To have on hand...

Stockpiles 

Stockpiles: I am learning to stockpile with groceries and things like bathroom goods. It is very helpful. I thought I would give some tips on how to start stockpiling and why it is good to do. I have learned over the past few years that there are items that are fairly standard in many recipes and it is annoying when I don't have them. Here is what I try to do and the items I try to keep stocked in my pantry.

Canned Goods (I try to have 6 of each)

Diced Tomatoes

Tomato Sauce

Tomato Paste

Chicken Broth

Cream of Chicken soup

Cream of Mushroom soup

Rotel

Green beans

(if there is something else that you use often stock up on that as well) Items I don't use as often, I make sure I at least have 2 cans of, such as:

Kidney beans

pumpkin

sweetened condensed milk

evaporated milk

My pantry is a little low on canned goods right now. I have not been shopping in quite a while.

Pasta (I try to have an extra box of each)

spaghetti

angle hair

lagsana

elbow noodles

bowties

any other fun shape you tend to use.

Other pantry items

sugar- have at least 1 extra bag

flour- have at least 1 extra bag

olive oil- 1 extra

canola or veggie oil- 1 extra

1 box of powdered milk (I only use this in an emergency when I am out of milk and a recipe calls for it.)

Frozen items:

Chicken- I always try to have 1 extra bag of chicken

veggies-broccoli, spinach, corn, veggie mixes. etc.. I try to keep these just in case a recipe calls for it.

stir fry mix- this consists of peppers (yellow, red, and oinions) this is excellent to keep around

ground beef- at least 2 lbs in the freezer

Cheese- I keep whatever cheese (shredded) that we are not using at the time in the freezer then I just put it in the fridge to thaw when we need it.

Butter- I always have at least 2 lbs in the freezer. When I run out I take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. (this won't work with margerine)

pecans and walnuts- These last so much longer in the freezer

Refridgerator Items:(these are harder to stockpile because they can go bad)

cheese- I keep 1 lb in the fridge and the rest in the freezer

Butter-

eggs ( always have them on hand- watch the date they do go bad) I have heard that if you shake an egg and can hear it shake around it is not good anymore.

Milk- so many recipes call for this and I try to keep it in the fridge at all times

Mayo- at least 1 jar in the fridge ( i also have 2 extra jars in my pantry right now because they were on sale b1g1 free.

Baking Items:

at least 1 cake mix in each flavor (chocolate, vanilla, and white)

bittersweet chocolate squares

and semi sweet chocolate squares

brownie mix (i try to keep 2 because I love brownies)

vanilla flavoring

cocoa powder

baking powder

baking soda

brown sugar

powdered sugar

chocolate and vanilla pudding mix

Ok.. this gives a good idea of some stockpiled items in my house. I keep 6 cans of a lot of those things, because often recipes will call for 2 cans of something, that way it is not like I have to rush out to the store to get more if a recipe later that week or the next week calls for that item also.

I grocery shop about once a month (although now that I am using coupons I am going more often and spending small amounts each time or I will go for produce and milk) One reason I am able to go to the grocery store once a month is because I stockpile items. I usually always have the things I need for most recipes.

When I do go to the grocery store I will check my items and see if I am low on anything and if I am I will pick up a few of them and not have to buy that item for quite a while. This really cuts down on the grocery bill. When you first start to stockpile dont buy everything at once, but start slowly. Get some of the canned goods and the frozen goods. This way you don't add a huge expense to your bill, but you can begin getting the items you need.

One other thing I have done is that when I buy a bag of onions I have found that I never use them quick enough and they end up going bad. I hate this because it is a waste of food and money. I will take the onions and chop them up (you could do some in slices, some diced) whatever works for you. Then I put one onion into a zip lock sandwhich bag and date it and write the quantity on it. Then I will take all the individual baggies and put them in a gallon sized freezer bag and put them in the freezer. If a recipe called for one diced onion, I just pull out the bag and it is ready to go.