The State of the Stockpile

Well I got the pantry cleaned/organized a couple of weeks back after College Boy went back to school.

The before shot.............

And the after shot.........

I got rid of the cardboard box and put all the small appliances from it into an extra Rubbermaid tub we had laying around.  Multiple of the same items that were opened were combined, thus taking up less space.  Item CB had brought in from the stockpile to use and then changed his mind and then shoved into the pantry were put back into the stockpile.  Now the only items in the pantry are opened items being used and maybe if that open item is almost empty another of the same kind, ready to be pressed into service.  Also in here are unopened items which will be used in the coming week's meal plan and/or items used often like a can of tomatoes, tomato paste, a box of pasta, a can of soup or beans, etc.
The large paper bag holds my onions and there is a bag of potatoes behind it. 
The only exceptions are my dried beans and a bag of sugar which critters might get into if kept in the garage.

In conjunction with cleaning out and organizing the pantry I also thoroughly went through my stockpile of foodstuffs(you know, the shelf stable canned, boxed, bagged, bottled stuff)in the garage, cleaning and organizing that.

It took me 3 full days to get it all gone through and organized again.
Between me just throwing grocery store purchases happenstance on the shelves and College Boy taking items out then changing his mind about eating said items and shoving them into the pantry instead of back in the stockpile, both locations were an utter disaster!!

In progress after Day One of cleaning......items all over my antique sewing machine cabinet, some items still on the floor and only 2 shelves organized.

So I moved everything around and put it all back into some sort of order.  Amazingly, I only had to throw out about 10 items that got pushed to the back and forgotten and not eaten before it was safe to do so.
Barbecue sauce from 2010 and a can of condensed sweetened milk from 2007?  No thanks! lolz

As I reorganized I also made sure to rotate stock so that "first in" gets used first, going forward. 8-)

Everything can be seen now and is grouped and arranged by "last in, first out".  Plus most items are off the floor too(except for those gallon jugs of tea and our "alcohol stockpile" which is a whole other story. lolz

Over the last 2 years we have actually reduced the amount of the stockpile.  We have two industrial type metal shelving units(one is pictured above)with 5 shelves on each as well as 3 dinky metal shelving units w/5 shelves each, like they sell at Home Depot.  Every single shelf was filled with food/paper/cleaning products!
Now we are down to using 8 of the 10 industrial shelves and 9 of the 15 dinky shelves.

So here is the state of the stockpile.

And these are the items I don't even need to THINK about buying again before 2016--

ketchup no-salt
mustard
relish
pickles
tartar sauce
pie crust mix
baking/pancake/waffle mix
salad dressing
tomato paste
canned tomatoes
canned soup for cooking
canned soup for eating as soup
baked beans
canned chili
canned beets
barbecue sauce
various marinades
coconut oil
olive oil
veg. oil
spray oil
solid shortening(Crisco)
mayo
taco shells
100% juices
steak sauce
most spices I use regularly
sugar
cold cereal
oatmeal
coffee
tea bags
tuna fish
green chiles
rice
pasta
brownie mixes
cake mixes
muffin mixes
cashews
walnuts
pecans
peanut butter
applesauce
prunes
pineapple
pumpkin
dried beans
vinegar
no-cal sports drinks
chocolate milk drink mix
drink mixes
bottled water

And on the non-food side of things--
laundry detergent
dishwasher detergent
dish soap
spray cleaners
toilet paper
paper towels

This list is more for me, to refer to in the coming months before I go food shopping, rather than a report to y'all on what I stockpile.

Currently out of in the stockpile----

panko


How is your food storage looking lately?
Do you stockpile goods when you find them for a good price?

Sluggy