Are you constantly panicking over what to make for dinner? Do you make countless trips to the grocery store over the course of the week for “just one more thing” to make a meal? There is a solution to prevent those hurried attempts to make tonight’s dinner: a pantry so well stocked that you can whip up a dozen or so different options in no time flat.
What makes a well-stocked pantry? The answer depends on your tastes, lifestyle, and family needs. Your perfect pantry should include items that everyone in the household enjoys eating on a regular basis. For some, that might mean lentils and curry powder and for others it might mean pasta and mariana sauce (for some of us, it could even mean both!).
Here is a basic list of pantry staples, adapted from The Perfect Panty:
Sea salt and pepper
Olive oil, vegetable oil, and/or canola oil
Chicken or vegetable stock
Dried beans
Dried pasta
Canned tomatoes (whole, crushed, diced)
Cinnamon
Cumin
Honey
Lemon
Onion
Garlic
Rice
Balsamic Vinegar
Canned vegetables
If you are a baker, you will also want to include flour, sugar, oats, baking soda/powder, chocolate chips, and other must-have supplies. You can also think of your freezer as an extension of your pantry, stocking it with frozen fruits and vegetables, meat, and stock. Look for markdowns on meat near the sell-by date and store in a freezer-ready bag or container.
These are merely suggestions, you will need to adjust your list accordingly. Be sure to include ingredients that will allow you to make your sure-fire, never-fail crowd pleasers. For example, I always have a few special ingredients on hand: golden raisins, coconut milk, hoisin sauce, curry powder, spaghetti sauce, jasmine rice, and gingerroot (which stores great in the freezer). I also have a plethora of spices to use, including paprika, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, dried herbs, and more.
Once you have your perfect pantry list, keep those items on hand to make a last-minute meal. This will prevent those pesky last-minute trips to the grocery store that suck up the food budget. Hopefully, having a personally created pantry will also inspire you to cook more at home and eat out less!
For more assistance, check out these articles from wikiHow on How to Stock a Kitchen Pantry and How to Organize a Pantry. Then, if you want to have a little fun, see How to Make Facials from Pantry Ingredients.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
[...] of this soup only costs $1.29 if you already have the spices and olive oil on hand. If you have a perfectly stocked pantry, however, it will cost even less! It seems appropriate to debut the new Soupified project with a [...]