Overstock

[bloviatrix]

I went grocery shopping yesterday. As I was putting away the cereal I realized I now have a total of 25 boxes of cold cereal and the same number boxes of oatmeal.

What do you have an over-abundance of?

[fifi]

Canned beans. I see those Goya cans on the shelf in the grocery and I just know I need some of those. I am always prepared for whatever bean salsa I could dream up.

bloviatrix... Sounds like you have the making of a high rise for weevils.

[Mayhaw Man]

Various kinds of pickled/preserved stuff (capers, pickles of all sorts, roasted bell peppers, basil pesto, etc)

Olives (more pickles, I am going to be well preserved in my old age)

Tomato Products (rediculous number of various sauces and whole (including my owned canned creole tomatos as I put up two bushels this spring)

Condiments (hot sauces particularly)

Syrup ( everytime I make holiday batch of pralines I start fresh and end up with extra)

[Basilgirl]

Indian Meal Moths. They seem to particularly love pasta. I've started storing things they like to munch on (like CEREAL) in the freezer. I have installed a trap. And yet, still, they torture me.

[Suzanne F]

Gee, I don't consider it overstock so much as insurance against the total disappearance from the market of:

tuna

beans

Tomato products

butter

pasta products

rice (many varieties)

and, of course, hot sauce

Edited October 14, 2003 by Suzanne F (log)

[Jinmyo]

We have inventories of the pantry, kitchen and dining hall cupboards, refrigerators and freezers done four times a week in a Word document I load onto my PalmPilot.

:insufferable arch smirk smiley:

Seriously, I do recommend an inventory taped to the inside of cupboard doors etc.

[tommy]

i have too many dried herbs and spices. by "too many" i mean to say that i have duplicates of many. i think this is because i don't have them organized very well, and i end up buying more because i can't find the existing one.

how the heck to you people store that stuff? on shelves doesn't seem very effective. edit: discuss here if you've got any tips for me.

Edited October 14, 2003 by tommy (log)

[melkor]

how the heck to you people store that stuff?  on shelves doesn't seem very effective.

In a large drawer with labels on the tops of each jar.

[Toliver]

Indian Meal Moths.    They seem to particularly love pasta. I've started storing things they like to munch on (like CEREAL) in the freezer. I have installed a trap. And yet, still, they torture me.

The little "buggies" have led to my investment in some serious Tupperware (expensive but well made) and Rubbermaid (cheaper and more easily found) containers to store my flour, cereals, etc.

[bloviatrix]

I should point out that cereal isn't the only thing we're inundated with. We've got more canned tomato products than a normal person should have. Probably two cases worth of salad dressing because my husband keeps buying it. Bags and bags of dried beans. Pounds of assorted rice. And enough pasta to feed all the entrants in this year's NY Marathon.

And this in a Manhattan apartment!!

(you should see all the paper toweling and toilet paper we have as well)

[fifi]

I have the same problem as tommy. I think I have found a solution. In my new pantry, I intend to find some plastic rectangular "baskets", similar to the commercial bread "trays" but with shorter sides. (You can get them at The Container Store. My sister has some to fit our collection of Nero Wolfe and other mystery books.) They stack. I will then arrange all of my bottles and such on their sides so I can read the labels, maybe separate the savory from the sweet, I probably won't get so anal that they are in alphabetical order. Then I will stack them up on one of the pantry shelves. That is my dream, anyway. I also had, in my previous pantry, some wire shelves mounted on the wall that had some shelves the perfect height for my big Tone's containers (from Sam's) of those large volume things I use for dry rubs and such.

edit: ACK... I hit the wrong button. Could a mod please move this to tommy's thread on dry spices? Thanks. edit again: OOPS. I am not nuts. tommy just started another thread. (I thought I was losing my mind.) Might be a good idea to move this anyway. Thanks.

Edited October 14, 2003 by fifi (log)

[tejon]

Indian Meal Moths.    They seem to particularly love pasta. I've started storing things they like to munch on (like CEREAL) in the freezer. I have installed a trap. And yet, still, they torture me.

We have those as well. Tried the Safer pantry moth traps, which help, but I've had to toss all our grains, beans, and a bag of sunflower seeds (who knew they loved nuts?). Much airtight containers later....I'm crossing my fingers that they take the hint and GO AWAY .

We've got a lot of overstock. I like to be prepared in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster, as well as lay offs that seem to happen constantly. We have storage room in the garage, so the pantry has backup out there.

Tons of:

bottled water

boxed mac & cheese (my 4 year old loves it)

tomato sauce

canned chili

canned fruits and vegetables

canned soups

condiments of all kinds: hot sauce, salsa, mayo, kechup, mustard, BBQ sauce, etc

vinegars of all kinds

rice - I have more than 10 pound each of basmati and Nishiki rice

pasta of all sorts

I *used* to have a ton of dried beans, dals, and lentils....

dried chiles

soy sauce (I buy it by the quart at least)

oils (I also make soap, so I always have olive, palm and coconut oils in bulk)

boxed rice and soy milks

most spices, especially cumin & cardamom

[hjshorter]

i have too many dried herbs and spices.  by "too many" i mean to say that i have duplicates of many.  i think this is because i don't have them organized very well, and i end up buying more because i can't find the existing one.

