Proteins

• Ground Beef
• Eggs
• Tuna (Canned)

Dairy

• Greek Yoghurt
• Milk
• Butter

Fruit

• Apples
• Orange Juice (Fresh)
• Bananas
• Mango (Frozen)

Vegetables

• Onions
• Garlic
• Spinach (Frozen), alternatively Kale
• Carrots
• Peas (Frozen)

Legumes

• White or Black Beans (Canned)
• Lentils

Grains

• Whole Grain Rice
• Tri-Colour Quinoa
• Whole Grain Pasta
• Bran Flakes
• Rolled Oats
• Whole Grain Flour
• Mielie Meal (White Maize Flour)

Condiments

• Basil (Great Basil)
• Coriander (Cilantro)
• Cinnamon
• Cumin
• Dill
• Marjoram (Sweet Marjoram)
• Oregano (Wild Marjoram)
• Turmeric
• Thyme
• Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Chilli Flakes
• Cayenne Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Soy Sauce
• Oyster Sauce
• Beef Stock
• Pesto (2 cup fresh basil, 1/4 pine nuts, 1/2 cup olive oil)
• Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Mix (1:4)
• Baking Powder

Drinks

• Rooibos Tea
• Earl Gray Tea

Baseline

This is an attempt to establish a baseline food stock which covers both my essential nutritional requirements, particularly focusing on easy acquisition of macronutrients, and just enough variety to keep it interesting.

It's particularly inspired by the idea of a 'Capsule Wardrobe' which gives much versatility from few clothing items, the ability to mix and match between them and create far more outfits than a more complex wardrobe based around individual outfits.

This can be transferred to food where clothes are ingredients and outfits are meals. In the case of food, many more individual items are required and creating cohesive meals is more complex but many of the same principles can be applied.

Items should generally serve as many purposes as possible as long as they are still able to serve their purpose as best they can. I primarily sought to choose longer shelf life items as it is easy to stay stocked. Extra items are not verboten from being bought, but they should simply be either quickly perishable or in small enough amounts that they do not take up physical or mental space for long.

There are some additional items in this list which do not follow the strict minimalism ethos such as ingredients for pancakes or mielie meal. This may increase my available carbs in the pantry to an excessive amount but they're an item which I particularly enjoy. One key goal is avoiding depriving myself of foods which make me happy, quality of life should be improved by having a planned pantry not worsened.

It should also be noted that these items are heavily based on my own cultural influence and availability in my local area. If I were to move to another part of the world it would almost certainly have to be reimagined.

Afterword

This is a living document which will get updated as I refine my pantry and find how effective it is in practice. It also serves as a checklist to keep my cupboards stocked and avoid having to make a grocery list.