How to stock a basic pantry

Teach: How to stock a basic pantry

What to say

Stock a basic pantry around the dinners you actually make: a long-lasting starch or two, such as rice and dried pasta, canned proteins like tuna and beans, jars and cans that make a sauce, a cooking oil, and a short shelf of seasonings. Add onions, garlic and potatoes in a cool dark spot and a bag of frozen vegetables, and write down what runs low before you shop.

What to show, in order

1. List five dinners you make often and write down the shelf-stable parts of each.
2. Keep two starches, such as long-grain rice and one dried pasta shape.
3. Keep canned proteins: tuna or salmon, chickpeas and one other bean.
4. Keep sauce makers: canned crushed tomatoes, a jar of salsa or curry paste, and broth.
5. Keep one neutral cooking oil, one vinegar, salt, black pepper and three seasonings you use.
6. Store onions, garlic and potatoes somewhere cool and dark, apart from each other.
7. Keep a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and a loaf of bread in the freezer.
8. Write an item on the shopping list the moment you open the last one.

The check question

Ask: What should decide what goes in your pantry? Answer: The dinners you actually cook

From EveryManSkills. General information, not professional advice.