I normally try to keep a well stocked pantry, but today my pantry is really bare. With only 2 weeks before I move to my new house, I’m in the process of using up as much of the food in the house as I can.

I could box up the food and move it to the new house, but I’ll be gutting the kitchen as soon as I move in and I’d rather not have to keep all of the pantry items boxed up for an extended period.

My new kitchen

Plus, I’m looking at the move as an opportunity to use up those pantry items that are really old.

If you are like me, you buy things because they are on sale or they sound good while you are walking through the grocery store isles, but then you just never get around to using them. I find myself replacing the pasta I ate last month constantly, but I haven’t been in the mood for black eyed peas since the day I bought them.

We all know that food doesn’t last forever, and some of the things sitting in my pantry I’ve had a really long time. I hate to admit that some of my pantry food has been through a couple of moves. Yikes…there are probably things in my pantry over 10 years old!

Since I live alone, I don’t have anyone looking at me sideways when dinner is an odd combination of foods. So I’ve been eating some unusual meals the last few weeks as I use up the food in the house.

My goal at this point is to buy nothing other than milk, eggs and meat. And coffee…a necessity for me!

What’s in My Pantry?

I have a very stocked pantry of dry pantry goods. I’ve got boxes and jars and canisters with things for baking and cooking. I’m not trying to use up these items…other than the flour (it is heavy and I’ve got 3 types of it) and the cornmeal (which is really old).

Other than the basic supplies that you use a tablespoon at a time, I am down to just a handful of food items. The average person would NOT be able to create a meal in my kitchen. But I’m creative and determined to use up as much of the food in these pictures so that all I have to move are the pantry basic and refrigerator condiments.

While some of these items are only a few months old, the lasagna, tapioca and Cream of Wheat were purchased before I moved to my current home 2 years ago!

The refrigerator isn’t much better, though the food is not nearly as old. I do have 1 onion and 1 fresh garlic clove in the pantry too…I forgot to pull them out for the picture.

The freezer has nothing in it other than frozen fruit, half a bag of black eyed peas and a bunch of homemade stock.

Recipes to Use Up My Pantry Food:

I’ve been collecting recipes that will let me use up the pantry food without having to go buy more ingredients. I’ve created a board on Pinterest just for these recipes. Once I make the recipe, I’ll move it to the proper recipe board for future use, or delete it if I wasn’t wowed.

Here are some of the recipes I’ve found to use up my food odds and ends.

I’m still stuck on what do do with the coconut water (other than drink it) and the frozen strawberries and pineapple (other than smoothies).

If you have any ideas, please let me know in the comments below!

Find all of the recipes I’ve saved on my Cleaning out the Pantry Pinterest board below.

Follow Karen Goodman’s board Cleaning out the Pantry on Pinterest.