We all have those times, usually right before grocery shopping day, when you look in the pantry and there are those few things that are always there but that don’t necessarily together a meal make.  We thought it would be amusing to think about the five things that are always in our pantries even when it seems that there is nothing to eat!

I have to say, this was a rather amusing exercise in self discovery!

These are the things in my pantry ALWAYS!

• Pasta of some kind.  I don’t know how it happens, but there are often random boxes of pasta left, none of which contain enough to make a meal even for the two of us.  On weeknights when I don’t feel like making a “real” dinner after work, we’ll often have random shapes of pasta with equally random toppings – sauce if there happens to be some in the freezer or sautéed broccoli and garlic in olive oil or, in really desperate times, with just butter and parmesan cheese.
• Oatmeal  I always have oatmeal.  It’s one of those things that as soon as it looks like there is only 3 or 4 servings left, I manage to get on the grocery list…and never forget to buy.  Oatmeal, with various toppings, always satisfies me for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
• Crackers  They may be stale, but there are always some kind of crackers in the pantry – saltines, oyster crackers, graham crackers, animal crackers.  We are equal opportunity cracker-eaters!
• Peanut Butter  It might be a jar of peanut butter.  Or it could be PB2 powder, either plain peanut butter or chocolate peanut butter, but there is always something!
• Canned Soup  We usually eat homemade soup because it is easy to make and one of those things that I enjoy making.  But for some reason, there is always at least one can of soup in the pantry, most often it is Progresso Homestyle Chicken Noodle.  You never know when you might need a can of chicken noodle soup!

We’ll probably never starve, but I can’t promise that I will always prepare a well-balanced meal!  But carbs????   I’ve got carbs. 🙂  What does your pantry say about you?

from Tracey G.

I agree with Kris – this post idea forced me to survey and recognize the items I always seem to have and sometimes I buy 2 of on accident because one gets shoved to the back or for some reason I get it in my head I’m out of it!

I’m not sure any of my always-in-my-pantry items could be a full meal either – rather bits and pieces of one that’s still in need of something else to bring it together, but here we go:

• Pasta – Yep, it’s always in my pantry as well. It’s been a very rare thing jndeed if I’m ever out of it, usually I too have a variety of types on hand. You never know – it can come on handy, it can be a base or vehicle for something else or season/flavor it up and it’s fine on its own!

• Soy Sauce (Low Sodium version) – It can always be found in either my fridge or pantry. This is one of those items I recently had in my head that I was out of (and thereby making me think I wasn’t able to make up some Thai peanut sauced noodles argh!) and now have 2 bottles. Oh well, it’s versatile and will get used!

• Tomato Sauce – There’s always at the very least, one can. Always. The world would be upside down if I didn’t have any. I don’t even know how to imagine pantry-life without it…

• Canned Beans – A bit of a variety there too but black beans are always there as well as fat free refried beans. There’s been a few nights when it’s just Harry and I, that we’ve made simple bean burritos out of refrieds for dinner!

• Instant Mashed Potatoes & Instant Brown Rice (and Instant White Rice too) – Kind of a tie between those two actually. I am never without either one and they’ve come in handy more times than I can count! And I imagine their uses pretty self evident, but they are rather versatile as well!

It’s funny, but I could list a few more things that are always on hand, and I had a hard choice of which to list a couple times! Most of the time all I have to do is provide the fresh items because I have an obsession with having a well-stocked pantry – but that doesn’t always mean I feel like cooking from it!