Shop With The Shraders For Real Food, Real Deals

We’ve launched something brand-new as a family—Shop With The Shraders—and we’re so excited to bring you along. This new second YouTube channel is associated with my existing Mary’s Nest YouTube channel. Come shop with us as we search for real food and real deals for stocking a traditional pantry on any budget!

At A Glance: What You’ll See On Shop With The Shraders

We’ve launched a new YouTube channel called Shop with the Shraders with my husband Ted, our son Benjamin, and me! You may know me from this website and my Mary’s Nest YouTube channel, but now I am excited to start this new adventure with my family!

• We’ll take you shopping at Aldi, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Whole Foods, and more!
• Learn our tips and tricks for finding real food at real deals—including a little-known Whole Foods secret.
• We’ll show you how we stock our Four Corners Pantry—Working Pantry, Refrigerator, Freezer, and Extended Pantry (a.k.a. the Prepper Pantry).
• All our tips are focused on traditional foods and nourishing your family on a budget, as well as all the supplies you’ll need to have on hand to handle anything life throws your way.
• Whether you’re just starting out or looking for new ideas, we’ll show you how to build a well-stocked pantry over time, with intention.

Best of all, it’s a family project—and we’re so excited to share it with you!

A New Family Adventure

As the saying goes—it’s official! 😉 And we’ve officially launched Shop with the Shraders, our new family channel on YouTube! (We had a soft launch a while back, but now we are off and running at full steam!)

It’s Ted and me, along with our sweet son Benjamin, and we’re inviting you to come shopping with us. Whether we’re walking the aisles of Aldi or digging through the bins at Costco, you’ll be right there with us as we hunt for real food, real deals—that’s our tagline, and we mean it!

Budget-Friendly Pantry Building

Now, don’t worry—this isn’t just a shopping website with videos. This is about helping you stock your pantry with nourishing traditional foods, no matter how tight your budget may be. We’ll show you how Ted and I do it, and you’ll also see Ben figuring it all out for the first time in his very own home. It’s been such a joy watching him fill his shelves with purpose and excitement—it brings back sweet memories of when Ted and I were just starting out.

But we don’t limit our pantry stocking to just food items. We also share everything you need to be prepared no matter what comes your way—whether bad weather, illness, job loss, or a tight budget. We’re here to show you how to put a nourishing meal on the table and how we do our best to stay safe and sound during the trials and tribulations of life!

Stores We Visit (And the Secrets We Share!)

Each episode of Shop with the Shraders will be filled with practical tips and family fun. We’ll take you to:

• Aldi for everyday staples
• Costco for bulk buys
• Trader Joe’s for unique real food finds
• Walmart for convenience and deals
• Whole Foods—where we’ll show you how to find 50% off deals (Yes, it’s possible!)
• BONUS: And we’ll throw in a few surprise places to shop for the best deals on preparedness supplies as well

Whether it’s markdowns, clearance secrets, or seasonal specials, we’ll teach you everything we’ve learned through the years to help stretch your dollars without sacrificing nutrition or quality.

What Is the Four Corners Pantry?

When it comes to stocking a pantry – we’re talking about a lot more than just a closet or cupboard in your kitchen. Let’s walk you through exactly what we mean when it comes to stocking The Pantry—In our case, what we like to call The Four Corners Pantry, which includes:

🧺 The Working Pantry – your daily shelf of dry goods and essentials.

🧊 The Refrigerator – fresh produce, dairy, ferments, and more.

❄️ The Freezer – frozen meals, meats, stocks, and even baked goods.

📦 The Extended Pantry – long-term storage we fondly call the Prepper Pantry, filled with shelf-stable goods and emergency supplies.

🧭 A Closer Look at the Extended Pantry

When we talk about the Extended Pantry, we’re really talking about a system of backup and preparedness that brings peace of mind—no matter what’s going on in the world. It’s more than just extra cans on a shelf. This is about creating a home that’s ready to care for your family through any season.

Here’s how we break it down in our home:

📦 The Backup Pantry – This is your first line of defense. It’s where we keep extra non-perishable versions of the foods we use every day in our Working Pantry. When we run low on beans, pasta, oats, or canned tomatoes, we restock from here instead of running out to the store. It’s a simple system that saves money and time.

🚨 The Emergency Pantry – This pantry holds at least two weeks’ worth of non-perishable foods that require little to no preparation. We focus on items that don’t need electricity or clean running water to prepare—things like canned soups, nut butters, crackers, and shelf-stable milk. If there’s a power outage or water issue, we’re still able to nourish ourselves safely.

🛡️ The Survival Pantry – This is where we store foods with a very long shelf life—think 10 to 25 years. It’s not something we use every day, but it’s there in case of a long-term emergency. This includes vacuum-sealed dehydrated foods, whole grains and other bulk dry goods stored in food-grade buckets.

🌿 The Healing Pantry – This special section is near and dear to my heart. It’s where we keep non-perishable home remedies like dried herbs, tinctures, teas, and syrups. We also store all the supplies needed to make them—things like jars, strainers, cheesecloth, and beeswax. This is about caring for our health the old-fashioned way, with knowledge passed down through generations.

By organizing our Extended Pantry this way, we make sure we’re never caught off guard. It’s not about fear—it’s about staying calm, bring prepared, and a whole lot of love for our homes and the people in them. And don’t worry—we’ll show you how to start small and build each corner over time.

It’s All About Real Food

Our focus is always on real, traditional foods—the kind that nourishes your family from the inside out. From simple bulk ingredients to old-fashioned ferments and whole grain baked goods, we want to help you find ways to eat well while staying within your budget.

You’ll even see us sprinkle in household goods, seasonal finds, and a few fun surprises in Shop with the Shraders to help you stay prepared and joyful in your homemaking journey.

From Our Home to Yours

We’re so grateful to be doing this as a family. Ben brings the fresh enthusiasm of a young man building his first home, while Ted and I share the wisdom of our years together. What ties it all together is that we’re learning and growing with you. This channel is truly an extension of our hearts—our kitchens…and our homes. ❤️

Start Your Journey with Us

So grab your pen and paper (or your phone) and start building your shopping list and come along with us! Whether you’re brand-new to traditional foods or a longtime pantry pro, we think you’ll find something helpful at Shop With The Shraders—and hopefully a little family fun to put a smile on your face—each time we post a new video.

We’re just getting started—and we can’t wait to take you along for the ride!

And For Even More…

The Modern Pioneer Pantry is here and ready for Preorder! It’s your complete guide to preserving food perfect for making everything homemade to stock your Four Corners Pantry! And don’t forget to request your FREE signed bookplate (for a limited time only).

And in case you missed the first bestselling book in my Modern Pioneer Series, be sure to check out The Modern Pioneer Cookbook. This is you complete manual for how to create your own Traditional Foods Kitchen!

Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
2. Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
4. Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook - Get a hardcover book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.
5. Preorder The Modern Pioneer Pantry - Be one of the first to get Mary's hardcover book about preserving food and making delicious meals from your Four Corners Pantry. Mary's second cookbook is also published by Penguin Random House.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Shop for My Favorite Items

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

• Favorite Aprons
• Spice Grinder
• Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
• Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
• Vacuum Lids
• Whisk
• Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
• Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
• Flour Sack Towels
• pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

• Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
• Visit my Shopping Guide page
  Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman’s, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!

Recommended Reading

• The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
• The Modern Pioneer Pantry
• Nourishing Traditions