Stocking Up For The Unexpected

I prefer to make my own things, rather than take shortcuts with packet meals, but I've learnt that it's okay to use flavour bases and add your own touch.
It would be nice to be able to make pasta or pastry from scratch, but sometimes we don't have the time.

You don't have to pay a fortune, or be a masterchef, to make good meals. You just need to keep a few basics in the pantry, fridge and freezer.

I shop fortnightly, so I try to think ahead, not so much plan every meal, but have on hand what I need to make whatever we feel like.

My pantry is stocked full of different types of dried pasta, canned tomatoes, jars of pasta sauce, chicken & beef stock, rice, herbs and spices, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar,  as well as the previously blogged baking staples.

In the freezer, apart from the usual meat, I make sure I also have chicken fillets, mince and frozen puff pastry sheets on hand.

I hate chopping onions and garlic, its annoying and time consuming, so one of my tricks is to chop up a few onions at one time, them put them in a zip lock bag and keep in the freezer. This way I always have chopped onions on hand. As for the garlic, I buy minced garlic in a jar and keep it in the fridge for whenever its needed.

This weekend, I made a spaghetti bolagnaise, not the quick way I would always make it but a nice, flavoursome, slow cooked bolagnaise sauce, like it is supposed to be cooked.
I used mince, chopped onions, garlic, a jar of pasta sauce, a can of crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. It cooked for about 2 1/2 hours and it was beautiful.
It is probably the way a lot of you make it, but I am a bit of a shortcut queen, so I can usually whip up a spag bol in less than half an hour.

I also made a batch of cupcakes, for visitors. I haven't made cupcakes in ages, but as I mentioned, if you have the pantry well stocked, you can make anything at anytime.

The next day, I put roast beef in the slow cooker and went out for the afternoon.
When I come home, I put on some roast potatoes, veges and made some gravy.
No time, no effort, we had roast beef for dinner.

I suggest you take an itinerary of your pantry, make a list the basics you have, and the things you might need. Most things have a long shelf life, so its easy to stock up on things when they are on special.

We all have our own ways of doing things, learn from others and take ideas away.

We don't have to make gourmet meals, with expensive food, leave that for a night out and let the real chefs do the work.

BB