A Well Stocked Pantry~Wine

Wine really enhances the flavor of a lot of dishes.  Even if you do not drink wine, it's always great to have some on hand.  In the past I have normally poured wine into a recipe that we would be drinking from that night.  However, if you do not drink wine, but like to cook with wine there is a solution for you.  Dry wines are better to cook with than the sweeter wines, unless you are of course cooking something for dessert.  My husband has been gone for several months on deployment and he is my red wine drinker (I'm a white wine drinker.).  So, I purchased these tiny bottles of wine at the store to do the deed for my recipes or for those nights that I wanted to enjoy a glass of wine all by myself.  It's $9-$10 for 4 bottles, which to me is a great price, and you won't be wasting any by having to pour some down the drain.  Just please, whatever you do, do not use cooking wine. 

A Well Stocked.... Bowl

Alright, so you don't have to keep these items in a bowl, but for the most part I do so that they are handy and I can see at a glance when I am getting low.  I usually have on hand, yellow onions, red onions, shallots, garlic (Of course!!), some sort of squash (Here I have an acorn squash, but sometimes I have spaghetti squash or butternut squash in my bowl... zucchini is usually in the refrigerator.), different types of tomatoes (Never refrigerate tomatoes!), sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, lemons and limes (I do normally refrigerate the lemons and limes unless I am using them the day I bring them home from the store).  So, there you go, there are many, many recipes that call for these simple ingredients and are really easy to keep on hand.

A Well Stocked Freezer

This is a continuation of my "A Well Stocked..." entries.  I can't stress enough the importance of being prepared so that you aren't tempted to run out and go out to eat or eat junk, because of the fact that your pantry, fridge and freezer aren't properly stocked.  Or, how many times have you started a recipe just sure that you have all of the ingredients and then it turns out that you are missing one of the main components.  Frustrating for sure!

Let's go nuts!  Nuts are one of those items that are actually better if you keep in your freezer so that they do not go rancid on you.  You can store them in your freezer and pull them out as needed.  If you are so inclined, toasting them for a minute or two in a dry skillet will bring back their "freshness".  I have many varieties in my freezer and some are whole, chopped and others are actually ground.  Here's a look:

Here I have peanuts (that I keep in my pantry, not freezer), soy nuts, walnuts, pecans (from Texas!!), sunflower seeds, raw almonds, slivered almonds, and pine nuts.  I also like to make my own trail mix using a variety of nuts and seeds, that recipe will show up in a future post.

I usually put some sort of nut on  my salad and this particular week it was hazelnuts and so those are kept in my refrigerator.  Here they are.  I chopped them already so that they are ready to go!

Fruit is also a great addition to your freezer.  I always buy fruit, especially berries, when they are in season and at their cheapest.  That way I have fruit all year round.  Frozen fruit is great for things like pancakes, muffins, smoothies, crisps, etc.  Here is just a sample of what I have.  I currently have strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, bananas and pomegranate seeds in my freezer.  Not all of them made the photo shoot, but for some reason my ginger root did! Ha!  Yes, the freezer is a great place to store your fresh ginger root, it will last forever!

Of course I have plenty of vegetables, too.  Currently, I have frozen peas, corn, butternut squash, sugar snap peas, green beans, diced sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries.. I think you get the picture.

Also, cooking a bunch at one time and freezing is also a great way to save time on those rushed weeknights or days when you have unexpected company.  I don't have a lot of things in there right now, but I do have some tortilla soup, marinara sauce, vegetable samosas, taquitos, taco meat, chili, pesto... I think that is it.  OH... I do have fresh/frozen lemon and lime juice.  When lemons or limes go on sale, or when you buy too many that you aren't going to use, juice them all up and freeze them in icecube trays.  Once frozen, pop the cube out and put them all in a freezer bag.  Whenever you need lemon or lime juice pull one or two cubes out and defrost in the microwave for about twenty seconds or leave at room temperature for a little while.

