I think this over stuffed pantry thing ( it happens to me too) comes forom the bulk buy ( Sams etc) mentality and not making lists.. I find that I can whittle down the my stock by "shopping in my pantry" .. It actually becomes sort of fun.. I look in there and cull anything past date or that the family ended up hating then look to see what is left.. Ah!... 5 boxes of corn bread mix.. ok.. well it takes two boxes to make enough corn bread for us so lets use that and add a can from the 3 cans of corn.. add a bit of cheese to that and get some nice cornbread for dinner. 6 jars of pasta sauce... Time to have pasta! As I look I make a list of what I have that I want to use and what I need to buy to fill out the meal. As these meals tend to hold a bit heavy to the canned and boxed end of the deal i always make sure to add fresh fruit to these meals.. it balances things out. I am using the same process this week for my freezer.. I noticed a bunch of meat in there.. I made a list of what I had and then made my shopping list to fill it out.. only spent $50 at the store..and we are a family of 8 people!

maddiemom

Yes -- I do the same -- if the pantry/fridge looks bare -- the house just does not fell happy.

So I fill up -- and there are many nights of "eating out the fridge/freezer/pantry"

Fortunately both of us came from families with the same habits so DH is very very used to those announcements!!! LOL!!!