Welcome to my Supermarket

We did a big shop last week. And by big I mean pretty BIG. Usually we shop for a month at a time at the supermarket, then get fruit and veges, eggs, bread and associated fresh things each week as needed. It is a habit that started when Boyo was paid monthly, and continues to this day. I decided to shop monthly because I do not like shopping very much, so any time away from the supermarket is good time, as far as I'm concerned. I noticed that I would be buying pretty much the exact same items each fortnightly shop anyway, so simply doubled everything and shopped 4 weekly, thus saving myself several hours a fortnight in doubled up time at the supermarket. It works pretty well. I tend to be a stockpiler anyway and have a good shopping list and menu system, so we very rarely run out of anything.

With Munchkin's birth due around the end of May/beginning of June we figured I am not going to want to be shopping then. Neither is Boyo likely to suddenly feel overwhelmed by an urge to shop (he hates shopping more than I do and has only been helping with the shopping the past couple of months because I was finding all the lifting and bending too hard - usually he gets away with helping put everything away at home!). So we managed to 'find' some spare money and did a shop for 2 months. I think the checkout lady was a bit surprised to realise that we were together...his full trolley followed by my full trolley. Comprehension did dawn on the explanation that this is the pre-baby shop. As I was in danger of jamming myself, my bump and my trolley in the narrow space between chocolate bars and conveyor belt, it was somewhat obvious. Grin.

Putting it all away was interesting! The freezer has been reorganised to fit everything, just. I am hoping there is enough room in there for another 2 loaves of my specialty breadmaker bread and a cake or two...it will be a squeeze but we should manage.

Since we have limited space in the open pantry in our kitchen, the issue then became that of where on earth to put everything. Here is the solution: Welcome to my supermarket!

These open shelves were just sitting empty in the garage, between the door into the house and the laundry and freezer area. They have proven to be ideal for our mini supermarket. We've kept all the dried fruit and baking goods in the kitchen as it is less likely to get mice, but the tins and juice will be perfectly safe out here until we need them.

There is something about full pantry cupboards that does my soul good. I like to know that we can eat well, and I can get creative whenever I want to. We used to invite folks round for lunch after church...we would hardly ever have to stop off at the supermarket on the way home, folks were simply told to bring whatever they wanted to if they wanted to, but that we'd eat whatever we found in the freezer, fridge or pantry. And we did. So if we don't manage to cook much after Munchkin is born, we can always eat Watties Spaghetti (it was on special, okay!). The buckets are not for food, but for nappies - our solution to not wanting to spend $30+ on a nappy bucket that didn't have a sealing lid...these were about $3 each.

What is your favourite pantry/stockpile item? Boyo eats tinned fruit each work night after a shift, so we have lots of that. I love dried fruit and nuts.

Amy