Pantry basics?

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jd_1138

Sous Chef
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
577
Location
Ohio
I try to keep the following in the pantry.

starches
egg noodles
spaghetti pasta
penne pasta
House of Autry breading for chicken, pork
potatos

soups/sauces
chicken noodle
vegetable beef
tomato
pasta sauce
Sloppy Jane sauce (Manwich Bold)

canned veggies
mixed veggies, peas, corn, green beans

refried beans
tortillas
 
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With some thawed out hamburg, it's easy to throw together something like spaghetti and meatballs, Swedish meatballs with egg noodles, etc.. Or with chicken, pound it flat, bread it, salt/pepper, fry in the cast iron in some EVOO and then top it with cheese and pasta sauce and toss in the oven. Serve with penne pasta. Chicken parm in one skillet -- and in an easy to clean cast iron (just wipe it out). The better half loves chicken parm so I make that a lot.

Last night I rubbed some olive oil and salt/pepper on some potatoes and poked holes in them, wrapped in foil and tossed them on the charcoal grill an hour before I put the burgers on. Burgers were just some olive oil, salt, pepper, grated cheddar cheese mixed in with the hamburg. I did something different and popped the buns on top of the burgers about 10 minutes before I pulled them off. That way the buns were sort of steamed/warmed -- sort of White Castle style. Tastes better than grilling them on the grille, and no worries about burning them.
 
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Peanut butter.
Olive oil.
Coconut oil.
Peanut oil.
Vegetable oil.
Herbs and spices.
 
I've got stuff I'm not too proud of, mostly impulse purchases, but this is some of what I try not to run out of from the center of the store.

Canned
  • Tomatoes
  • Chicken broth
  • Beef Broth
  • Mayonnaise
  • Sardines
  • Tuna
  • Chicken
  • Olives
  • Peanut butter
  • Fruit jam
Oils
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Peanut Oil
  • "Wesson"
Vinegars
  • Red wine vinegar
  • White wine vinegar
  • Balsamic
  • Apple cider
  • Distilled white vinegar
Pasta & Noodles, mostly Whole Wheat
  • Elbow macaroni
  • Spaghetti
  • Linguine
  • Rotini
  • Penne
  • Broad egg noodles
Dry Goods and Other Stuff
  • Various dried beans
  • Dried tomatoes
  • Dried blueberries
  • White whole wheat flour
  • AP flour
  • Course grind yellow corn for grits
  • Cornmeal
  • Sugar, white
  • Brown sugar
  • Long grain brown rice
  • Basmati rice
  • Dried milk
  • Instant yeast
  • Baking soda
  • Baking powder
  • Coffee
  • Cocoa Powder
Condiments
  • Dijon mustard
  • Whole grain brown mustard
  • Yellow mustard
  • Ketchup
  • El Tapatio hot sauce
  • Sriracha hot sauce
  • Sweet relish
  • Pickled jalapenos
  • Dill pickles
  • Pickled gherkins
 
Canola oil
Olive Oil
Apple cider vinegar
White vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Dried beans, peas and barley
Splenda
Low carb baking flour
Baking soda
Baking powder
A dusty box of assorted food coloring
Cornstarch
Wondra flour
Saltine crackers
Dried mushrooms
GOYA beef, ham and chicken bouillon
Durkee's hot sauce
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
An assortment of dried herbs, spices and extracts
Iodized salt
Morton curing salt
Dreamfields macaroni
Sugar free Jello
Smucker's natural peanut butter
Assorted nuts
Assorted salad dressings and condiments
Mt Olive sugar free pickles
Ripe olives
Stuffed olives
Sardines
An assortment of canned tomato products
Canned green beans
Canned mushrooms
Canned green chili peppers
Canned pimentos
Canned anchovies
Canned tuna
Canned clams
Assorted teabags
Ground roast coffee
Sugar free ginger ale
An assortment of booze

I keep trying to reduce the length of this list!

It amazes me how the oldtimers got by with salt, flour and coffee! :ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
I live in the house neighbors know to call upon if they need an ingredient and don't have time/energy to run to the store...:ermm:

Himself converted our back hall coat closet to a pantry. That holds the "grocery department" items I need frequently - oils, vinegars, some of my spice blends, dry baking items. And the necessary two boxes of wine - one red, one white.

