What do you buy in Bulk?

[goodearthmama]

Time to really restock the pantry and just wondering what everyone buys in bulk or keeps in bulk in the pantry. The staples and the extras... I am trying to convert to storing a lot more in bulk as it is just the cheaper route to buy whole foods and my organics...

[JElaineB]

Off the top of my head the things we buy in bulk (and I mean large quantities, not from the bulk bin at the store, though you can get most of them that way):

beans
brown rice
wheat berries (several kinds)
raisins
oatmeal
real salt
sucanat
whole wheat pasta (not NT - but we haven't been able to give it up yet)
I have about 12 lbs. of frozen blueberries too, but that was a one time thing

[quietserena]

ooh this is going to be useful, thanks OP! : :

[NotTheOnlyOne]

I am very new to this and just starting to make some changes in our lives. The things I bought in bulk recently were

beans
steel cut oats...
butter as it stores pretty compactly in the fridge.
Peanut butter (raw) and
frozen berries (mostly left over from picking this summer but some bought.
Rice
barley (and other grains)

[pampered_mom]

Things we buy in bulk:

Whole Grains (steel cut oatmeal, brown rice, etc)
Flours (whole wheat pastry flour, whole wheat bread flour, rye flour)
Legumes
Nuts
Seeds
Peanut Butter
Maple Syrup
Honey
Dried Herbs & Spices
Oils (evoo, co)
herbal teas (rrl)
Cleaning Supplies (via a wholesale buying club that I started)
Supplements (ditto above)
Bathy & Body products (ditto above)

[AngSFBay]

With 5 of us in the family, including 1 teen, and 2 almost teens....I buy as much as possible in bulk...I get almost all from Azure Standard.

Grains (oat groats, hard wheat berries, soft wheat berries, rye, rice, popcorn, dent corn)
Beans (black, navy, red)
Raw Sugar
Sea Salt
Frozen berries
Frozen peas and corn
Maple syrup
Oils (coconut, olive, butter)
Raw milk cheeses
Tomato paste and sauce
Whole wheat pasta
Raisins
Beef (split half in June)
Chicken (by the case)
Bacon (by the case)
Applegate lunch meats (frozen, by the case)
Ground Turkey (frozen, by the case)
Sprouted whole wheat bread (frozen, by the case)
I also buy cases of canned beans for those times when we need a quick meal and I forgot to soak!

I realize I do a lot of freezing...but I do consider my deep freeze as part of my pantry.

The only things I don't buy in bulk are produce (except cases of apples in season) and raw milk!

[Tcarwyn]

honestly, we buy very little in bulk, like really big amounts. I buy rice in 5 pounds or so, get a pund of raw almonds once a months or so, does that qualify as bulk?

We dont really eat very many things that store well. The only grain we eat is rice.

We get 1/4 beef once every 9 months or so, thinking about getting 1/2 a pig too and we got a bucket ( like 60 pounds) of raw unfiltered honey a year or two (3?) ago ( dh was brewing mead). Since honey doesn't go bad I think we should do this again when we run out even though dh has not been brewing lately.
In the fall we usually get a bushel of apples and I got a bushel of blueberries too this year.

But that's really it

Tnya

[ConsCathMamma]

I buy a lot from the bulk section of our HFS (they pre-measure it and label the bags individually). I must be pretty lucky, and I wouldn't consider the store especially affordable since I get a lot of other things for much less in other places than it goes for there, but after looking at the stores online people use, I pay the same or less for a lot of things like flours, rice, and oats at the store than I would buying 50 lbs online.

I have considered getting a grain mill for health reasons, but I am not sure it would really save me money that much money. Granted, if I lived where I grew up, I would be ordering everything in bulk online because it just isn't available there. Plus, I'm not feeding that many eaters, atm. With teenage boys, .10 a pound less for flour might be worth it, but in many cases, I am paying LESS buying it as I need it! (from the bulk section, that it, so does it still count as buying in bulk?)

[goodearthmama]

Thanks for the feedback!! These are some good things to start on and I really need to sit down and write out our meals and assess what we use the most for our collection of typical meals and the occasional special ones.

Also, it seems like I should maybe invest in a grain mill and grind my own flours, etc. Not something I have done before but would love to learn how to do anyways and it seems to save some money...

[snowbunny]

Originally Posted by goodearthmama

Thanks for the feedback!! These are some good things to start on and I really need to sit down and write out our meals and assess what we use the most for our collection of typical meals and the occasional special ones.

I think that's a really smart idea. I try to consider what we prefer to eat when I put in our co-op order.

We buy most things in bulk except for fresh produce and other things we only use occasionally.

Here's what we buy:
Grains: Steel-cut Oats, Brown Basmati Rice, Quinoa, Millet
Flour: Spelt, Buckwheat, Oat
Legumes: Lentils, Anasazi Beans, Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Cannellini Beans
Nuts and Seeds: Walnuts, Flax Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Almonds
Dried Unsulphered Fruit: Apples, Raisins, Dates, Figs, Apricots
Spices: Cumin, Chili Powder, Salt, Basil, Parsley, Cinnamon
Dairy:Raw Cheese
Sweeteners: Raw Honey, Maple Syrup
Fats: CO, Butter, Unrefined EVOO
Other Stuff: Sprouted Bread, Olives, Sundried Tomatoes

HTH

[auntieM]

AngSFBay, where do you get bacon by the case? The best price I've seen around here is Trader Joe's Nitrate Free at about $5.30/#.

[AngSFBay]

Bacon by the pound

Mountain People's Warehouse (it's a co-op) has Applegate Nitrate Free Bacon, both Pork and Turkey, by the case. I wait until it goes on sale (MPW has monthly sale catalogs) because pre-sale it is $42.58/$42.07 for 12 8 oz packages. During the sale I usually get it around $2.50 a package--which works out to about $5 a lb. Not much different than Trader Joe's--and I didn't know TJ's had bacon for around $5 a lb! I will definitely check it out!

I don't know how to find out where MPW's drops are--I happened upon it through a friend who joined my Azure drop. Maybe someone on this board knows?