We have two open bottles of dried thyme and three of oregano. Ours are on the top shelf of one of the pullout pantries. I'd love to move them all to stainless containers on shelves, but wall space is one thing my kitchen doesn't have.

I counted and we have about 20 different kids of noodles. Egg noodles (wide and thin), penne, fusilli, orzo, angel hair, spaghetti, spaghettini, elbow mac, rice vermicelli, pad thai noodles, chinese lo mein noodles in the freezer...

[Suzanne F]

Think of it this way: Just add water, and we're all really well-prepared for the next disaster!

[SobaAddict70]

Pomi crushed tomatoes

pasta

basmati rice

anchovies

Edensoy

EVOO

and Mrs. Dash

My roommate otoh is addicted to Ovaltine and pretzels. He'll never come around...

Soba

[skmcdade]

White rice -- I bought a 25 lb bag a while ago, and then last time dh quit his job my folks went grocery shopping for us and bought some more. I haven't got Tupperware big enough for it!

I have a fairly large amount of split peas -- organic bulk split peas were on sale a few weeks ago.

Powdered sugar -- forgot I had some and bought more.

[Malawry]

I don't really have an overstock of anything. It's been a long process of winnowing down my supplies to what I really use and then learning how much to buy so I use it before it turns. I do have more types of flour than I would ordinarily use up right now, but that's ok, it's just about that baking season of the year and it'll get zipped into cakes, breads and pizzas in short order. I do have stocks of things I am less interested in eating these days, like canned artichoke hearts, but I'll eventually use them up (I bet there's a party coming up where hot artichoke dip would be welcome).

OK, I do have an overstock of frozen puff pastry, which is in a huge box in my chest freezer, but I expect to be making plenty of turnovers, palmiers and such for holiday parties so no big deal.

It helps that our old housemate moved out recently. She took a lot of stuff with her. As well she should, seeing as how she'd paid for a third of it!

[torakris]

I have a major overstock of beans, both dry and canned, I don't eat them nearly as much as I planned to when I bought them.

I have also been on a Japanese dried foods buying binge recently and have a cupboard full of various seaweeds, dried daikon and gourd, various dried shrimps and mushrooms and freeze dried tofu

and I complain there is nothing in the house............

[hillvalley]

Keeping in mind that I am feeding one and have a very small kitchen.......

4 boxes of cereal

5 kinds of vinegar

4 bottles of olive oil

numerous cans of chickpeas, black olives, artichoke hearts, capers

7 types of tea

5 kinds of pasta

3 cans of evaporated milk

[foodie52]

bioviatrix: sounds like it is time for a trip to the foodbank in your area. As long as everything is still in their original containers, they will be glad to help you out!

I work in a grocery store, so I don't stockpile. We sell herbs in Bulk, so I only buy as much as I need....two to three teaspoons at a time. Dried spices and herbs only have a shelf life of a few months, anyway.

However, my problem is that my pantry is full of rejected sample products from vendors....marinades. oils, vinegars. I seem to have one of everything ever made on the planet!

[bloviatrix]

bioviatrix: sounds like it is time for a trip to the foodbank in your area. As long as everything is still in their original containers, they will be glad to help you out!

Thanks for the advice, but I'm not complaining about the overstock. I'm just amazed at my accumulation. There were sales, so we stocked up.

We go through a box of cereal a week and it takes anywhere from 3 to 10 days to finish a 10 pack of oatmeal. And that's for 2 of us.

[Mottmott]

Indian Meal Moths.    They seem to particularly love pasta. I've started storing things they like to munch on (like CEREAL) in the freezer. I have installed a trap. And yet, still, they torture me.

After clearing out my cupboards of all the moth infested flours, etc., I followed up on a hint I read somewhere and began storing these things with a couple bay leaves in each container. So far it seems to help.

But like you, I keep some things in the freezer both against moths and rancidity (some flours, cornmeal, etc.)

[Carlovski]

Pasta and Rice - I tend to buy rice in 5/10 kg bags at a time, doesn't sound too bad, but as I only cook for myself, that is quite a lot!

Pasta is because I always buy a bag/box or two whenever I go shopping, plus extra if I spy something particularly interesting.

[Mabelline]

Indian Meal Moths. They seem to particularly love pasta. I've started storing things they like to munch on (like CEREAL) in the freezer. I have installed a trap. And yet, still, they torture me.

Have you ever tried putting whole bay leaves in your container?

[Mabelline]

OOPS! Guess I should've read further before inserting foot in moth (sorry, I couldn't pass that up)