Go down our basement steps and you'll find my personal convenience store: inventory stuff that I need regularly but not daily. It's mostly contained to a 5' by 18" by 6 foot tall metal shelving unit. As an endcap at one side is a baker's shelf with (you guessed it) baking supplies. Then there is another metal storage shelf, only 4' by 1' by 4 foot high that holds our beverages: pop, beer, coffee, assorted teas. Some fruit juices line up along the basement ledge, and the wine rack is on top of a metal bookshelf only 3' by 9" by 3 feet high.

One of my "must haves" that hasn't been listed is a jar or more of sauerkraut. You never know when you might need sauerkraut. ;)
 
Gotta have the kraut.

I have two cabinets dedicated to spices and blends. One in the cupboard, one I built that's free-standing. Plus my daily use stuff that sits out on the counter.

I built a floor to ceiling shelf unit that resides in the laundry room, and houses a bunch of dry goods and extra juices.
 
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Gotta have the kraut.

I have two cabinets dedicated to spices and blends. One in the cupboard, one I built that's free-standing. Plus my daily use stuff that sits out on the counter.

I built a floor to ceiling shelf unit that resides in the laundry room, and houses a bunch of dry goods and extra juices.

Dawgluver, you must be a kraut lover like me! If it weren't for my daughter, I wouldn't have jars of home-canned sauerkraut in my panty. Thank heavens she's a canner! And shares her kraut with us, as that stuff in the store, just cannot compare to the home-canned kraut made the old fashion way.

I've seem to of become a pat-rack with pantry stables, and never can pass up a good buy. I have a pantry in my kitchen, one next to my dining room, and now my oldest daughter's bedroom is where I also store many of my pantry items.

Next to my fridge, and next to my stove, I have shelves which I store all my dried herbs and spices, boxed gelatins, boxed puddings, assorted teas and dry coffee creamers.

When all my daughters moved out, I made sure the first gift they received for Christmas was, a box filled with all sorts of the dried spices and dried herbs, which I knew they could use, and I know they'd never buy for themselves. You can fill your pantry with plenty of boxed items, canned goods and assorted noodles, etc... but if you don't have these items in your pantry, you can't always complete your meal. I think it's a good idea to have plenty of dried herbs and spices stocked in your pantry.
 
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Rice
Pastas
Beans
Split pea, barley

Canned goods;
Tomato sauce
Tomatoes
Cream of soups
Canned meat, not necessarily SPAM. Canned ham, corned beef

Potatoes
Onions
Garlic

Spice backup

Tomatoes and to save them wrap them in individual newspaper so the gases do not spread. Then you can pull them out later and sit them on a windowsill.

All kinds of bottled goods, salad dressing, mayo, pickles, hot peppers, in my case a bunch of dill relish. (they aways got sweet relish all over the %$&#$$$# place ! There is a bag of sugar in the kitchen, I don't need anyone else's.

If you get really salted or smoked ham and no water injected, that'll stay in there a while.

T
 
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I don't buy ready-made salad dressing anymore, unless you are referring to mayo. I seem to remember that mayo was labeled "salad dressing" once upon a time? Anyway, we've gotten spoiled with homemade salad dressings. I have a recipe for all of our favorites, some I have more than one recipe. There's just nothing like the homemade stuff on the store shelves or in their coolers either. JMO.
 
I don't buy ready-made salad dressing anymore, unless you are referring to mayo. I seem to remember that mayo was labeled "salad dressing" once upon a time? Anyway, we've gotten spoiled with homemade salad dressings. I have a recipe for all of our favorites, some I have more than one recipe. There's just nothing like the homemade stuff on the store shelves or in their coolers either. JMO.

Miracle Whip is the one that was (is?) called salad dressing. That's because it isn't mayo. I have made mayo, but Hellman's (Best Foods, out west) is good stuff and it's much more convenient.

I am trying to remember if I have ever bought a store bought salad dressing. I don't think I have. It's just far too easy to make my own and I know what's in it. Of course I have had store bought dressing at other people's homes. Nothing special. I have a few recipes written down, but most I just do by what I feel like adding. I used to whisk a vinaigrette together in a bowl and add different garlic, anchovy, herbs, according to my mood. Now, I make a batch of a dead simple vinaigrette once every week or two. When making a batch, I only use dried herbs. For garlic and onion, I use powder. That way it keeps longer. I make it in a cruet that has measurements on the side.