All of these tips really do add up to great time and money savers!

A Well Stocked Pantry... Boxed or Prepared Items

Alright, so normally I do not buy packaged foods, but on occasion I do have on hand some healthy go-to options.  Here are some of those things.

Obviously peanut butter is a staple in our house.  It would be the best to grind your own, but I don't and I don't worry about it too much.  I don't like salmon in cans, but I do keep this salmon on hand for salmon croquettes.  Bacon, I love bacon, even though it is a no-no in the "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living".  If you buy the bacon pieces that I have above, it is a better choice if you are just wanting to add a little bacon to a recipe.  They have cooked it and stripped off all of the fat, so you don't have to worry about that.  Pita bread is another staple.  This is a go-to for lunch for me with hummus or other dips like that.  You can make little pizzas out of them and lots of other things.  I usually have some sort of boxed soup on hand for those nights that I have run out of time.  I have a great recipe for butternut squash soup, but the boxed soup will work in a bind or on a night that the hubster is left to his own devices.  I also like Kashi's crackers when I need a carb-crunch snack or something to go with my salad.  These are also good with hummus.  The organic stuffing is good and you can also use it for breadcrumbs.  You can pour them into a ziploc bag and smash them or throw them into a food processor and pulse until they are a good crumb.  I also love to make bruschetta, but I like to have Trader Joe's bruschetta when I am short on fresh, good tomatoes or if I have a last minute function to go to, if I have this I can just slice up some good, crusty bread and toast it and there you have a quick appetizer.  So, there you have it a few of my favorite go-to prepared foods that I like to have on hand.

A well stocked pantry... Canned Goods & Condiments

I don't keep too many canned foods in my pantry, because I don't like the taste of a lot of things in cans, a lot of times they are filled with extra sodium and other things as preservatives.  However, there are a few canned items that are always in my pantry. For a quick go-to meal I keep canned beans of all varieties in the pantry.  Just make sure you really drain and rinse the beans to get all of the extra "stuff" off of them.  I also keep coconut milk on hand for my Indian food nights.  I can't say enough good things about canned tomatoes, of all varieties!  They are canned very soon after being picked and if you choose the cans with "no salt added" you aren't getting a lot of extra sodium.  I buy stewed, crushed, whole, diced, tomatoes as well as tomato sauce and tomato paste.  I buy the San Marzano for my marinara sauce, but I buy whatever is on sale for my salsa tomatoes.  Also for salsa I keep a can of Rotel tomatoes.  I like to have corn on hand to throw onto salads sometimes.  Certain fruits are ok in a can to have in a pinch to make a quick fruit salad.  I usually have mandarin oranges and pineapple in cans in the fridge and then toss them with apples, kiwi, grapes and any other fruit I have on hand.  And, we always have green chilies ready to go for mexican night or to throw into a salsa.

There are a lot of things below that I always have on hand... Wheat Germ, Chili Paste, Satay Peanut Sauce, Dijon Mustard, Honey, Pure Maple Syrup, Raw Sugar, Ghee (clarified butter used in Indian cooking), Broth (vegetable, chicken and beef), Tahina (sesame seed paste used in making hummus), sea salt, ground back pepper and all of the spices you see in the back.

I LOVE salads!!!  One of the things that make them so fun for me is making different salad dressings.  I haven't bought bottled salad dressing in a very long time.  It is so easy to make your own, tastes so much better and is so good for you.  I keep a variety of vinegars on hand as well as different Asian sauces and good quality olive oil.  Mr. Apple Cider vinegar missed this photo shoot, but that is also a great vinegar to have on hand!

This is the good quality olive oil that I just mentioned.  When using extra virgen olive oil for making salad dressings please use a good one.  The taste will be worth it!  The oil you see on the right from Ybarra is actually the oil that I used to use when I lived in Spain.

