I love the Pantry Project. Every year it’s a little different this year I have been working on my eating habits and have now settled on Vegan by 6 p.m. I completed a Vegan Challenge in January it was a pretty intense experience. I loved the food that I was eating until the end of the month when I began to get really frustrated by the lack of flexibility with the diet when eating out. I was convinced, however, that eating clean was better for my health.
Imagine my delight when I discovered the Vegan by 6 p.m. diet by Mark Bittman. It was a perfect combination of all of diets and life approaches I have been working on. You eat clean and vegan until 6 p.m. Then, you eat whatever you would like after 6 p.m. such as meat/eggs/etc. I started doing this and am really feeling pretty good. This does affect how I plan for the winter and the Pantry Project. It’s now almost August and I’m in the beginning stages of purchasing a nice stock of items for my pantry.
Here is my process
- First, set a timeframe to complete the bulk of the purchasing
- Then, start looking up recipes. Without recipes you’re working without a framework
- Look at what you already have in the home and start eating those items!
- Think about every scenario where food comes up. Examples: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. Lunches for work, lunches for hikes, snacks for children, you get the idea.
- Finally, set a budget. You don’t want to go broke doing the Pantry Project. The idea is to save money.
- Slowly begin purchasing the items that will stock your winter pantry.
Items that I have in my pantry:
- Better than Boullion-boullion paste!! If you don’t have this in your pantry you are missing an ingredient that adds a depth of flavor to your food that can’t be missed.
- Shelf Stable “milk”. I am using Almond Milk instead of soy milk and am actively cutting down on all soy products. I always have around 4-6 containers in my pantry at any given point in time. I use Almond milk for cereal, smoothies, coffee, and recipes that call for milk
- Grains-I have switched to brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, and barley. I always have these items on hand. Also, no winter pantry is complete without steel cut oats! Just take the cooking short-cut when cooking the oats. Cook the oats in boiling water for 5 minutes the night before, then let the oats steep overnight. Warm up the next day.
- Corn meal-for cornbread and polenta. The polenta is important now because of the vegan before 6 p.m.
- Sugar-I use Sugar in the Raw or Turbinado sugar only. It tastes better.
- Now I start buying grass-fed beef steaks. I freeze the steaks and mark the purchase date somewhere on the package. Grass fed beef just tastes better-but it’s more expensive so I don’t eat it as often. Because I’m eating a lot less animal product, the animal product that I do buy can be a higher quality because I’m purchasing less.
- Chicken/lamb (mark the purchase date on the package)
- Frozen veggies: okra, corn, peas, edamame, broccoli, artichoke hearts, asparagus, onions. Get a variety
- Frozen fruit-Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries
- Canned items such as: Corn, Stewed tomatoes, artichoke hearts (in water), coconut milk (light), hearts of palm, Garbanzo beans, black beans, cannelini beans.
- Rice noodles!
- Canned meats: Canned Salmon, canned crab, canned tuna
- Frozen vegan “seafood” for the daytime.
- Water-I drink a lot of seltzer water. I love it! I have a mix of Perrier and Safeway brand seltzer water.
- Cereal-especially if you have kids!! Albertsons typically runs a lot of specials at this time of year. If you have an Albertsons in your area make sure you look at the sales circulars.
- Coffee-I make coffee at home almost everyday.
I consider my winter pantry my additional savings account. In times of struggle my well stocked pantry helped me stay healthy, fed, and sane. Psychologically, having good food and not having to stress about running out of food was incredibly reassuring to me. Yesterday, was chilly and rainy with a touch of fall in the air. I love this project!
Have you begun thinking about your winter pantry? Do you have a deep freezer? (I don’t, my place is too small!) What are some of the most important items in your pantry? What is your process?
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Hi Michelle! That vegan by 6pm sounds like a great idea! Kudos for working so hard on positive changes – that’s some exciting stuff! Thanks for the great tips on stocking up a winter pantry, these are great staples to carry you through a lot of different meal options.:)
I really enjoy eating clean, but there is no way in hell that I would opt to be a full-time vegan. It’s way too much work. I’m trying to embrace the wellness part of my personal journey. Sad to say but wellness part is going well, but the fitness piece is coming together slowly. SLOWLY. I’ve finally figured out a new process that I’m starting tomorrow. Basically, I’m simplifying everything by doing it in one week increments, instead of having a huge 6 month plan it’s too overwhelming.
You are so organized. I shop in small amounts as I go…mainly because I have a small place and I was letting too much food go to waste. Perhaps this is why my grocery budget is more expensive and sometimes I go over??? But for me it just works better. I know as much as I try I just don’t enjoy cooking, so planning doesn’t work. 🙁 Good job Michelle!
The key has been constant re-calibrating of the process. It took awhile for me to find a food purchasing process that was efficient and not wasteful! I had way too much food in the house for awhile. I now have about half and use it a lot more effectively. I LOOOOOOOVE cooking though so this is a fun project. We are spending around the same on food though.
Ooo what a cool idea. I might have to try this Vegan by 6pm thing 🙂
I’ve been working on my diet and exercise for the past year because I’m trying to lose weight. I didn’t want to eat in a way that was super restrictive, but, it’s obvious that the average Western person is eating too much of animal products/processed foods. I actually normally eat really healthy and I almost never eat processed foods but I just haven’t been able to lose weight. I lost weight when I did the Vegan Challenge, however being a vegan full-time is a pain in the butt! Read the following book by Mark Bittman VB6 or Vegan Before 6:00 p.m. Let me know what you think!
I totally agree with you. I will do the same thing.
The Vegan before 6 is easy as long as you plan well.
This sounds like a great way to approach healthy eating. I’m very slowly overhauling our diet – one food at a time. I’m currently trying to run down our pantry cupboard of pre-made sauces (pasta, curry etc). I can easily make it myself, but resort to using jars! Lazy!
I’m trying to eat healthily Monday-Friday at the moment and allow myself treats at the weekend….so far it’s working.
I’m really focusing on the quality of my food as the U.S. food chain is conspiring against my health. Luckily, I live near a Farmer’s Market and a Whole Foods. I’m really fortunate to have access to good quality food. I plan on learning how to can in August!
You have great ideas on here, Michelle. I want to try out some of those.
Let me know how your project goes.