Building a Pantry

What is a pantry?  Basically, it is a bunch of ingredients that you have on hand all the time that you can add to the main ingredients of a recipe, that way when you go to make something, there are things you have that you almost don’t have to worry about.  A lot of these are for random cookie baking!  Also, a great way to build up your pantry is just buy the ingredients for recipes as you make them. Then the next time you cook, you will already have some of those on hand, like olive oil.  And if you get really good at the pantry thing, when the refrigerator is empty, you can play a game called "what do I make from the pantry?"  A little creativity can get you a long way: A yummy and healthy pasta with a jar of olives, tomato sauce, whole wheat pasta, and a pinch of dried basil. 

Ok, so you might have this crazy pasta in your pantry, but whole wheat penne or spaghetti is a good choice!

Pantry recommendations:

• Olive oil
• vegetable oil
• balsamic vinegar
• Flour(white and whole wheat)
• Sugar
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• oatmeal
• herbs and spices: cinnamon, ginger, basil, parsley, oregano, chili pepper flakes (if you are a spicy fan) are good choices
• Salt and pepper
• vanilla
• Whole wheat pasta
• Brown rice
• Jar of tomato sauce
• Cans of beans
• all-natural peanut butter
• honey
• Always good to have frozen veggies :)

You can certainly tailor your pantry to your likings.  If you find that you never cook rice, then it doesn’t need to take up room in your cupboard.  And if you are crazy for nuts, you might have pecans, almonds and walnuts as pantry essentials!