I love to cook and bake. And I have a recipe blog. (Although I don't update that on a regular basis.) And I'm short on time, so I am borrowing an idea I saw a week or so ago on another Top Ten list. Here are the top ten pantry staples that I have on hand all the time.
1. Onions - face it, onions make everything (except sweets!) taste better
2. Carrots - an inexpensive vegetable that I keep cut up in the fridge at all times (I don't buy the baby carrots anymore since I learned that they are dipped in bleach to help them keep their bright orange color)
3. Flour - all-purpose, whole wheat, and bread flours, I use them all! I haven't experimented with other flours yet as I haven't found a good source for them.
4. Raisins - one of our favorite snacks. And I learned yesterday (by reading the label) that you're supposed to refrigerate raisins after you open them. I guess to preserve freshness, but we eat them almost every so they don't have time to go bad in our house!
5. Pasta of some sort - spaghetti, elbow macaroni, rotini, we definitely love our pasta!
6. Ragu traditional spaghetti sauce - I am loyal to Ragu because they don't have High Fructose Corn Syrup in the sauces. And I can doctor up the traditional sauce to fit whatever type of meal of making, I even use it as our pizza sauce.
7. Canned tomatoes - so many uses for canned tomatoes!
8. Old-fashioned oats - our usual breakfast is oatmeal, but I also use oats in a lot of baking
9. Unsweetened applesauce - I mix this with our oatmeal, but also use it in baking to sub out half of the oil or butter.
10. Yogurt - I have tried to make my own yogurt but it hasn't worked yet. I usually buy plain non-fat yogurt; I can use it in cooking or baking instead of sour cream, and I can add some honey and peanut butter for a yummy snack!
It was difficult to keep this list at just ten pantry items! I bake all of our bread and make sauces from scratch instead of using canned cream-0f soups (due to allergies).
For more Top Ten lists, don't forget to visit ohamanda.com.
Good for you for being a baker! I have dreams of one day being a baker, but honestly, I don't have the patience for it!
ReplyDeleteI do plan to try the biscuits on your recipe blog though!
GASP! I did not know that about the baby carrots. Even the organic ones? I've cut down on buying/serving carrots bc of the sugar content, but I still like to have them on hand for quick snacks. But not baby carrots if they are bleached. Ick.
ReplyDeleteGreat list :)
Hey, about yogurt there is a web site that does yogurt in the crock pot. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks easy enough.
ReplyDelete365crockpot blog, I think...The gal's name is stephanie