I found this interesting tonight while I was waiting for the ground beef to thaw out under the faucet. It seems like a useful checklist. Do you agree with it? Do you think that all of these things are necessary? Are you even lucky enough to have a pantry? I sure as heck am not. But still, let's see what I've managed to accumulate.
I actually have all of these:
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
All-Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar
What? Broth? Ha. I don't even know what to use broth for:
Chicken Broth
Beef Broth
Canned tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
Can/jar of marinara sauce
Canned beans: white, black, kidney
Tuna
I ALWAYS have spaghetti and sauce, and we happen to have a bunch of rice that Brett bought, but the rest are a negative:
Spaghetti
Linguine
Corkscrew pasta
Penne or other short pasta
Egg noodles
Long-grain white rice
Jasmine or basmati rice
Lentils
Split peas
Dried bread crumbs
I never buy onions. I hate them. But I do have potatoes and garlic!
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
We have various hot sauces and soy sauce, and rice vinegar:
Distilled white vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Salsa
Hot sauce
Cinnamon, garlic powder and basil? Check!:
Dried basil
Bay leaves
Cayenne
Chili powder
Cumin
Cinnamon
Garlic powder
Oregano
Paprika
Who doesn't always have eggs, milk and butter? But mustard? Yeah, we definitely have about 20 different mustards that Brett "collects." Blegh!:
Eggs
Milk
Butter or margarine
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Parmesan cheese
Other cheese
Ground beef is a-plenty in our freezer, thanks to Uncle Adam and "Chocolate the Cow!" (R.I.P. Chocolate):
Frozen corn
Frozen spinach
Frozen peas
Ground beef
Chicken breasts
So, it looks like I have a little bit of shopping to do. Honestly, I probably have room for most of the things that I'm lacking. I've never felt the need for that many pastas in the pantry. I always have spaghetti and bow-ties, but all the other ones- why? I definitely need a good, comprehensive spice rack. I only buy spices and herbs as I need new ones for recipes. I believe that the first group with the baking supplies should also include baking soda, baking powder, shortening, vanilla extract, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and anything else needed for basic cookies, brownies, and cakes. I also try to always have a stash of chocolate chips in the freezer, and instead of frozen corn and peas, we always have broccoli.
So how 'bout you? How's your pantry?
