Hail, fellow makers and eaters of food!

I'm trying to really stock a pantry for the first time in my life, and beyond a few things (rice, dry beans, broth; baking stuff like flour and sugars) I'm not really sure where to go with this, so I'm coming to you for advice.

My goal is to have on-hand ingredients to create a variety of reasonably healthy homemade meals without having to be running to the store near-daily (except for perishables like meat, dairy, produce). Eventually I'd like to be able to look in the pantry and be inspired by what I see to make yummy things!

What are your staple ingredients? Favorite spices? Wish items? Other advice?

If you could fill a pantry, what would you put in it?

One reserve post for compilation :)

(Go ahead and post if you're so inclined :) - I'll come back and edit this away in a bit.)

A pantry is a dream of mine, I'm jealous! I'd love to be able to buy different pretty pasta shapes, and have big jars of those and lots of variety of beans and lentils and so on, one day!

I love chick peas, I like adding extra stuff to stews and so on, so beans/pulses pad things out a lot for me. That makes it sound like I cook amazing stews, which I do not. I tend to start off with a packet mix, and add way more to it than it says on the back of the pack. Sometimes I end up having to use 2 mixes because I've run out of liquid to cover all the veggies etc. One day I'd like to learn to add flavour myself with herbs etc.

I've discovered I love tarragon, I like putting it in scrambled eggs. I'm going to get some seeds and grow my own indoors. Might not get a harvest, but I love growing herbs anyway, they look and smell so nice. =3

Frozen veggies, while not a pantry item, are an absolute staple for me. If I have to cut up loads of veggies to make dinner, I'm likely to just not do it and end up eating mac n' cheese. So my frozen staples are:

• A good mixed vegetable selection. "California" or "florentine" mixes are good (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots). There are lots of other tasty veggie mixes to play with too, but the california mix is the one I find to be the most versatile.
• Chopped spinach. You can throw it into literally anything for a nutritional bonus
• Frozen cabbage. Can't really find this in stores, so I just buy a cabbage, chop it all up on a high-energy day, and then throw it in a zip bag for later.
• A bell pepper and onion mix. Alternatively, buy them fresh, chop, and freeze
• Soybeans! Great for tossing in stir fries or anything remotely resembling a stir fry.
• Green beans
• Asparagus

Avoid frozen potatoes, they're always gross.

Next up are canned goods. My favs:

• A good variety of beans. Black beans, navy beans, chick peas/garbanzo beans, and butter beans are my favorites.
• Corn
• Cream of celery. It looks gross coming out of the can, but it's excellent for adding some creaminess to soups, casseroles, or those "I don't know what this is I just cooked some meat and veggies in a pan????" sort of things
• Tomatoes, cut to your liking

Other pantry things:

• Cartons of broth or bullion cubes. Instant soup base, yay
• The wet kind of minced garlic, like this. If you like garlic, don't mess around with those little baby food-size jars of them. That huge jug there is what I get. I put heaping spoonfuls in everything.

And a good array of spices helps, too! If looking at the single spices overwhelms you, look at the mixes and pick out the ones you think sound good.

I'm gonna add cornmeal to my "list". I bought some to make bread products with, but since I've tried making polenta with it it's definitely going to become a staple for me. Shame it's not sold, like not anywhere, in this county. -.- Yay for Ebay!

Have you tried polenta as a carb, Cherry? It's not labour-intensive.

How to Make Creamy Stovetop Polenta Cooking Lessons from The Kitchn | The Kitchn

No, I haven't! Ease is definitely a plus for me. Can't say it looks terribly appealing though - sort of like grits? So you're gonna need to sell me on its awesomeness.

I've never had grits, so I can't compare. The stuff onthat page that I linked to looks much courser than the cornmeal I use. I don't want to sell you on it then you buy some and don't like it. >< If someone you know can give you quarter of a cup of course cornmeal give it a try though.

Is it just sort of a gritty pasty thing? :/ Could you mix a lot of vegetables in with it, maybe, to make it more like a creamy sauce-type-thing instead of a big bowl of goo, maybe?

It's probably too firm a texture for that, it's not runny. Is grits more of a porridge/oatmeal texture then? Polenta does firm completely as it cools, then you can slice and fry or grill it. So it's very versatile. I can tell you're not keen, lol. If you get a chance to try a sample of it though, go for it :)

To be honest, I've never had grits either. Just looks like a big bowl of slightly gray slop. No thanks. Firming into a more bread-like texture would be good, though.

Not bread, nope. Not sure how to describe. Chi: help me out here.

It is very hard to describe, isn't it? It's soft, yet firm. You can chew it, yet you don't necessarily have to. Erm... that kind of portrayal makes it sound nasty, but it's not! I swear.

