The Prepared Pantry

Having a prepared pantry is essential for being able to shop and plan for once a month shopping. Without a prepared pantry, you will find yourself going to the store for "just a few things" and leaving with more than you bargained for. Now, I know this is not the most organized space, but it does have quite a few things that are important for many quick meals.

• Canned soups (cream soups, as well as noodle soups) these can be used as the base of many meals, as well as a meal themself with a sandwich of course 
• Tomato sauce, pasta sauce, tomato paste, diced and/or stewed tomatoes. Many recipes call for these items and are always handy in the pantry.
• Chicken and beef broth
• Salsa
• Variety of pasta (I keep elbows, rotini, and spaghetti on hand at all times)
•  Cereal (always keep a box of plain cornflakes in addition to your breakfast favorites)
• Bread crumbs
• Biscut mix or pancake mix
• Baking supplies: Flour, sugar (both white and brown)
• baking mixes such as cake mix, and brownie mix - to satisfy that sweet tooth!
• Canned veggies such as olives, beans, sweet potatoes
• RICE - many, many meals can be put together with rice. I buy large amounts and store in a bucket I actually purchased in the pet section that is for storing pet food!
• Coffee - another must in our house. Keep some instant around as well for baking.
• Italian salad dressing - makes a great marinade and can be used in many recipes.

In addition to a prepared pantry, you should also have a prepared freezer. I stock up on bags of frozen veggies - peas, mixed, carrots, corn, italian blend, stir fry mix, really anything you like. Almost any meal can come together with some frozen veggies, rice, and a meat! Frozen bags are also VERY cheap usually running 1.50 for a big bag, sometimes less if you have a coupon.

For this blog I am going to share many recipes and tips for shopping once a month and having things on hand to make great meals all month long. I will admit that very few of the recipes I use are originally mine. I use quite a few internet sources and cooking sites to make my meals. However, I sometimes tweak or change things to better suit our tastes. The goal is to stick to a budget and eat good healthy meals.