How Do You Know What's In Your Pantry?

We are not very high tech in our kitchen, but we cook a lot. We keep a fairly standard inventory and when we use the last of an item - it goes on the "List". We buy that item at the big shopping trip once a week.

I keep a small DB of all my spices on a Dropbox.com account, which I can access with all my various computers and mobile devices. I tend to keep spices longer than strictly required, and its relatively easy to update when I run out of things, and with mobile access I'll always have the list handy when I'm at the spice market.

It works well for non- or semi-non-perishables -- I suppose you could make a similar system work for dry goods, as long as you made a note to mark them as "must buy" when your supply dips below some personal threshold; nothing is worse than thinking you have enough flour/sugar/molassass and finding that in fact you only have a half cup left!

Do you cook frequently? I used to have this exact issue with perishable goods when I only cooked once per week, but since going to preparing 6-8 meals per week, I have a better mental inventory.

Anytime you're running low on something that is a staple - put it on your shopping list.Keep your list online somewhere.

My husband and I use an iphone app called "Grocery Gadget" that allows us each to add things to the (same) shopping list. Then, if either of us goes to the supermarket, we can see what we need. This is particularly good for knowing when to buy standard items like spices, flour and oil (provided we remember to put it on the app when we are low or run out).

I think it also comes on other mobile devices and has a web version as well.

See http://www.grocerygadgets.com/ for more details

I installed a notepad app on my smartphone. It allows me to do notes or checklists. I use the checklists to make shopping lists, and to keep a running inventory of my pantry. If I use something or buy more of it, I just change the number in front of the item to reflect how many I have, and I make the app sort the lists alphabetically to make items easily findable. This way, I can access my lists even when the store I'm in doesn't have enough bars for me to go online, or if I'm out of data allowance.

The closest thing I can think of to meet your needs is Cook'n. It allows you to enter your own recipes, search those recipes, adjust recipe serving sizes, create menus, generate shopping lists based on the menus (you can add your own pantry items for this purpose, including their prices), and analyze recipes' nutritonal values. It's a handy program to have, especially once you've input all your own pantry items and recipes.

Pretty much any database or spreadsheet can do this, subject to a problem that might be a problem if you can't keep track of it now - garbage in, garbage out - meaning that if you don't both keep the database up to date, what it tells you won't be true. Dropbox or google drive (etc) can take care of the "multi-update/access ability" if the database you choose does not do that itself, or for a spreadsheet.

As for what I actually do, for anything shelf-stable I put it on the list when I use/open the last or next to last item on the shelf (i.e. lemon juice - when the last bottle on the shelf is opened and put in the fridge, it's on the list. It will have been on the "look for a sale on this stuff" list before that, as I usually keep two bottles on the shelf and one open in the fridge.) Perishables are more of a problem in that light.

Our schedules are often times unpredictable, and its hard to plan meals more than a day in advance.

Does anyone else face a similar problem, and what have you come up with to solve it?

I had similar issues due to a lifestyle that involved lots of commute (to work, to friends place) and friends that insisted I stay with them more than I stay at my space. I would often come home to open a refrigerator that would have wilted herbs and spoiling raw food. To top it, I had parents that visited me intermittently and stayed at my place, filling the refrigerator with fresh raw foods to cook meals they wanted and thus the refrigerator had a lot of raw food when they left. No amount of telling them worked. I also compost all my wet waste and am super conscious about wasting foods and in addition, I don't earn as much so I can't afford to eat out all the time.

To work around these life constraints, I started dehydrating raw foods that were left over. From garlic to herbs like parsley/coriander, mint to tomatoes, french beans, peas to fruits like pineapples and apples.

I would turn on my dehydrator before I left home for an overnight stay at my friends' place and come back to find all my fruits/vegetables dehydrated. Of course, there was a small amount of prep time involved but that saved so much food from going to waste.

Once I had dried food, I stored them away and made yummy meals like pastas, fried rice, soups, stews and ate dried fruit for snacks anytime. There was no more grocery shopping involved before making a meal.

which I can never remember if I currently have in the pantry or refrigerator.

Do I have enough fresh garlic in the house? Lemons? What spices do I have in the spice rack?

I am quite forgetful myself and get overwhelmed when there are too many things involved. Cooking is one such activity, there are dry ingredients to consider (those in pantry), wet ingredients (think those items in your refrigerator), the process of cooking itself and the cleaning up after it, wew!

To make cooking effortless, I started with storing all my dry goods in a clear plastic storage box where I could see them all in one shot. I definitely would have essentials like salt, pepper and oil. I only started buying spices that work with everything like turmeric and garam masala. This way when I was prepping for a meal, all I had to do was look in the box, gather my dry ingredients and wet ingredients from the fridge and cook in the kitchen.