Thursday, July 28, 2011

A Well-Stocked Pantry


Yesterday was busy, busy, busy! I started at the Wednesday morning downtown farmer’s market to take photos for my Midwest Life and Cuisine blog—and of course bought tomatoes, corn and onions! Then it was off to a lunch meeting with my fellow teachers at Discovery Montessori Preschool to start planning the new school year and celebrate a co-worker’s 50th birthday. Finally it was home to work on a group of newspaper articles whose deadlines are fast approaching.

What to make for dinner on such a busy day? Going to a restaurant or ordering take-out would be a solution, but my sweetheart and I are trying to eat at home more. On the other hand, when would I have time to prepare a meal that didn’t come prepackaged in a box?

It's a time like this when a well-stocked pantry comes in handy. And by pantry, I also mean a refrigerator supplied with the basics. Then everything is readily available to make whatever your heart desires.

In my pantry, I always try to keep on hand:
  • A variety of pastas
  • Canned tomatoes—crushed, diced, whole, and sauce
  • Rice
  • Beans—both canned and dried
  • Chicken and beef stock
  • Olive and canola oil
  • Flour
  • Sugar—regular and brown
  • Baking soda and powder
  • yeast
  • Salt, pepper, oregano, bay leafs, thyme, rosemary, Italian seasoning, and other spices
  • Butter
  • Meats—chicken breasts, bacon, pork chops, Italian sausage and hamburger
  • Basic veggies—onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, garlic
  • Cheese—parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar
  • Milk

Okay, I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, but you get the idea.

Back to yesterday morning. In 10 minutes, I chopped up onion, celery and carrots and dumped it all into a Crock-Pot. Next I added frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a crushed clove of garlic, 2 bay leaves, a teaspoon of thyme, a little kosher salt, and 2 14.5-ounce cans of low-sodium chicken broth. On went the lid, and I left it set on low all day. When dinner time arrived, I added a little butter and a flour-and-water slurry to thicken the broth. Then I cooked up some rice (you could also use noodles), and presto—homemade chicken stew!

Sorry I don’t have a picture to show you—we ate it all!
 
What’s in your pantry? Anything I should add to mine?

2 comments:

  1. You are surely having all the things that you are going to need in routine for the whole month. It sure seems to be a good idea to have all the things in stock that you are going to need in time.

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  2. I also like to do the same when I am going out for a shopping to get all the stock that I am going to need for a month. Majority has been doing the same instead of going to mall again and again.

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