The Prepared Pantry

With today’s busy lifestyles, a well-stocked pantry can be a lifesaver when it comes to meal time. Having the right ingredients on hand makes it easy to put together healthy meals in minutes, and ShopRite’s annual Can Can sale is the perfect time to stock up on canned goods.

 Let’s get started.  First, take stock:  Check what kinds of canned goods, staples, grain, and rice products you have on hand.  

Create a Shopping List:  Once you’ve determined what you have on hand, it’s time to make a list of what you need. Make a list of needed items and family favorites — there’s no point in stocking up on foods that nobody in your family will eat, no matter how great the bargain.   

Canned goods: Canned goods will make up the bulk of your purchases. With everythin gfrom vegetables and fruit to soups, milk, beans, meats, and seafood, canned goods offer an array of budget-conscious staples on which to build many meals. Plus, canned goods have a long shelf life, usually two years or more from the date of purchase, which means there’s less waste and spoilage. 

Canned fruits and vegetables are an easy, convenient, and affordable way to increase consumption of produce.  For the best nutritional value, choose canned fruit that’s packed in its own juice and no-salt-added or reduced-sodium varieties of canned vegetables.  Canned beans can be great meal-starters, plus they’re an excellent source of protein and fiber.  Dried beans are even less expensive, but you can’t beat canned beans for convenience.  

Pasta, rice, and grains: After selecting an assortment of canned goods, focus on whole grains such as brown rice and whole-wheat pasta. They can be mixed and matched with canned meats, seafood, beans, or vegetables to stretch your budget dollar.  

Condiments and more: You’ll also want to keep a variety of condiments, sauces, oils, and seasonings on hand. At a minimum, stock ketchup, mustard, low-fat mayonnaise, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, canola oil, and a variety of vinegars and salad dressings. To punch up the flavor of simple foods, stock seasonings, such as salt, pepper, basil, bay leaves, oregano, tarragon, curry powder, chili powder, and cumin.   

Organize a Pantry

After you’re done shopping, it’s time to organize. If your pantry is a jumble of canned goods, pasta, and other ingredients, you may find it hard to locate items. When setting up a pantry, whether it’s a few shelves or an entire walk-in pantry, keep the “like with like” rule in mind. Store canned vegetables in one section, tomato products in another, and pasta in a different area, etc., so you can find what you need and replenish when stocks are low. And even though pantry items have a long shelf-life, it’s a good idea to label foods with a date so that you can rotate foods and use a “first in, first out” approach to assure freshness, safety and quality. 

Pantry Meals in Minutes

Here are some easy pantry meal ideas that can be whipped up in minutes:

• Black bean chili made with canned black beans, canned tomatoes, and chili powder. Serve with rice and canned fruit. Hearty vegetable soup made with canned chicken broth, canned vegetables, canned tomatoes, and canned beans or chicken. Serve canned fruit for dessert.
• Tuna and white bean salad made with canned tuna, canned white beans, canned drained diced tomatoes, and low-fat salad dressing.