A sourdough “starter” is a ball of dough with living yeast. As part of the process of feeding it, you remove some of the old dough. That’s the discard. You can do all sorts of things with this discard.

Making sourdough is as difficult as baking bread + taking care of a low maintenance houseplant. Not a huge responsibility, but more than just mixing flour and water on a whim.

The users over at !bready@lemmy.world should be able to start you down that road.

I also have way more beans than anyone needs in their house.

My mother does this and as soon as there’s an apocalypse she’ll be vindicated.

Interestingly, apricot preserves is a good substitute for apple cider, is always available and lasts - I don’t really drink cider out of season but want to cook with it often. However a pork shoulder slathered in apricot preserves works really well when I wanted to spritz it with cider

A well stocked pantry is one where none of your usually ingredients is empty or running low.

The consistency of the sourdough discard dictates the actual quantities.

I try to always have flour, sugar, salt, kosher salt, pepper, butter, spices (what kind? A lot!), noodles, pasta sauce, brown sugar, vanilla, cream of soups, canned beans, dried beans, onions, garlic, potatoes, dried potatoes, dried milk, soy sauce, oatmeal, different oatmeal, and then my brain trails off. Oh! Fuck ton of rice!

• Pasta (various kinds but usually at least spaghetti and shells)
• Canned beans (I usually have black beans and chickpeas + sometimes others)
• Canned tomatoes
• Chicken stock (either in tetrapaks, cubes, paste or some other shelf-stable version) – sometimes other kinds of stock (e.g. vegetable stock too) but usually at least chicken stock
• Salt, Pepper, MSG + a good selection of various dried herbs/spices/seasonings (e.g. basil, oregano, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, etc.)
• Soy sauce
• Vinegar
• Olive oil
• Neutral vegetable oil
• Butter
• Canned fish (at least tuna and/or sardines)
• Cheeses (I usually have Parmesan, pepper jack, and American cheese slices that melt easily [e.g. velveeta or kraft singles or something like that] plus sometimes cheddar or Swiss)
• Peanut butter
• Flour
• Baking soda
• Yeast
• Chocolate
• Cocoa powder
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Milk (UHT lasts a long time)
• Salsa
• Canned or frozen green vegetables (e.g. peas, spinach, etc.)
• Rice
• Bread (frozen for storage)
• Dried lentils
• Dried fruit
• Cornstarch
• Ground meat (frozen)
• Tea
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Mayonnaise

(may add more to this as I think of things)

Have a batter recipe?

What do you always have on hand? Why?

Garlic. Olive Oil. Pasta. Canned tomato paste. I default to Italian if I want to impress someone / feed an army.

Corn Starch. Flour. Beer. My weapon of choice, otherwise, is the deep fryer. I use sourdough discard as the starting point for batter. These three ingredients help get it to the correct consistency.

Spam is great for many things.

What do you do with clam juice?

It’s a required ingredient in a decent Bloody Mary.

In the cupboard: canned kidney beans, black beans, butter beans, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, corn kernels, coconut milk. Tuna. Rice, dried fettucine, macaroni and spirals. Red lentils because you can always find them at the supermarket. Jarred pasta sauce.

In the vegetable drawer: onions, carrots, potatoes and (when available) beets, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, radishes. Spinach or lettuce.

In the fridge: milk, margarine, at least three kinds of cheese, sliced ham. Jarred crushed garlic, because I’m some kind of human animal.

In the spice rack: cumin, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, basil, smoked and sweet paprika.

Also, canned chicken or tuna is always great to have on hand for a quick meal.