Is your kitchen full of food all the time?

I like running the supplies down so I can rotate longer life stuff, and on a rare occasion clean the fridge shelves when they run empty.
I enjoy seeing the fridge go from nearly empty to full! It means stuff is less likely to get missed & need chucked out.
Having said that, I'd love to have a bigger fridge-freezer and I fantasise about having a proper big pantry so I could buy in bulk & stock up on stuff I buy every week.

We are an "ingredients" household. There's me and 18mth old DS and DH who used to be a chef. We plan our meals for the week and only buy what we need to make them. We have things hanging around like tins of tomatoes or the pasta that didn't get used in the pasta bake etc and we have lots of fun things that DH likes to experiment with such as herbs and spices, pastes, and various salts. Other than that, we don't have a lot.

4 meals a week are now provided for us at DH's place of study so our fridge in particular is virtually empty most of the time.

It doesn't really make sense to me to buy tonnes of things that we may or may not use and risk them going to waste nor to buy a load of stuff without knowing what it will be used for.

We don't have masses in the cupboard, but we don't have much space in this house. In our previous house we had a lot more purely because we had a lot more cupboard space

I hate food shopping so will get a delivery every couple of weeks.

I cook extra each time so there's something for lunch (sometimes breakfast) the next day, so I always have space in the fridge for that.

My cupboards are well stocked though. I like to cook from scratch and have a good selection of ingredients on hand.

I also like a tidy kitchen. Everything is put away. No one would know what I have unless they started looking around!

I'm half Irish half Italian. Nobody leaves my house unfed. And usually with a Tupperware or two.

also as my username suggests, we bake a lot or roast vegetables daily, have fried sea food on the go. All healthy. If the main bill payer like it this way, so good so far - every family is very different on how they buy and eat

Fridge is somewhat similar to yours but cupboards waaaaaaay more eg 6 cereals easily. 6-8 things for toast eg marmite, jam, marmalade, peanut butter etc.
20 tins of various things eg tomatoes, beans, peaches, coconut milk
eveey grain, pasta eg couscous, quinoa, different rices

depends; we live 3 min away from a liddle and purchased very small fridge and additional freezer on purpose. They are usually full and my husband goes to liddl, waitrose and tesco daily for various products. Both him and my daughter eat their favourite specialities

I eat cheese, bread and tomatoes

We always have loads in. Chest freezer is full. Cupboards are heaving. I grew up in a household where we never had enough food.

Always have food in. That helped me not buying much during the selfish shelf stripping before the first lockdown.

The press is an Irish term for the cupboard 8 grew with it but never say it (as I lived in the UK)

so a hot press is the airing cupboard

@Donttellempike : it’s a cupboard (Scottish term)

I like a relatively stocked kitchen, especially cupboards & freezer. Fridge less so in case plans change

I prefer to have at least 2 weeks food in, just in case I’m too busy to shop… don’t usually eat that much cupboard/freezer food but like it being there! A lot easier with just a couple of adults

Growing up in a large family, we used to keep huge stocks (eg 24 tins of tomatoes, sack of flour/potatoes) so it’s natural to me

I’m the same with cleaning products, toiletries, paper good, batteries, stationery etc : can be busy with work and fund shopping time consuming so like it all at home

I have a varied diet. Usually have a lot of different types of beans, grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, several types of rice, various types of flours, etc in. It all adds up. I hate eating the same thing so rarely make the same thing twice (except for a few store cupboard favourites).

Yes, two fridges and two freezers, and they’re both always rammed. Not sure why as we live 500m from the nearest store, maybe covid got me into it. I hate the thought of there not being different options for food.

this and for the same reason.

empty

I like to keep a stocked kitchen. I think it comes from my mum who always told me that she grew up in a home where food money was often spent on other things and that is why she always kept plenty of food in our home when I was growing up.
I have teen boys though so everything will get eaten at some point, very little waste here!

I feel the same.

I was on the bones of my arse for several years so my fridge and cupboards were never full, I just bought what I could afford for the next day or so. Never bought a full weekly or monthly shop just in case I needed to buy something else. I'm now in the habit of that so I'll only buy what I need for the week and by the end of the week my kitchen is pretty empty

As for why we keep a supply of food, it's for a variety of reasons. I like to know we have food even if an emergency kept us home or disrupted supply chains. Same thing for if we both come down with an illness. The basics are already in the house.

It's also cost-effective, if you buy things you know you'll use and have the money and space to stock up, because you can save by buying in bulk or when something's on offer.

I find it convenient, too, to not have to visit shops or deal with deliveries as frequently. There are always options for what we can eat on a given day. Something that requires more unusual ingredients must still be planned in advance, but the basics are always available.

I'm like your friend, OP, but I am pretty sure your way is better! Things won't get overlooked or simply not fancied and go out of date.

I recently stayed with my adult DC and their new spouse for a few weeks (till now, DC was in a flatshare and always used to come to me). I had some trouble getting used to their way. They don't drive and I'd brought my car, so I kept helpfully offering to stock up their fridge since it's easy for me... no thanks! I would notice that they had run out of cereal or they had no bread to make sandwiches for their packed lunch the following day and they just replied, it's okay, there's food, we'll just eat something else. Blew my mind 😂

Possibly my attitude dates back to growing up with a mum who was ill and often very tired. She made sure there was always plenty in the house so she wouldn't have to shop if she didn't feel up to it, and there was always easy food in case she didn't want to cook. Or maybe I am just more food-orientated than my DC?

DC and my son-in-law are environmentalists, and no doubt their approach is more responsible.

My freezer is usually full/almost full, and my larder is pretty well stocked with basics: eggs, pulses, pasta, grains, tinned tomatoes, oils and so on. I bake, so the baking drawer is always full. My fridge is rarely stuffed full - Christmas, Thanksgiving, if I’ve gone insane and am having a party - and is mostly empty the day before my shopping arrives.

It’s currently just me, DP and 7 year-old DD so our fridge has what we need for the week.
We meal plan and have a food delivery every week based on that.
We have cereals, dry pasta and a few random cupboard items.
Our snack cupboard always has something in it.
We only use our freezer for ice cubes and ice lollies (maybe frozen veg sometimes too).

Those who have hugely stocked fridges/larders etc. do you have teens?

I not only have full kitchen cupboards but since Covid I have spare stocks of tins and packets in the garage plus a full freezer. Still can’t find a damn thing I want to eat.

Our fridge, freezer and cupboards are always full. The fridge is full of different dishes rather than ingredients. At the moment, there is a large box of split pea soup, box of biryani, leftover roast potatoes and veg and a box of corn beef hash. Leftovers will get eaten in a day or two for lunch etc. There are also two large containers of sourdough bread dough, to be baked in the morning. Also, a large tub of natural yoghurt, 4 bottles of milk, large jar of homemade kimchi, lots of condiments and lots of veg. The fridge is always bursting at the seams but everything always gets eaten. My daughter doesn't eat sandwiches and prefers a warm meal (even soup or curry!) for every meal, even for breakfast.