This is just pure olive oil that I use in most of my cooking that requires a lot of oil for pan frying, etc.  It's cheaper than the oil above and since it isn't extra virgen that makes is a better oil used in frying.

A well stocked pantry... Grains

Anyone who enjoys cooking will be the first to tell you that one of the "must haves" is a well stocked ____________.  You can fill in the blank with a well stocked pantry, refrigerator or freezer.  There are items that are always, always in my kitchen and I thought I would share them you. 

Let's talk grains.  Grains are always great to have on hand for quick and versatile side dishes, vegetarian main dishes and even breakfast.  I try and buy whole wheat pasta and there is a pasta that is out there that has as much protein per serving as a chicken breast.  I use corn tortillas A LOT!  The Bomba rice that you see is a special rice from Spain that I use in my paella.  When cooked it opens up like an accordian and is yummy!  I use oats for my homemade granola and I prefer to make my own oatmeal than open up an instant package.  Couscous is just brilliant!  It's a blank canvas and only takes 5 minutes to cook!  Risotto rice is used in a lot of dishes, but I most frequently use it to cook Arancini (Italian rice balls). And then you have brown rice and barley, neither are really my favs, but they have earned a place in my kitchen for clean cooking.  I also have regular long grain rice and basmati rice (which is essential in Indian cooking), but they were too shy to come out and play.  Ok, so I forgot to get them out for their photo shoot!

Butter... mmmmmmm

In Deuteronomy 32:14 it mentions God giving us "butter of kilne" (cows).

As I stated in an earlier post, butter is much, much better for you than margarine! On page 129 in the book there are reports from studies that heart patients who ate margarine had twice as many heart attacks as those who ate butter. There is another report than when chickens were fed butter they had better bone formation and better insulin receptors than those that were fed vegetable oils. I can't find it at the moment, but there are also studies out there that show margarine has been linked to cancer and butter has actually been found to shrink cancer.

I am definitely not saying go out and start chewing on a stick of butter, not at all! I do, however, want to help you not be afraid of it after all of the bad media it has had over the years. Again, using it in moderation is fine. If you use lots of butter and/or margarine in your cooking try and switch to olive oil when you can, but I have another alternative for you. If you will take 1 stick (1/2 cup) of softened (not melted) butter and mix it with 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil you will have a very healthy alternative. It takes a lot of mixing with a whisk, fork or spoon, but the butter solids will eventually blend in with the oil making a great spread. Once mixed you can place in a covered container in the refrigerator and good news, it's spreadable! You will have the healthy principles from both the butter and the olive oil. Give it a shot!

Seasoning Salt

Is the item above, or one similar, a staple in your house? Is it sitting in your cupboard or on your kitchen table? If you like to cook and use recipes from our parent's generation there are many that call for seasoned salt. I actually love seasoned salt and what it does for different things in terms of flavor. Lots of restaurants use it on their steaks, potatoes, etc. Seasoned salt really is so bad for you because many brands use MSG, artificial ingredients to prevent caking in the jar, sugar and other ingredients that you may not realize that you are pouring onto your foods. I came across a recipe to make your own seasoned salt, a healthier version, but there are many make your own recipes out there so I encourage you to look around until you find something that fits your tastes.

Many, if not all, spices now come in Organic varieties, so try and look for those and sea salt is better than table salt. When I put mine together I did use organic ingredients and I used sea salt as the salt base. If you aren't sure about celery salt all that is is ground celery seed mixed with salt. Celery salt is yummy. I have a friend that puts it on her pizza after it finishes baking as well as many other things. As with normal salt, this is fine to cook with as long as it's done in moderation.

Here's the recipe:
3 Tablespoons of Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Sweet Paprika
2 Teaspoons Celery Salt
1 Teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 Teaspoon each of freshly ground black pepper, turmeric, onion powder, and cornstarch.

Mix it all up and put it into an airtight container until ready to use.  Makes 7 tablespoons of seasoning salt, just under 1/2 cup.  Here's a fresh batch I just made.