The Pantry

I've been so busy most of this year, shopping has been hit-or-miss. but I had a nice stocked pantry I could always turn to to make most of the things we need from scratch. But now my pantry is sorely depleted. I'm all out of stuff I canned, all out of flour, even almost out of dried beans. So I'm stocking up, and was curious about what you keep in your pantry. Some of what I do:

dried beans (red, black, pinto, navy)
flour (unbleached, wheat, bran)
sugar (granulated sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar
honey
rice (brown & white)
starter dough (in fridge)
vegetable shortening (non hydro)
raisins & other dried fruit
various kinds of nuts
chocolate chips
vinegar
pasta
herbs & spices
tea
cocoa

Space is an issue but time & money even more so, so I buy in bulk as much as I can because it saves me both time and money.

Need To Get Back Into Routines

I have piles of books and stuff everywhere to take to my bookstore, and stuff everywhere to pack for our vacation. My husband did a bunch of cooking and packing up of food for the road, so the kitchen is a big mess. But today I managed to clean the bathrooms and vacuum. When we get back I'm going to get back into my flylady routines.

Did You Know You Can Make Low-Salt Pickles?

So I have developed an extreme sensitivity to salt, or rather have always had one I just became aware of how truly bad it was, and so have to eat a very low-salt diet. You might remember last year how I was working on losing weight, right. Well I'm still working on it, I kept getting stalled at around 30 pounds to goal. Although I lost weight I still retained a certain puffiness in areas that refused to budge.

After drastically reducing my salt intake (and I mean drastic 'cause I was/am a salt fiend) about a week and a half ago I have lost 5 pounds of stubborn water weight that refused to budge. I have ankles again! It really is amazing to me the difference, just from going off so much salt.

(I was so bad, I had long stopped adding salt to foods but still ate processed foods high in salt)

Anyway. So I can and pickle and all that and I was in mourning over not being able to have pickles again due to my salt sensitivity. Then it occurred to me, hey maybe there is a low/no salt alternative, let me find out. And there is!!
Food Preservation for Special Diets

I'm going to start canning, pickling, drying, and storing food next month. I'm crazy excited about making pickles, thought low salt impossible *doing a dance of joy*

Up in the Night, There Has Got To Be a Better Way

I'm up in the middle of the night doing a bit of laundry, got behind on my housework. I know there is a better way for me to manage my household, time-tested ways women have used for generations. Let me find out.