Pantry Testimonials!

“I have lots more cash than I did before!”

Mr. Sugars,

The pantry eating is going very well, I do supplement on occasion, but the pantry focus has really begun to help me save money. I have lots more cash than I did before! I have extra every month, which could be very good for additional expenses.

--Mateo


“You’re giving people good ideas for saving money.”

Mr. Sugars,

I love your Eat Your Pantry newsletters, and now your making a business out of it! Who would ever know that your idea of eating your pantry would be such a big success in the business world, LOL!!!!

I ran out of money to buy food last week, so I decided also to eat out of my pantry for awhile and out of my frig and freezer, you’re giving people good ideas for saving money. Thanks a bunch, Matt.

Warmly,
--Reba


“I eat out all the time. I have much to learn.”

Mr. Sugars,

I am the epitome of the non-eat your pantry person. I eat out all the time. I have much to learn. Come to Cleveland and you can feast on my pantry. It is fat and bloated and needs to become a model of efficiency. I'll pay you consulting fees. Book your ticket to the grand Ohio.

--Sean


“Sugars showed me that Pantry isn't just cheap: it's endless.”

"What was I doing with my food before Pantry came along? Eating restaurant food a few too many times a week, that's what – and sopping up those cheap-ass restaurant oils that go along with the marked-up tabs my wrist got carpal tunnel debiting each time. I knew better, of course -- knew that if I really set my mind to it sometime, I could save a ton of money and feed my body something better than any restaurant could give me. What was stopping me? It's not like I don't have a bunch of cookbooks....

But I hate cookbooks as much as I hate restaurant water. I hate cookbooks about as much as I hate cooking. Which is probably why Pantry worked its magic. Pantry isn't cooking: it's something completely different. Pantry, as the masterful Mr. Sugars has demonstrated, is a whole other animal entirely.

Reading Sugars' Pantry Newsletters, I finally realized my number was up. It was true, I admitted: I'm just throwing cash into the goddamned fire. Sugars showed me that Pantry isn't just cheap: it's endless. Taking his word for it, I hauled out my crock-pot and loaded it up with 2 cups of lentils. A few hours later, I had the base for a week's worth of dinner's, which I could improvise each time with different greens and veggies, not to mention spices, and yes, fine oils -- none of that greasy rapeseed extract served up by anonymous prep staff. No cookbooks, not restaurant water -- and no having to fake politeness to waiters when all I really wanted was to just stuff my face and get back home. NOW when I go to a restaurant, my politeness is genuine, because I'm there to be there. And because I know that back home in my fridge, I've got three days worth of beans waiting to be experimented with, and that in the freezer, I've got 2 weeks more where those three days worth came from....see? Endless."

--L. Bean


“People here at the office eat a lot of junk a lot of the time.”

Mr. Sugars,

I did a fast yesterday. This morning I ate 1 carrot and 1 apple. It feels good. Had to do it, just to balance myself out.

People here at the office eat a lot of junk a lot of the time. There is supermarket birthday cake every other day. Pizza is often ordered on weekend days, and then we go out to eat at restaurants just about every day.

I was getting caught in the cycle a little bit... that's why I'm glad to read that you're going strong with your pantry efforts.

--Cuz Tom


“Eating my pantry has also inspired me to begin using up the many hotel shampoo/conditioner samples that I have collected over the years.”

Mr. Sugars,

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve always wanted to be a pantry eater, and I had attempted it here and there.... but, to me, it always seems to achieve this type of goal when you feel like you are the only one in the country putting forth the effort.

Now that Pantry eating has gone public, thanks to your efforts, I have become quite encouraged to follow my heart and to eat my pantry.

Some of my recent accomplishments have been to finish off a frozen soybean and corn mixture that has sat in my freezer for at least two years... Same for some chicken tenders. (Of course, I had to scrape off a lot of snowy ice first.)

I have also finished off a bag of sesame seed, by adding a quarter cup to all of my evening meals until the bag was empty... I am working on this same regimen with flax seed and wheat germ. (The flax seed is a little more difficult, because the recommended serving size causes your mouth to foam with flax oil.)

... Along those lines, I have to say that seeds just don’t digest very well according to the jewels in my toilet bowl... But this is of no great concern to me, because I feel very accomplished seeing my pantry become less and less filled.

Eating my pantry has also inspired me to begin using up the many hotel shampoo/conditioner samples that I have collected over the years.

My next goal is to begin to consume (at a healthy pace) all of those vitamins that I bought after reading about remedies for various ailments.

I know all of these efforts are saving me money, and I am finding that I do like some of those foods that I had originally thought would be hard to swallow.

Thanks,
--Rick's wife


“…then to my great surprise I spy a big ol' can of Reservation/ Government rationed black and white issued PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!!!!!! Complete with a black and white peanut on the label.”

Mr. Sugars,

Just wanted to let you know that I have been making my own lunches for work (saving 120+ a month) which feeds the pantry with great left-overs, thank the sweet light skinned Jesus for Uncle Joes Trading Post, even better when one dumpsters it.

I wanted to share with you a truly and bewildering pantry moment with you. It began last ???? when I was running to meet my lobe piercing appointment @ Tattoo Emporium (across from the Roman Columns that no longer seat the homeless, but my love object and I are forming a Plan: OPERATION BENCH AND CHAIR: which is comprised of picking up free chairs (dumpster/curb scores) and leaving them @ the Benches that are no longer benches but some sort of city sculpture bullship--skeleton benches (need to find the ordinance # for we plan on painting the chairs a certain color and marking the ordinance # of BULLSHIT on them). So anyhow, I am running on the sidewalk nearing the entryway to the shop. But what is distracting is the well known VOODOO of BOODOO doing his/her thang on the sidewalk -- you know the one --- she/he is gigantic, usually in some sort of tube top thing waving this or that and dancing on the corners of Capitol Hill, always has a V.V. (value village) bag by her/his side. So this thing is going on, and in the street some drunked out freak man has spilled his goods out from his plastic bag, cans and food stuff all over the street, cars are coming his way, he is wavering around like a drunk pirate on shore holiday, cursing and slobbering, having no success picking up his scores - well then to my great SURPRISE I spy a big ol' can of Reservation/ Government Rationed BLACK AND WHITE issued PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!!!!!! Complete with a black and white peanut on the label. It fucking rivals Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans!!!! I swear to the great Lord of Life that this truly did occur. TO bad I don't have a camera cell phone contraption. It was such a good moment and I thought of you and your pantry pilgrimage immediately!!! So there you have it. May the great Pantry always guide you and be with you thru thick and thin tin.

--Ape Girl


“I have eaten my pantry, literally!”

Mr. Sugars,

I have eaten my pantry, literally! I was going to Chicago for over two weeks and didn't want my food to spoil; so I gave my refrigerator food to friends before I left. To my chagrin, I had I had almost nothing left and had two weeks to go before my trip and payday. I had six dollars and some things in the cupboard such as flour, cornmeal, peanut butter, potatoes, eggs, macaroni and cheese, some pancake flour and jelly. No bread or butter, but just enough to pay for some. The challenge is to be creative and have fun. I must confess that after the two weeks when I finally got paid, I ordered a pizza! My reward, hmmm (Although I could have made my own as I had flour and tomato sauce).

This is a fun web site full of creative ideas that make us think and not take for granted all that we have.

Thank you Matt Sugars !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--Bobbi LaForce