Colorado Springs Real Estate Facts & Fun

Showing houses I hear a lot of comments about houses and their features, qualities and what is a necessity.  It doesn't seem that long ago that a Pantry was a luxury item unless you were buying an older home where food was grown, cooked, canned and stored in a cellar or pantry.

Today pantrys come in all shapes and sizes.  They can be used for food storage for a family, appliance storage for a cook/chef or just about any other reason one can come up with. I recently previewed a house where the pantry under the stairs had been converted to the owners "writing room".  As an author the space was perfect for him to tuck away and write.

There are countless pantry systems, organizers and ways of stocking up supplies. For instance, my Grandma who lived on a farm would keep all canned goods, potatoes, onions and squashes in the root cellar, pulling items off of shelves as she needed them in the cooler months. In mid-Wisconsin, it was never a temperature issue keeping items cool down there. She also kept a large freezer in the space for meats after butchering and freezer jam. In her kitchen she had one cupboard specificly for overflow of her canned items, and as the Spring and early Summer approached, canned items from the store would fill the space.

Having grown up in the Depression era, food was everything, and no one left Mamaw's table hungry or of want of food for many days to come. She prided herself of homemade foods, including many fruits and vegetables preserved to enjoy year-round. What was left to buy were small items to fill the gaps like flour, butter, salt, etc. Chickens laid the eggs and later became main dishes, the dairy cows provided the milk and cream, steers provided the beef, and the pigs ate whatever kitchen scraps were left over and later became delicious breakfast foods and pork chops. When things like paper towels, toothpaste, toilet paper or other goods went on sale, she clipped the coupons and stocked up. These items went into the laundry room. With seven children and seven grandchildren, she knew she would use the products and it never hurt to have extra band-aids around.

Several websites and blogs are available to read on how to stock a pantry, many companies can offer pantry storage solutions, home improvement stores have DIY plans to build a pantry space that will work for your family, and other sites like CouponMom.com can provide you with additional coupons to help you slowly stock your pantry with food items you will use.

The main goal of having a pantry is to keep food items on hand for those busy days you can’t run to the store, for those times you can’t get in-season foods at the store, and to not rely on the drive-thru at the end of the day for dinner. What are good items to stock in a pantry? Flour, sugar, baking products (baking soda, powder, brown sugar, honey, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, raisins), breakfast cereals, oatmeal, grains, pastas, canned tomatoes, corn, beans, peas, potatoes if your pantry is kept around 70 degrees, otherwise potatoes and onions should be left in a colder storage space if you are looking to stock up. If you really want to stock up and cut back on the grocery store runs, buy extra butter and cheese and freeze it. If you find a great deal on meats, buy a few extra and freeze it. Buying ground beef, chicken, turkey or pork in bulk can save you some money, and with the use of freezer paper you can measure about 1-pound portions (or what ever size works best for you), and freeze the leftovers. All of a sudden for a quick dinner of tacos all you need is some lettuce from the store! Everything else could be found in your pantry!

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