You've got company. Let's see, a few boxes of Matzoh, lots of black beans, a few boxes of crystallized ginger, etc. Like you, I will eventually use it up, but knowing me, I'll buy more of each before that happens.

Jo

I did that a month or so ago with Cream of Wheat. DH looked at my grocery list and told me that we already had three boxes in the pantry. At least it's something we use.

Rice. I have more rice than I can shake a stick at. Wild, long grain, basmati, jasmine, etc.

Craisins must have been on sale at one time, because I found 3 bags of them, just the other day.

And I have 2 bags of dry navy beans, which I think I bought with good intentions to make baked beans, but I don't want to guess how long ago that was.

And then I have a whole basket of odds and ends, mostly pretty bottles of stuff that came in gift baskets... flavored vinegars, flavored oils, hot sauce, chutneys, etc...

They have potatoes in cans??!! Wow, I'll have to look for those next summer when we go camping!! :-) I have been known to buy um...'extra' cans of pie filling for pudgie pies if I haven't checked the camper stock before I go to the store. I figure better to have too many than to find that we're out once the family is sitting 'round the fire holding the pie irons... This rationale only goes so far, though. It's not something I ever use in the house, so any cans left at the end of the season sit.

Craisens here, too. And beans.

Do you like to bake bread? You can throw some oatmeal in there. It enhances the keeping quality and gives it a mellow, sweet flavor. How about making a whomping big batch of granola?

Yeah. I've done it too many times. And now that it's just DH & me at home, it takes forever to use stuff up. So I've implemented a new policy which I've thusfar been able to stick to about 90% of the time. I quit buying things that are not on my list. I go to the store with a list and stick to it.

Not only has it reduced unnecessary purchases, but it gets me out of that store quicker since I'm no longer perusing areas of the store which are not related to my list. Yeah, I end up wishing I'd have bought such-n-such but it just goes on the list for next time. And if I can't make something because I'm missing an ingredient, I either improvise with what's on hand or make something else. After all, we do still have PLENTY of food on hand LOL!!

Karen (riverrat) has a great recipe for gouda grits which I admit I've never made but have eaten at her house. That's my only suggestion, sorry!

I calculate that I have enough pasta, rice, and beans to last until 2020.

I asked a programmer to design software for pantry use. One that could be used with a bar code reader-I had researched that these were available for home use. Anyway, I gave him some guidelines with the thought that you could read all items before putting them in the pantry or refridgerator. Then access a report to either verify an item/ingredient on the shelf or produce a shopping list.

Anyway, he said it was doable but there weren't enough organized people to warrant this program. So, design it for me--he said it was too much work for a limited audience.

That would be soooooo cool. Does the scanner hook up to a computer?

I have at least two bottles of paprika. And I don't really even use paprika. I'm also an obsessive garlic buyer. Somehow I don't ever feel like I have enough-- so they end up sprouting on the counter, and I have to dig the sprouts out before using it.

There are a few recipes here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf147340.tip.html

They're pretty standard oatmeal stuff. And fried slices of polenta are always good!

Yeah.....currently flour and mustard.
You see I was low on flour ( I buy it by the 5 pound bag because it fits where I store it)...so I bought some...Then went to get a little flour out to dust on a chicken breast and saw I was low....and bought some....then found Gold Medal on sale for $.99...so I bought 2.
And dijon mustard....I have no idea...they must multiply in dark closets!

Why yes, yes I do end up with "extras" (from forgetting and re-buying, usually along with the item I meant to get, being left off!) or odds and ends that don't seem like they'll ever get used. I challenge myself to use them to get rid of them. I drag them out, combine the two or three open containers into one container, or look to see if the ingredients could be something interesting... I don't see an oatmeal, grits, Worcestershire sauce, potato dish though. Hm.

I do think you could use instant oats in cookies just fine. How different in texture could they be than the 5 minute ones? Or grind it up and make a flour? Grits are a good substitute when you'd use pasta, rice, or potaotes as a side dish. Here's a recipe for a main dish though, from Saveur for Shrimp and Grits (four stars out of five):

Shrimp and Grits
1 cup white or yellow stone-ground grits
3/4 cup grated cheddar
1/4 cup parmesan
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Kosher salt
2 tbsp. canola oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb. medium shrimp (about 30), peeled
Freshly ground black pepper
6 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, plus 4 lemon wedges
1/2 tsp. hot sauce, preferably Tabasco
4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. In a 2-qt. saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and whisk in grits. Cook, whisking frequently, until grits are tender and creamy, 30Â40 minutes. (Whisk in more water for thinner grits.) Whisk in cheddar, parmesan, and 1 tbsp. butter and season with salt; cover and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towelÂlined plate; set aside. Reserve cooking fat in skillet.

3. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, add shrimp to skillet and cook, turning once, until bright pink, about 2 minutes. Transfer shrimp to a plate with a slotted spoon. Lower heat to medium; add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until golden, 1 minute. Raise heat to high, add chicken broth, and scrape bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon. Cook until broth reduces by half, 3 minutes. Return shrimp to skillet along with the lemon juice, remaining butter, and hot sauce and cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Divide grits between 4 bowls; top each with shrimp and its sauce. Garnish each bowl with bacon, scallions, and lemon wedges.

SERVES 4

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #119

Here is a link that might be useful: picture for the recipe

About a month ago, I did a complete pantry cleanout from top to bottom, the first time in a couple of years. Although I hated to do it, I threw out all the items that were way past their expiration dates and made a list of the recently expired but still usable ones, marked the containers with big X's, and put them into a "challenge box" to incorporate a couple of the items into my menus for each week.

Items that I bought for some forgotten reason but will probably never use and items that I had such an overstock of that I wouldn't use up all of them before they expired or they didn't fit our diets anymore, I packed into boxes and took right to the food bank. I didn't include anything too exotic or unusual. Those I packed an gave to a friend who is always trying out new cuisines and recipes and told her it was her personal "Chopped" basket.

When I restocked the pantry, I put everything back in reverse date order so I could use the oldest first and what I've bought since then, I added to the back of the item group so I wouldn't get myself into the same situation.

It's amazing how much easier it is to see what I have with all the riff-raff gone. LOL

Local Food Banks really appreciate donations, especially this time of year.

A good way to "get rid of" extras.

Rusty

You've got company, Rachelellen! I'm embarrassed to say what some of my expiration dates are.

I'm also somewhat embarrassed that I've resorted to the "remember the starving children" when I've bought in bulk for my kids, only to have them decide they don't like something.

I too use the local food banks.

Cathy in SWPA

I did a clean out two years ago and took a large box of items to the Metropolitan Ministries. I was chastised because they weren't "realistic" ingredients for a family in need. That was valuable feedback; I realized how insensitive I was.

Jessica, you would download via USB cable to the PC.

I would have graciously accepted them and said nothing. Now, you may think twice about making a donation. Your heart was in the right place. Shame on them for the chastising.
jo

I discovered quite a few things in my pantry when I moved back in June. I had four cans of clams, and so I started making linguine with clam sauce, but I still have extras left. I also had lots of lentils, but I started making more lentil soup, and now I'm almost out. I seldom buy cans, and so I don't accumulate many of those. I did find three bags of semolina flour, and I moved those to the freezer. Now I have two refrigerators (one in the garage), and so there's no telling what all I may end up with in excess. I used to keep canned goods for earthquake emergency, but when we did have a quake in 1994, I had so much other food to use up, I didn't end up opening any cans. I have a portable stove for camping in the garage, and I can cook with that, in the event of power outtage. I just have to make sure that we have plenty of water stored up. I have a 25 gallon tank, and I think that should do for a while.

Lars

The thing that I over-stock all the time is brown sugar, both light and dark! I have an entire shelf full of brown sugars in my pantry! With the holiday baking season coming, I'm betting I'll be buying more! lol!!!!!! THink I'd get yelled at for donating them to our food bank, it's not a real necessity!

Gina

Nope! I always stick to my list and never buy things not on it.

Yeah. Right.

Pudding mixes, BBQ sauce, and those odd ingredients that I bought for a special recipe and now I haven't a clue what that was!

Instant oatmeal ideas:
Meatloaf
Make granola or granola bars for quickie breakfasts
Mix yogurt, fruit, oatmeal for breakfast
Grind and use for breaded meats
Make LOTS of cookies and send them to me! LOL

Grits? Um, confession, I've never eaten grits. I'm an Oregon farm girl and it just isn't something our family ate. I don't know why.

Deanna

Instant oatmeal works in cookies too. You can also use oats in meatloaf (at least my grandma could).

As far as bar code scanners go, bar code scanners are out there and maybe on your cell phone. And since many people have the scanners (even if they don't know it), I don't see why the application would be limited. Last year's Google phone had an application whose name I forget, but you can scan a bar code with the camera and it'll identify the item and then do an internet pricecheck on it. Send the Google Android team a suggestion for pantry apps. (Be sure to spell it right.) Never know what they'll go for. Or get a kid to write one.

Well, after four colonoscopies within a few month period a couple of years ago all I can say is....

Anyone need any Jello?

Linda

I do that every now and then too! At least some things we'll never run out of.

I use oatmeal in meat balls and hamburger patties (instead of bread crumbs) sometimes. I cut it up fine in the food processor first.

Deanna, that's a good idea about breading meats! Does it crisp up good? Can you fry in oil or oven fry?

My ex used to marinate meats in a mix of Worcestershire sauce and beer before grilling. It was particularly good for fajitas. That's the only thing I can think of that would use up a large quantity.

Yes, jello, pudding, chips for baking such as semi-sweet chocolate, peanut butter, cherry chocolate. I'm addicted to buying more and more of each of these for some unknown reason. Also have lots and lots of nuts in the freezer.

