Pantry staples
There are some items we should always have stored in the pantry or freezer.
Those base foods are the heart of the pantry and will help us out of more than one tricky situation.
Food staples make meal planning easy – It is great to have a stocked pantry. Walk over, take a quick peek inside and automatically know what you plan on cooking for the whole week. Pasta with meat sauce on Monday, Beans and Rice on Tuesday and so on. This allows you to save time when the schedule gets busy, by having food readily available that doesn’t take forever to cook.
Staples come to the rescue for last minute meals – You forgot to take the pot roast out of the freezer this morning. It is now exactly 30 minutes until dinner time and even if you soaked the hunk of meat in boiling water, there is no way it will thaw and be able to cook by then. What to do? What. To. Do? Having your pantry stocked with staple foods allows these last minute meals to take the stress off of you. Go grab some canned chicken, salsa and some Orzo and make a Southwestern chicken pasta dish in less than 30 minutes.
Cooking on a budget – Staple foods are generally cheap. Everyone uses them so many stores mark them way down to get people in the door. Staple foods are also good when it comes to cooking on a budget. Because they are so affordable and can be used as the base to a huge number of dishes, they are great to have around in a frugal kitchen.
Feeding large groups of people – Food is a great way to build relationships. Oddly enough, everyone likes food and they all know someone who can and should be invited to come have some; at your place. Next thing you know, the neighborhood is lined up in your living room and you were only planning to cook for two. Staple foods to the rescue. You need only look to your pantry for welcome relief. It truly is amazing how many people a couple boxes of pasta can actually feed.
Provide comfort – It is amazing to look how many comfort foods came from standard pantry items. Take for instance, tomato soup and grilled cheese; or mashed potatoes and gravy; or even biscuits and jam. Most of the foods known for their ability to whisk you back to days of ole’ had to apply the same standards then, as they do today. They have to be affordable, be able to feed large groups of people, store easily and make cooking a breeze.
Staple foods are easy to store, last for a while, and make preparing a healthy dinner easy and affordable. The best thing to do is to keep your pantry filled with staple foods at all times. Doing so will make life much easier, and not to mention, will give you some peace of mind if you ever get caught in a storm.
The food stocked in your pantry represents the difference between assembling a healthy, wholesome meal, and dinner time depression or unplanned take out disaster.
What will you find in your food cupboard today? Be sure to stock some of the items listed as essential for a basic international pantry and you will be able to prepare a great variety of international meals at short notice.
Cheese is a food item you will find virtually in every pantry wherever in the world.
Pasta is a universal staple food. Most people keep pasta, in one shape or another, on the shelf.