My DH's dear mom gave us a cookbook, American Family Home, which was published in the 1950's and I have a Gladys Taber 1948 cookbook. Both of these are good on using pantry items and eggs as main dishes. Published before the microwave and the supermarket, the recipes often use things that can be found most anywhere and which can be stored in your pantry such as canned seafood, vegetables, soups, fruits, etc.
Out here on the prairie, we are 35 miles from any community of size and only two of those have a grocery store larger than our own, which means our choices are limited. However, our grocer will order case lots of anything for us and we do a lot of that kind of buying throughout the year.
Also, we are members of Shelf Reliance where we budget monthly shipments of freeze-dried items which are very yummy and have a great shelf-life. Some upcoming recipes: Mini Salmon Loaves, Cool Green Bean Salad, Strawberry Shortcake, Layered Bean Dip. All these use freeze-dried or pantry items. I hope you all have a great Sunday (or Sonday, as they say on Prairie Flower Farm).