, like all good books do, the discussion of creating their stores for the winter got me thinking. Specifically about what my own pantry looks like. As in, what are the staples I need so that I could feed my family for a substantial time without having to go to the grocery store (this also prompted me to start thinking about what we’re going to plant in our garden but we’ll cover that another day) in the event that we are stuck or short on money or we decide to do a pantry challenge.

In other words, I asked myself this question–what do I need do have on hand in my pantry to make us more self-sufficient both in the long run and to prepare for any short term problems?

I started to assemble my list. I based my staples list not only price but on shelf life and stability (in case we lose power), usefulness in numerous recipes, likelihood of being eaten, nutrition content, and taste. I’m not stocking my pantry with vile tasting foods and spices just because they’re inexpensive, last a long time, and can be used in several recipes (yes, oregano, I’m looking at you. I don’t care what you say. You’re disgusting and you ruin food). I also used a number of my family’s favorite recipes as a guide because I want to stock my pantry in a way that will not only provide my family with food, but food that they enjoy (as much as possible).

Having said all of that, here’s the list:

Flour–whole wheat and all purpose white
Baking soda and baking power
Yeast
Peanut butter
Oatmeal
Pasta and rice
Canned tomatoes
Beans–dried and canned
Potatoes
Honey
White and brown sugar
Tea bags
Spices–salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, crushed red pepper, Old Bay, cinnamon sugar, Italian seasoning
Raisins
Olive oil and vegetable oil
Chicken and vegetable broth
Chocolate chips
Vinegar–white and apple cider
Canned fruits and vegetables

Added to that list is fresh fruits and vegetables that do not require refrigeration (apples, tomatoes, bananas, etc). I wish I could add milk, butter, and eggs but I’m sure that there are shelf-stable substitutions for the refrigerated stuff that I can investigate.

I’m pretty sure with those ingredients in my pantry, my family could eat for at least an entire week without having to set foot in a grocery store or farmer’s market. And, lucky for us, in the event we lose power, we have a wood burning fireplace and a barbecue that we can use to cook. That’s nice and reassuring. (We’ll discuss methods to make your home more pioneer friendly/energy efficient without major construction or spending a fortune in an upcoming post)

Let me also add this. I am lucky that I have a home with a pantry large enough to accommodate this kind of stockpile and I can plan my list accordingly. If you live in a small home, or a large home with small storage, you might not be able to have as large of a stockpile. That is totally fine. To create yours, look at the space you have, assess what will fit, and make the necessary adjustments. Maybe instead of canned beans, you buy bags of dried beans and stack them on top of each other (they take up less room). Maybe you pour your sugar (note: it’s okay to sing Def Leppard along with that phrase. I did) into gallon sized plastic bags and then stack those on top of each other. You can do that with flour, too. Or perhaps you buy a large storage bin and put everything in there and then put the whole bin in a closet or under your bed, saving your pantry for your every day, non-emergency stuff. Or maybe you cover the bin with an old sheet you turned into a tablecloth and use it as a coffee table.

That last one might be stretching things a bit too far but it sounds like something a pioneer family would do.

Anyway.

It’s really up to you how creative you want to be based on space, time, and money as well as your family’s needs and dietary preferences. But this is one small task that anyone, no matter the size of your home, can complete to take one step closer towards feeling like a pioneer.

What does your pioneer pantry look like?

To me, one of the basic tenets of pioneer living is making do with what you have. After all, in those days, if you ran out of meat or potatoes, you couldn’t just hop on your horse and swiftly ride into town to get more. The nearest town was usually several miles away and shooting and eating your horse was not at all an option because there goes your transportation to said far away town.

That would make everything even more difficult.

This was especially true in the winter. In the book The Long Winter, the Ingalls family is basically trapped in their house due to weather and, even if they could get outside, there wouldn’t be anything to buy because trains couldn’t get into town (at this point, they had a house in town) to deliver supplies. So they had to use what they had if they wanted to eat.

I’ve experienced something similar lately.

I don’t know what the weather is like in your part of the world, but here on the East Coast, it’s horrible. Snow, ice, freezing rain, wind chills making it feel below zero…it’s the opposite of pleasant. It makes you not want to leave the house. And, if you live in my neighborhood that’s sort of in the middle of nowhere and that neighborhood is the land that snow plows forgot, you kind of get stuck. Especially if you don’t have an SUV or 4 wheel drive car.

You know, the modern equivalent of a horse.

So even if you wanted to go somewhere, you couldn’t. And after a few days, cabin fever sets in and food starts to run low. But getting to the supermarket isn’t easy (and they’re probably out of bread and milk anyway) so, like the pioneers, you have to make due with what you have.

That’s where my tomato vegetable soup comes in. I normally have a recipe for tomato soup and a separate one for vegetable soup but I was out of broth and decided to combine the two for something a little different. That also might have come from a place of boredom but we’ll just pretend it came from a place of experimentation.

To make the soup, I looked in my pantry and freezer where I found a can of crushed tomatoes, a bag of mixed frozen vegetables, a can of diced tomatoes, some garlic, vegetable oil, and salt. And water but that came from the faucet. I also had some crushed red pepper on hand for a little kick ( water and red pepper not pictured).

Then I sort of sautéed the vegetables and garlic in some vegetable oil.

After a few minutes, I dumped in a can of undrained, unseasoned tomatoes

I mixed that up, and added in a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and 2 1/2 cups water along with roughly 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

When it was all done and cooked, I ladled it into a large bowl and topped it off with Cheez Its (because I am gourmet and classy like that)

This made enough for roughly 4-6 lunches, depending on how much you eat at a time. My husband added some leftover brown rice and didn’t complain (at least not to my face).

The soup left me feeling full and resourceful. Just like a pioneer on the cold winter prairie.

Townhouse Pioneer What’s Left in the House Tomato Vegetable Soup

Makes approximately 4-6 servings

Ingredients

28 oz can crushed tomatoes
16 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables
14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 1/2 cups water
Minced garlic, roughly 1 tbsp
Crushed red pepper, salt, pepper (to taste)
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

Heat vegetable oil in pan
Add in garlic and mixed vegetables. Sautée for a few minutes, until vegetables start to thaw and soften.
Add in undrained tomatoes.
Stir in crushed tomatoes and water.
Heat through. While soup is heating, add in optional spices (note: add at least a bit of salt. Trust me on this one).

Serve with crackers, cheese, sandwiches, or whatever else you feel like.

Stocking a pioneer pantry

The Pioneer Kitchen Diaries: Tomato Vegetable Soup

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