As you see, Mother Hubbard does not have a bare cupboard.

A tiny pantry can hold a lot of food!

Im one of those people who pops into Whole Foods or Target to grab milk or apples and sees something else, like a new type of sausage or a vegetable I’ve never tried, and thinks, “Hey, that looks good.  I don’t have anything at home for dinner, I’ll pick this up.”

The truth is, though, I do have things at home for dinner.  A lot of things.

I have a pantry closet which, at first, looks small.  But the shelves are deep and tall.   You can cram a lot in those shelves.  Same with my freezer.  I could survive for months on this food.  What I haven’t been doing is actually cooking anything!

I have beans (lima, cranberry, kidney, navy, red, turtle, soldier) and rice (arborio, black, red, wild, long-grain brown).  Grains (amaranth, quinoa, oatmeal).  Pasta (orzo, spaghetti, egg and rice noodles).  Chickpeas, dried peas, lentils (French blue, black and common red).   Flour (white, wheat, blue corn, polenta and red corn, rye).   Various vinegars, spices, and lots of olive and sesame oil.  Canned tuna, salmon, chicken and shrimp.  The freezer is packed with steaks, roasts, stewing and ground meats, whole chickens, a wide variety of fish and shellfish and frozen vegies and pierogies.   

Mother Hubbard would probably kill for my pantry. 

So I’m going to use this food.  Starting today, Ive made a vow to only buy 1) staples — milk, eggs, butter; and 2) something unusual ONLY if it’s on sale and ONLY if I use it that day. 

I have a massive collection of recipes, love to cook and can’t wait to start.