It's thicker and firmer than oatmeal. When you cook it, it sticks to the spoon. If you put it into a mold, it would come out in that shape after cooling, most definitely.

Like Jelly said, you can cut it and fry it once it's been cooled, and it retains its shape. Some people will cube polenta, fry it, and make a crisp-soft crouton type creation out of it! :)

It stays moist, Cherry, it's not dry like bread. It sets is maybe a good term? Hmm. There are oatmeally similarilities, I guess. Behavioural ones. xD

Just look out for some course cornmeal being on offer. Using it for polenta is just one of the many things you can do with it. It's nice for using as a breadcrumb coating alternative. It replaces part of the flour in a lot of baking recipes (cornbread ) I think it's worth you trying it because it is a really versatile ingredient. It's down to you finding some at a price you're willing to pay considering you might not like it, plus that time/effort thing again.

Cornmeal Recipes : Food Network : Recipes and Cooking : Food Network

So maybe like a very soft tofu. Well, it sounds interesting, so I'll keep an eye out!

I've just cooked some more >< When it's soft I'd say it's akin to mashed potato. Soft and creamy. This time I've added garlic, sage and tarragon to it (and salt and black pepper) and I've put it in the bowl I like to eat from and put it in the fridge to firm up. Then I'm going to see about cooking it in my griddle pan (solely for the lines, lol) then put it back in the bowl and top it with...something!

Don't forget dried fruits and veggie chips! I wish I had a pantry to stock up on things like this. They're a perfect anytime snack, and go great in grain-based dishes. Also quinoa. EVERYONE is telling me to eat this stuff. Actually saw a good dish this morning where you use quinoa like oatmeal and add milk and fruits to it.

I don't know if I've mentioned this here or in a different site, but oatmeal+raisins+craisins+chocolate chips tossed in a microwave and mixed with a splash of milk is like eating a hot, chocolate drizzled breakfast bar. If you take out the chocolate chips and make it 2 parts fruit and 1 part oatmeal with enough water to cook them you get your own personal fruit crumble.

I was underwhelmed with quinoa when I tried it. I did use all the box up, but it took quite a while as I'd rather have wholewheat couscous or bulgar wheat. I think I just found it too small and bitty, plus it's not cheap.

As I've gotten *cough* older, I've developed intolerances to some grains. I blame mac n cheese and too much wonder bread. So, our pantry has some decent organic rices and we've been experimenting to gluten-free flour options. Let's just say the words "nasty" and "gross" are frequently heard with some of the baked goods we try to make with the flours. We have a steady collection of broth in those funky septic (?) boxes and nut butters, mostly for the kids. I need to focus more effort on stocking a pantry since the majority of our groceries are produce, meat, and eggs. We need more in dry/canned goods case of the zombie apocalypse.

CHICK PEAS!



Not that I have a thing for them, no, not at all!

Homemade hummous...

My experience with quinoa was that it tasted like birdseed smelled and I couldn't really get into that. I'd be willing to try it again, but I'm not chomping at the bit for the opportunity.

Jelly: Hummus is so good! I like getting the three pack we have with plain, garlic, and roasted pepper. Thinking I may try making it soon, too.

Swift: Do you have Hulu? There was a new episode of Shark Tank (million/billionaires sit and listen to pitches and buy stock in up-and-coming products that could change the world) and this guy was pimpin' some super protein bars that had 50% more protein than the average bar/shake/milk without that chalky flavor. His secret? Cricket flour. He is the only person in America with FDA approved bug product of this magnitude. There are no "extra bits", it's all ground up, and you can't even taste it when it's been added. He made a pretty awesome deal to quit the protein bar route and go straight to wholesale with his four. If you got to The Original Cricket Energy Bar you find out that it actually started as a movement to conserve water. One of their facts is that for every 100 gallons of water you could get six grams of protein from a cow, OR you could get 71 grams from crickets

Another favorite that I need to add to my pantry is 'Mango Mango' Mango Preserves - a gourmet mango preserve The mango chicken curry in their recipe section looks amazing. Or their idea to use mango mango to sweeten tea or lemonade instead of sugar.

Gonna be honest, when I buy a jar of preserves I'm likely to just sit down with it and a little spoon.

I do that too often with strawberry and raspberry jam. Occasionally blackberry.

You know what's really good? Replacing cinnamon with with with brown sugar and using jam instead of frosting on a cinnabun. It's just... oh my god.

And has anyone mentioned vinegar yet? Both white and apple cider are both great bulk additions to a pantry for cooking, cleaning, and even home remedies.

I used to get this apricot preserve that had huge chunks of apricot in with it along with the more jam-like bits. Oh my goodness, I could have spooned that into my mouth for eternity.

Haha, I totally agree about the flavour of quinoa xD

Making your own hummous is to be recommended. As long as you're not expecting it to last any amount of time.