our pantry

I have a confession: our cupboards are full to the brims…but not with food.

When Tom and I got married, I somehow convinced him to let me keep all my old mixing bowl sets and the new ones we got when we got married. Apparently I have a fondness for mixing…because I was somehow able to come up for a reason for why we had to dedicate an entire cupboard to mixing bowls. Due to this (and other miscellaneous kitchen-related items I couldn’t bear to live without), we only have one cupboard in our tiny kitchen that actually contains food.

{Pause for a brief moment of reflection. I married the most patient and understanding man in the world. Bless him.}

Somewhat luckily for us, we tend to rely more heavily on our freezer and refrigerator for storing the food we cook and eat. That being said, here are the key items that will always be helpful to keep on-hand for the recipes I share–both in your pantry and in your fridge:

Dry Essentials:

  • All-Purpose Flour (white or wheat)
  • Self-Rising Flour
  • Granulated Sugar
  • Baking Powder
  • Baking Soda
  • Unsweetened Cocoa
  • Baking nuts (especially walnuts, but we use peanuts too)
  • Quick Cook Oats
  • Honey
  • Olive Oil
  • Cooking Oil Spray
  • Balsamic Vinegar

Spices:

  • Cinnamon (get the extra-large size, I use a ton of it)
  • Pumpkin Pie Spice (and/or all the spices that are in it…nutmeg, clove, ginger, & allspice)
  • Cardamom
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Cayenne
  • Garlic Powder
  • Dried Rosemary
  • Dried Oregano
  • Dried Basil
  • Low-Sodium Italian Seasoning
  • Sea Salt/Salt
  • Pepper

Snacking Items:

  • Popcorn Kernels (or SkinnyPop)
  • Low-glycemic KIND bars (there’s only three that are–I recommend the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt)

Refrigerated Goods:

  • Eggs
  • Plain 0% Greek Yogurt (Fage, Chobani, or Costco–get whatever’s on sale)
  • Skim Milk
  • Lemon Juice
  • Pre-Shredded Rotisserie Chicken (get it at Costco–it’s a game changer)
  • Girard’s Champagne Vinaigrette (NOT low fat–buying low-fat just means they add sugar. Boo.)
  • Trader Joe’s Soyaki Stir-Fry Sauce
  • Fresh Chili Paste (aka Sambal Oelek–looks like sriracha in a plastic jar)
  • Minced garlic

Frozen Goods:

  • Frozen chicken breasts
    • Buy them fresh when they’re on sale and freeze them yourself. You get more chicken for your money this way–don’t pay for water weight!
  • Steam-in-the-bag veggies (especially corn and cauliflower)
  • Frozen bagged mixed berries
  • Sliced bananas (slice ’em and throw ’em in a ziploc–they come in handy all the time)
  • A loaf of good, from-a-bakery/homemade bread
    • I recommend the Swedish Orange Limpa from a teeny, tiny bakery in Lindstrom, MN…but I realize not everyone is willing to drive crazy distances for a loaf of bread. I acknowledge my obsession with this bread is unhealthy.

Fresh Produce:

  • Apples (we love SweeTango & Honeycrisp, but Fuji are yummy too)
  • Bananas
  • Flat Yellow Onions (the flatter they are, they sweeter they are!)

Overall, if I have the above items I can whip up just about anything by adding just an ingredient or two. And if worst comes to worst and we have nothing else on-hand, there is one thing I can always make with these items:

breakfast for dinner… and who doesn’t love that?

happy pantry-stocking!