Do you keep a fully stocked larder?

[BerriesNutsConkers]

I grew up in a multigenerational home where my mother and grandmother loved to cook. We always had a fully stocked fridge/freezer/cupboards. I do the same and always keep a good stock, I shop twice a week and just keep things topped up. If I see something I always use being sold as a special offer I buy a few extra.
I rarely run out of things. I don't meal plan as such but know I've got the means to make a number of meals, I also keep a stock of homecooked meals in my freezer.
I had a new friend visit recently and while we were chatting in the kitchen I decided to make some Welsh cakes to have with our coffee, she was shocked at the ingredients I had to hand and that I didn't need to go out to the shop.

Do you keep a well-stocked larder? I find it helps keep costs down, my grocery bill averages £100 per week for 2 adults and 2 teens.

@Mum2aTeen sounds like you’re in the US but in the UK many of the older quite simple houses, particularly in the country have a larder. Used to be a fairly standard feature.

At a farm house we stay in in Scotland the larder is built into the kitchen wall with the outside being just glass. Works like a fridge - wonderful!

Yes, freezer too. Need to defrost it really but would probably take a month to eat our way through it. Must stop adding to it!

That sounds like me. I don't have every spice going, but I'll buy a spare when those I've got are getting to the last couple of teaspoons. I have masses of tea bags and Coleman's mustard, though - the two things my DH would panic about if there was a shortage!

@carddino one if the best sentences I have ever read on mumsnet.

“Booze is bought when on offer, never underestimate the drink required after a day digging out sheep.”

Yes we do. We cook from scratch most of the time and use the freezer to batch cook. I don't profess to be an amazing cook but I like cooking, grew up comparatively poor and (although we never relied on ready meals that much) being in lockdown reminded me how much better home cooked food is so I can't remember the last time we had a ready meal.

My grandparents had the most amazing walk in larder with marble counter top when I was growing up. Grandma had worked in service and was always cooking and baking for the family, friends, neighbours and the church. They moved into sheltered accommodation and sold the house to developers, who ripped the larder out. Was an act of criminal vandalism in my book 😁 I would give anything to have a house big enough to have a walk in larder with shelves upon shelves of ingredients ready to rustle up whatever you fancied eating.

I don't - but I live alone in a hot country, eat mostly market vegetables and fish, and find that if I stock up a big larder, the tins and things still end up going off before I get to them!

Oils and spices aside, of course – I have plenty of those, but I still never have multiples of anything.

It probably would be smart to do a big shop of tins and rice and flour etc. if I had more people living with me, but I just don't get through things fast enough.

@PuttingTheGreen I never thought about putting cheese in the freezer! I shall buy an extra block next food shop day.

Freezy cheesy. Fab.

There are certain store cupboard ingredients I always try to keep in, and then top up with fresh stuff. At some points in the week we are better stocked than others.

In our house we can never have enough snacks with two ravenous teenagers/young adults. May as well just get a delivery from the manufacturer. We always laugh about our crisp problem.

The freezer is small and I don't freeze much.

yes I do, and as others have said, when you use a time you buy a tin.

We could live for quite a long time if snowed in.

welsh cakes - never mind the sultanas, add a little ginger, they are amazing

hmm, I might even need to go and cook some...

We don't keep cupboards full of tinned food (no apocalypse stash!), but we tend to keep all the basic store cupboard stuff topped up - oil, spices/ herbs, baking ingredients, nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc.

So we always have the basic flavourings/ bones of the meal and we buy the fresh ingredients/ veg/ protein to add to it as we need them.

We grow a lot ourselves . So freezers and cupboards are full at this time of year so we can use it over the upcoming months. Just put 16 butternut squashes in our cold storage area. We freeze berries and then eat hot on waffles, pancakes, porridge, or in pies, crumbles, muffins over the winter.
It makes sense to then have flours, sugar, butter, spices, yeast, dried grains in so we can make food. It’s handy when household is ill, busy, bad weather.

So it’s not just apocalypse type tin food.

Covid made me anxious about this. Pre covid I was at use a tin, buy a tin sort of level, one spare of common ingredients. Now I feel compelled to have the cupboards as full as budget will allow.

I'm managing it well and stuff doesn't go out of date (partly bevause the budget doesn't go as far!), but it's definitely a scar from those times.

Wonder how many there are like me. A few of this thread I think.

I like my cupboards and larder to full to the brim. Everything shelf stable I have multiples of - flour, rice, tins, jars, UHT milk, water, oil etc. As well as nappies, loo roll, detergent, a camp stove and fuel and a well stocked medicine cabinet.
Hang over from living in an unstable country, DH growing up in abject poverty and exacerbated by covid.
Its all rotated through and used, new stuff goes at the back so nothings wasted. I'd rather have it and not need it, than not have it and need it.

If it’s cheddar I often grate it before I freeze it, it’s defrosts super quick

I keep thinking about buying a small chest freezer for batch cooking -we’re a household of 4.5 adults and whilst my freezer isn’t tiny, the layout isn’t idea for storing Tupperware type tubs

Yes. We could probably eat for a couple weeks with the stuff in our cupboards! I'd be desperate for fresh veg soon though.

Sounds amazing, actually.
I'm in Australia, and it totally depends on your house. If it's larger, you may have a butlers pantry or walk-in pantry, but if you say a smaller house/unit/flat/apartment, the kitchen has quite a few cupboards and fridge but even those vary a lot and how much they hold.
It is so interesting learning about different houses/ lives.
Thanks for replying to me.