The Empty Pantry Challenge

In penury we often forget to nourish ourselves and settle, instead, for mere feeding. But casual foresight is all we need to keep a respectable pantry alive and generous.

Strategies: buy on sale, even when you don't need something. If it's something that you eat frequently or could use in times of want, stock up.
Have soup with meals as a filler, something simple like miso paste keeps well and goes a long way. Stir a spoonful into a bowl of boiling water, and cut green onion or mushroom if you have it. Even a bouillon cube dissolved into water with a little egg whipped in as it simmers; or take a wilted carrot, peel, dice and boil it with the bouillon and some noodles.

Here's an incomplete list of low cost, typically easy to store items to keep on hand. Make a running list of staple items and tack it to a pantry door for reference.:

-Pasta (buy a variety: orzo with butter, parmasan, and pepper; Bowtie with bell peppers, pine nuts and grilled chicken;Simmer red chili flakes and garlic in olive oil, toss with salt and pepper.)
-Canned whole plum tomatoes
-Tomato paste
-Anchovy paste (a teaspoon gives pasta sauce character)
-Rice (see archived post on rice)
-Beans (white, black, red, kidney, black-eyed peas, lentils, lima, pinto -- a 1 pound bag of beans, which should feed a family for a week, usually costs under a dollar)
-Canned fish (see past post "to the cannery" for ideas)
-Dried fruit (often pricey, so look for it on sale or buy in bulk at Costco)
-Nuts (pine, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios all work in a number of dishes and lend themselves to snacking. Buying them in their shells is cheaper but more trouble. Nuts are a worthy investment and, like dried fruit, are bearable when bought wholesale)
-Crackers
-Ramen (see archived post "R-Amen")

Frozen Foods:
In an ideal world we would cull brightly colored produce from a farmer's stand each day to maximize its freshness and nutritional content; but cramped schedules and the temptation to overspend at the grocery store keeps most of us at bay for a week or more. Keeping the freezer stocked with fruits and vegetables frozen at their peak and a few select prepared foods for convenience.
-Fruit (In penury,with milk or juice, make a fine smoothie)
-Vegetables (broccoli, green beans, asparagus, peas, corn, spinach)
-Prepared foods (Trader Joe's pizza, breaded eggplant, lasagna--homemade or storebought)