Have you ever opened your pantry 30 minutes before dinner was supposed to be ready, only to find that you were out of everything? Well, maybe not everything, but sliced almonds, cake icing and a bag of potato chips just wouldn’t cut it for a rounded meal. Staples, such as dried fruit, pasta and canned tomatoes are essential to every pantry. Without these base foods, we, as cooks, are at a loss when it comes time for dinner.
Staple foods are great for 5 reasons:
- Make Meal Planning Easy – It is great to have a stocked pantry. Walk over, take a quick peek inside and automatically know what you plan on cooking for the whole week. Pasta with meat sauce on Monday, Beans and Rice on Tuesday and so on. This allows you to save time when the schedule gets busy, by having food readily available that doesn’t take forever to cook.
- Rescue For Last Minute Meals – You forgot to take the pot roast out of the freezer this morning. It is now exactly 30 minutes until dinner time and even if you soaked the hunk of meat in boiling water, there is no way it will thaw and be able to cook by then. What to do? What. To. Do? Having your pantry stocked with staple foods allows these last minute meals to take the stress off of you. Go grab some canned chicken, salsa and some Orzo and make a Southwestern chicken pasta dish in less than 30 minutes.
