At the beginning of this year we shared our foodie resolutions and goals relating to this website. One of them was to begin sharing posts covering topics that are considered to be “cooking essentials”. What exactly are cooking essentials?
In my opinion, the term “cooking essentials” is used to refer to everything that can be considered as basic kitchen knowledge. Topics that can be included are learning about ingredients, learning how to use kitchen equipment and of course, learning good cooking techniques.
Sounds simple enough, right? So first on the cooking essentials list is – Learning how to achieve a prepared pantry...
Below are a few simple ideas for having a prepared pantry at home:
The first suggestion I can make is to think about what type of meals you are most likely to cook before going food shopping. If you do this before stocking up your pantry, you are more than likely going to buy only those foods that you know you are going to be cooking with.
Once you have your groceries at home, use a cabinet that is in the coolest part of your kitchen – away from the oven! Make sure the cabinet you choose is dry. One thing I have found to help with maintaining a clean pantry, is to line the shelves with a wipe clean material.
Next, comes the fun part: packing the shelves. For most of us, we just put away the groceries where-ever they may fit; which is okay but if we are going to have a prepared pantry, let’s do it the right way!
Place the items that are going to be used more frequently in the front of the shelve. This way these items are easy to find and within reach. When storing bags of ingredients {such as flour and sugar} keep them lined together; same applies to foods that come packaged in boxes and those that are packaged in jars and cans.
The last recommendation for having a prepared pantry is to always regularly check the expiration dates on your purchased ingredients. Discard those foods that have expired and keep in mind that most packaged ingredients need to be stored in the fridge once they have been opened.
Whew! That wasn’t as bad as I thought! ….Keeping these tips in mind will certainly help you maintain a prepared pantry at home.
Now it’s YOUR turn: What does your pantry look like? Have any suggestions or tips to add? Let us know in the comments below!
This post content is extremely helpful, especially for new cooks like myself. I have certainly learned a lot from just this one post. Thank you and I look forward to reading the next Cooking Essentials post!