Thrifty Thursday: Frugal Pantry Essentials

Do you ever get home and realize that you have nothing for dinner?  Do you ever look around your kitchen and say, "We don't have any food!" even though there is stuff in the house.  It doesn't matter how much time and effort you put into grocery shopping and getting the deals if you can't get dinner on the table.  I make a monthly meal plan but everything doesn't always go according to plan so it is always good to have some pantry essentials in your cupboards so that you can make a fast and yummy dinner. 

1. Pasta- It is the best long term stored item that you can make into an easy and quick dinner.  There are so many different types from spaghetti to penne which can be used for different recipes to make it feel like you aren't having the same meal every night.  We all like different pasta so everyone gets a turn at having their favorite pasta...sadly, my son gets his turn more often then not with plain spaghetti.  Keep some meatballs in the freezer to make a yummy spaghetti and meatballs or go with the Olive Oil Pasta if you don't want the red sauce.  If you have some zucchini in the fridge, you might want to check out this amazing recipe for Fried Zucchini Pasta or Lemon Parmesan Pasta.  Want to go crazy and use it for something other than an Italian dish, try Spicy Szechuan Noodles or some lo mein dish.

2. Rice- We like white rice much more then brown rice but we keep both.  Because brown rice takes so long, I usually make it ahead and freeze in portions that my family will eat. White rice is easy to make up in a pot or to make a simple fried rice with some broth.  Change it up a little and make some Mexican Rice to go with tacos.  This is one of the most versatile side dishes and we used to eat it almost every night before we had my son but now we have to mix it up to keep him interested in dinner.  You can mix in a little tomato sauce and meat and make a quick Spanish rice or Stuffed Peppers.

3. Spaghetti Sauce (and tomato paste)- It can be used to make spaghetti.  We also use it to top a pizza or dip other foods in like Not So Fried Zucchini and Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bites.  I use tomato paste to thicken the sauce if it is too watery and I also use it in my Salsa Sloppy Joe recipe.  It is the base of at least one meal a week in our house.

4. Olive Oil and other oils-  I can whip up a great Olive Oil Pasta when we can't figure out anything else for dinner.  It takes very few ingredients and they are all in my pantry (and spice cupboard).  They are needed for essential ingredients in lots of other cooking and baking and to pan fry anything.

5. Spices-  We have a lot of spices in our cupboards of varying usage.  The funny thing is that I thought that I used a lot of spices before but now that I am cooking even more from scratch, I go through spices really quickly.  I called my mom the other day because she filled my spice jar of paprika when she was visiting last time and I already used it all.  I really don't think that it has been too long but it is the main spice in my Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes recipe so I guess doing the containers of those used up most of my stock.  I had never used cumin or thyme before and I use them a lot more now and my new found love of marjoram.  Do you see the Paprika jar off to the left of the picture?  We tried the shelf to have the spices on different levels and I spent most of time picking up all the spices that I knocked over so we just keep them straight on the shelf now.

6.  Pancake Mix- Whether you cook from scratch or Aunt Jemima, this is a great thing to have in the pantry because you can whip up a quick and easy breakfast for dinner any night of the week and the whole family will be happy!  Dinnertime is when we usually take the time to make waffles which I don't usually do in the morning because we are rushing out to school so we enjoy having them at dinnertime and we all have our favorite toppings from syrup to cinnamon and sugar.  We all enjoy our pancakes and waffles from my homemade pancake mix and yummy Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.

7. Soup- We are not a big soup family but we do like soup when it is cold and my husband requires it when he is sick (claiming that Campbell's chicken noodle is the only thing that makes him better).  It is also great when you get to dinnertime and you forgot to defrost the meat.  If you put soup with crackers or toast, you have a nice meal that will fill you up. My soups are hidden behind those but they are baked potato and Italian Wedding soup.  We also enjoy our Chicken and Rice Casserole which is made with cream of chicken soup.

8. Baking Mix- Whether you like to use Biscuit or Jiffy Baking Mix or make your own, this is a great thing to have in the cupboard.  You can expand any meal with some nice drop biscuits, 7UP Sour Cream Biscuits, or Greek Yogurt Biscuits. If you need more of a meal, try some Cheesy Garlic Pizza Bites.  It can be used for breading chicken as well!

Click on any of the links to the original recipe if you want to try out these great recipes.  We use them all the time- sometimes because they are planned and other times when the plan doesn't go exactly right.  I can always make a meal from the items above and sometimes I add a little something from the freezer to make it a little more full but we always have these things in the house just in case.  Perfect for us or when we have company!!

What do you keep in your pantry so that you can quickly throw together a meal for your family?  Are there any go to recipes that you keep in the back of your head if you need a meal quickly?  Do you always have those things in the house?