Stock your pantry with these 21 items

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

1. Cookbook-everyone should have at least one. I know it’s fast and easy to look up recipes on the Internet, but outages happen.

2. Flour-As the pandemic started this simple essential ingredient was hard to find. Flour makes bread with just a few other ingredients, it also makes pancakes, biscuits, and thickening for gravy, cookies, doughnuts, egg noodles; all comfort foods and we all needed a little comfort during times of stress.

3. Cornmeal- cornbread, polenta, crackers, and mush just to name a few that are delicious.

4. Yeast-Needed for bread but is ok for beer in a pinch.

5. Salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices like garlic, onion, oregano, basil, chili, cumin -Makes food tasty, avoid food boredom.

6. Milk- I keep powdered milk on hand for cooking with since what little milk that is in the house the husband drinks quickly. I also keep an extra couple of cans of evaporated and sweetened condensed milk in the pantry for recipes like pumpkin pie.

7. Rice-easy to cook, goes with almost everything, cheap and will even make a can of soup filling. Add in a fresh slice of your homemade bread and it becomes a feast.

8. Beans-canned, or dry for your soups, meatless burgers, chili, or enchiladas.

9. Sugar, brown sugar, honey, sweeteners of choice-I rarely use it anymore for anything and I use to be a sugar addict, but it does come in handy for occasional desserts like cookies or brownies. I also use it when I can beets, pickle relish, and other garden bounties.

10. Canned meat-I prefer fresh, but if you can’t get to the store due to bad weather, broken down cars, or maybe a pandemic; opening a can of tuna, chicken, or beef could save the day and stop those hunger pains quickly. I have been pressure canning meat this past week for quick hearty meals for this coming winter.

11. Canned fruits and vegetables-again, fresh is better, but canned will balance out a meal. Frozen is an option and can be added to soups, stews, pancakes, and desserts without getting mushy.

12. Pasta-it’s cheap, it stores for a long time. Add a sauce of your choosing, add meat, shrimp, a few spices, and you have yourself a hearty meal. I…