3/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup cider or wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of dried herbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
about a tablespoon of smooth Dijon mustard.

Once all the ingredients are in the cruet, I attach the lid and shake the heck out of it. It could also be made in jar. It's fine in the fridge for several weeks. Yes, I do have to shake it before each use. If I was planning on using all of it with a day or two, I would probably use fresh herbs and fresh garlic and minced onion. I only actually measure the EVOO and vinegar. I eyeball the rest or measure with the palm of my hand.
 
I don't have enough time to list even my essentials! Suffice it to say, some might label me as a survivalist, looking at all the food I have, for just one person! Came in handy when this pandemic started - I barely made a dent in it, in over 4 months of non-shopping. All those spices, grains and legumes I have in storage, along with freezer goods and canned goods, I have in an inventory notebook, so it's easier to find, plus, if I get to the last of something that I consider essential, I have to get some or make some!

I buy very few prepared foods, except for all those basic Asian ingredients, which I never run out of! Mustards and ketchup, the latter kept more as an ingredient, when called for, are two I can think of.

 
<<It's just far too easy to make my own and I know what's in it.>>

I couldn't agree with you more, taxlady! I like to switch up the vinaigrettes with "designer" (for lack of a better word) vinegars too. Apricot Vinegar, Huckleberry, etc. Generally, I use dried herbs too, unless it is a holiday or company dinner and I expect to use most of it at one sitting.

Hubby complained too much about using mason jars and such for my homemade dressings, so I invested in some mason jar lids with a flip cap over a pouring spout. That and the cruets for vinaigrettes, and complaints stopped!
 
<<It's just far too easy to make my own and I know what's in it.>>

I couldn't agree with you more, taxlady! I like to switch up the vinaigrettes with "designer" (for lack of a better word) vinegars too. Apricot Vinegar, Huckleberry, etc. Generally, I use dried herbs too, unless it is a holiday or company dinner and I expect to use most of it at one sitting.

Hubby complained too much about using mason jars and such for my homemade dressings, so I invested in some mason jar lids with a flip cap over a pouring spout. That and the cruets for vinaigrettes, and complaints stopped!

Sometimes, when I have a lot of fresh herbs on hand, I make up the vinaigrette with no herbs. Then I just chop up the fresh herbs I want to use that day and add them to the salad. That way I get the convenience of my big-batch-vinaigrette and the fresh herbs.
 
I like that idea of the flip lids for the mason jars! I have these 3 containers that came with immersion blenders - 2 from the models that died, and one from the current one, and they all have lids, and pour well, so I use them for vinaigrettes. I also put different fresh herbs on, as I want them (one of the reasons I started growing herbs in the off-season way back) - I only flavor a whole batch when using it all at once on something.

Making a vinaigrette may actually cost a little more than some bottled dressings, using good olive oil and flavorful vinegar, but it is soooooo much better!

 
<<Sometimes, when I have a lot of fresh herbs on hand, I make up the vinaigrette with no herbs. Then I just chop up the fresh herbs I want to use that day and add them to the salad. That way I get the convenience of my big-batch-vinaigrette and the fresh herbs.>>

I like to add herbs from the garden straight to the salad or topper for a main dish too, taxlady. Basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme...whatever seems to compliment the meal. Or the pizza...;-)
 
I like that idea of the flip lids for the mason jars! I have these 3 containers that came with immersion blenders - 2 from the models that died, and one from the current one, and they all have lids, and pour well, so I use them for vinaigrettes. I also put different fresh herbs on, as I want them (one of the reasons I started growing herbs in the off-season way back) - I only flavor a whole batch when using it all at once on something.

Making a vinaigrette may actually cost a little more than some bottled dressings, using good olive oil and flavorful vinegar, but it is soooooo much better!


Pssst, the lids that come on jars of "grated" parm are a perfect fit for the NON-wide mouth mason jars. They are great for homegrown, dried herbs...for your shelf or to gift.
 
Pssst, the lids that come on jars of "grated" parm are a perfect fit for the NON-wide mouth mason jars. They are great for homegrown, dried herbs...for your shelf or to gift.
Lids from mayo/salad dressing jars fit, too.

And there is an amazing variety of special purpose lids available for canning jars. I've bought storage lids through Amazon as well.
https://www.fillmorecontainer.com/closures.html
 
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