I don't really know if the oatmeal crisps up. Never done it, but I'd sure give it a try if I needed to use some up!
Sorry, I was just trying to think of ways to use it!
I DO use it in my meatloaf/meatballs and that works great!
Deanna

When we moved in 2000 I was shocked at the number of cans of enchilada sauce that I had in my pantry. I don't use it for enchiladas, but use it in a few casseroles. I think I must have bought a couple of cans everytime I went to the grocery store for the past several months.

A few weeks ago when I cleaned out it was canned milk.

I do have a problem with not wanting to run out of something!

I love to clean out my pantry because I toss all the expired stuff or stuff we don't eat anymore, etc. into my compost pile. I love gardening more than cooking so I almost feel good about having to throw stuff away. And I always have several compost piles going. LOL.

p.s. everything goes including Wocestershire sauce (poured out, not the bottle..), tea bags, old packets of Medifast diet shakes, - makes for a very cleansing experience. I recommend it. I even throw away vitamins that I no longer use into my compost pile. (Haven't put medications there, though.)

Right now I have: at least 8 boxes/cans of Old Fashioned-type Oatmeal of various ages; 3 unopened boxes of yellow corn meal of various ages; many cans of black beans of various ages donated by DD#1 whenever she visits; and many small jars of Best Foods Mayonnaise donated by everyone who knew I was once looking for this product. I suppose some of the older Oatmeal might be rancid, but the rest should eventually get used up.

OMG - a challenge box - ::slapping self upside the head:: - why didn't I think of that?

I am an obsessive pasta purchaser. I must have eight boxes of various shapes of dried pasta in the pantry.

I'm kind of glad that I was forced to go through everything in my kitchen for the renovation. I got rid of a lot of stuff in "challenge" type meals. Lessee here, how many quarter bags of beans can I use up to make chili? :)

I work for a barcode scanner manufacturer, so if anyone wants to get together to have that code written (I'd ask my DH to do it, but he's really busy) we can test it out! I've even got a few products that will communicate wirelessly back to your computer, so no need to plug in to download the data. Just a thought!

Or we could just wait till all products have RFID tags and install RFID readers in our pantry to tell us when we're running low of things and add them to a shopping list automagically. Ahh, won't that be the day! (or even better yet, if we're running low on something we HAVE to have, the system could just order it for us. Now that would be cool.) Ok, enough geekery.

Okay Bri, you are in charge of keeping us updated on any progress with this product--CFID (Cooking Forum Identification Device).

Thank you for making me want to kick myself in the butt, Elphaba. LOL I could have taken the ancient food I tossed over to my neighbor to add to his compost piles. I never thought of doing it until I read your post. It would have made me feel a lot less guilty for wasting food.

OMG....my head is spinning! RFID in my pantry???
About all that oatmeal....it becomes something a little different when toasted.....just spread it on a cookie sheet and put it into a 3oo oven until slightly toasted.
Somewhere in this mishmosh of recipes I have a recipe for a toasted oatmeal cookie. I think it also had a can of pineapple in it...

Whaddaya know, there's a barcode scanner iPhone app!

This time of year (esp with this economy) a lot of organizations are holding food drives. If you have too much in your pantry I'm sure plenty of groups would appreciate a donation.

Indeed this would be a good time of the year for everyone to purge the pantry ; I am not a stockpiler so I usually don't have extras.

I don't donate pantry excesses because there are usually things like coconut milk or smoked oysters....but I do buy a bunch of canned and boxed goods and donate them.
somehow a donation "on purpose" seems more charitable than giving away the old out dated carp I'm not going to use.
Monthly the food pantrys around here put out a list of what they are needing. Right now it's canned corn, chicken soup and always canned hams.
Linda C

My pantry amnesia seems to center on canned pineapple and garbonzo beans. I can't explain it. I made chili yesterday and didn't have enough kidney beans, but I had five cans of garbonzo beans. I guess I'll be making some kind of soup using chickpeas this week!

I do understand why food pantries request only basic items, but they should be polite when explaining to donors why they can't pass those items on to the pantry's clients.

Greetings! I came over from the Harvest forum, never even knew there was a "cooking" forum! Here's my favorite recipe for quick grits.

CHEESY GRITS

1 Cup Quick Grits
3 Cups Water
8 Tablespoons Butter
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
Milk to make 1 cup
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sate and freshly ground Pepper to taste

Cook the Grits in the Water according to package instructions. When the Grits are still hot, add the Butter and Garlic, stir to melt the Butter. In a measuring cup, lightly beat the Eggs, add enough milk to bring it up to one cup. Stir to combine, and stir into the Grits Mixture. Stir in the Cheese.

Pour into a casserole or baking dish and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake 30 Â 60 minutes. Mixture will puff up as it bakes. When top is golden and no longer loose, they are done.

Steve

Well, you can't have too much chicken broth in the pantry at Thanksgiving - can you? I had 2 quart boxes.... now I have 4! But I'll be making some butternut squash soup later tonight, so that will use up one box.

Teresa