The $20/$20 Challenge: Valerie From Wyoming Shows off Her Stocked Pantry

Next up in the $20/$20 Challenge: Valerie from Wyoming. Living in such a different climate from me, it was interesting to see how she shops and stores her food. Plus, she has chickens, so of course I’m going to love her! Here’s her story:

Mavis, my name is Valerie from Wyoming. I have been following your blog for over a year now, it is great to see ideas on how to save money on groceries, new recipes and gardening ideas. It can be difficult to grow a large garden at this high elevation {above 7,000 feet} the winters are long, cold and windy. Summers are short with unpredictable weather {like snow on the 4th of July}. This last summer I ventured out and didn’t plant flowers in my front flower bed but, started with a few vegetables and herbs. And let me tell you the carrots were delicious! I have been able to transplant some of the herbs to indoor pots to extend their life. They have been great for cooking and giving our 9 chickens some fresh greens to munch on.

With two hungry teenage boys in the house, having a fully stocked pantry is essential. I try to purchase the things we use the most while they are on sale and stock up. Always having snacks, breakfast items and side dishes ready for whenever we need them. Dinner must be a quick put together meal or have been cooking in the crockpot all day. First thing I hear when I get home from work is, “Mom’, what’s for dinner, we are starving!” So to stave off a riot, it’s best to plan things that come together quickly.

I like to use these can organizers to put our cans of fruit and beans in, they are easy to access and create more horizontal shelving for canned goods, also have some additional wire shelving for chips, lunch boxes and such.

Our refrigerator, is a bit empty at the moment, I haven’t been able to make it to the grocery store for a big shopping trip. Our local newspaper has grocery sales flyers that come out on Wednesdays, I like to go through and see what is on sale and plan my meals around it.

I like having an extra refrigerator out in our garage. It is a great place for our extra chicken eggs until we can sell them, or when there is a sale on milk or yogurt or something, and especially when we host family for the holidays.

But probably the best part is our upright freezer. Both my husband and oldest son are avid hunters and fishermen. We process our own elk, deer, antelope and goose, we cut up our own steaks, make hamburger, sausage and jerky. So this freezer that is also housed in our garage is a great place to organize all of it until we are ready to use it. And perfect for when the grocery store has a buy one get one free sale on meat, have one for dinner and one to put in the freezer.

Thank you for helping to inspire all of us to save money on our grocery bill, get out there and start gardening in whatever circumstances that we have and sharing sales and special deals on an assortment of items. Thanks for all of your hard work!

~ Valerie

Are you getting your pantries camera ready? You can participate in the $20/$20 Challenge by simply sending in pictures of your pantry. Find out more about the $20/$20 Challenge: Show Your Pantry – Fill a Pantry!