Stocking Pantry Staples

Stocking the kitchen with pantry staples will vary from family to family or person to person. For instance if you cook everything from scratch you will need plenty of basic ingredients like flour, sugar, salt and spices. If you do most of your cooking with prepackaged foods then that is what you will have on your shelves. For me, I find it so much cheaper and just as easy to do all my cooking from scratch.

Homemade bread is so much cheaper to make at home and the taste of it is so unbelievable; commercially made bread cannot even come close to the taste. If you make all your bread from scratch for a family you can go through a lot of flour. Of course you will also need yeast so these are two items to keep on the kitchen shelves. You might also want to keep extra on hand for noodles, dumplings and biscuits; a biscuit mix can be made ahead and so the preparation is quicker.

For general cooking and baking, the pantry supplies should always include baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, cream of tartar, favorite extracts like vanilla and some of your favorite spices. I always keep dried beans in the pantry instead of canned ones; they are just so much cheaper; by soaking overnight they are easy to cook. I have never been without peanut butter or Hershey’s cocoa powder simply because they are convenience foods

Milk is used a lot in recipes and if you have children you probably always have it in your refrigerator. Since I don’t have small children drinking it, I like to keep powdered milk on my pantry shelf for cooking. It comes in very handy for the times when I am out of fresh milk and it really works well in my recipes plus it has a long shelf life. I also keep canned milk both sweet and unsweetened for those recipes.

My pantry staples always include lots of canned fruits and vegetables, pickles and relish. Summertime, when the crops are ripe is the best time to buy produce and do some home canning. This is so much cheaper. I also keep lots of canned tomato sauce, ketchup and mustard. Soups are quick and easy to make homemade, but I do keep some in the pantry for emergencies or for when someone has a cold.

BASIC PANCAKE RECIPE

Learn how to make pancakes for breakfast, lunch or anytime of the day. They make a cheap meal and kids love them.

• 2 Cups sifted flour
  
• 3 Teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 Teaspoon sugar
  
• ½ Teaspoon salt
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 ¾ Cups milk
  
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
  
  

Sift dry ingredients together into bowl.
Beat eggs, milk and melted butter together; pour over dry ingredients and stir only to blend.
Batter will be lumpy; spoon batter into lightly greased skillet or griddle.
Brown on both sides turning over only once.
Variations for this basic batter;
Sift cinnamon and sugar between and on top of pancakes; serve with butter.
Spread each with honey butter: ¼ cup honey blended with ¼ cup softened butter.
Fold 1 cup blueberries in batter.
Stir 1 cup sliced peaches in batter.

RAW APPLE CAKE RECIPE

This is a delicious raw apple cake made with some of the common pantry staples; great in fall when apples are in season.

• 3 Tablespoons butter
  
• 1 Cup sugar
  
• 1 Beaten egg
  
• ½ Teaspoon cinnamon
  
• ½ Teaspoon nutmeg
  
• ½ Teaspoon salt
  
• 1 Teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1 Cup sifted flour
  
• 3 Cups diced apples
  
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla
  
• ¼ Cup chopped nuts
  
  

Cream butter and sugar; add egg and mix well.
Sift together dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture.
Stir in apples, vanilla and nuts; pour into a greased 8 inch square baking pan.
Bake in preheated oven at 350F degrees for 40 to 45 minutes; serve hot or cold.

The following list is a sample list of pantry staples to keep in your pantry and refrigerator. You may want to customize the list to fit your family's preference. Also, the amount you purchase depends on how much cooking you do. The products should be rotated to keep fresh.

RICE PUDDING RECIPE

Rice is a convenient pantry staple to always have on hand; learn how to make rice pudding for your family. Salt and sugar are also necessary pantry staples and raisins are good to keep on hand. If you have powdered milk on your shelf, a quart can be mixed for this recipe.

• ¾ Cup rice
  
• 1 Teaspoon salt
  
• 1 Quart milk
  
• ¾ Cup sugar
  
• ¾ Cup raisins
  
  

Mix all ingredients except raisins and put in a buttered baking dish.
Place in a preheated oven at 300F degrees and bake for 1 ½ hours stirring several times during baking.
Add raisins and bake 20 minutes longer.

More Great Cooking Tips and Recipes

Go to Painless Cooking Home Page from Pantry Staples