Don't Forget!

I try to keep my kitchen pretty well stocked, but with how much I cook, it is easy to forget a couple things from the store sometimes. However, forgetting something important at the store is something that I really try to avoid - as any stay at home parent knows, with two little kids it's practically impossible to simply "run to the store." Without mentioning the obvious items such as butter, milk, etc., there are a few things that I never allow myself to run out of, and if you cook most nights, I recommend you keep them on hand as well! Much of this might be obvious to you if you do much work in the kitchen, but check it out anyway - it might inspire something new for you :)

Garlic

There is so much you can do with garlic. It comes in many forms and can be used in practically any type of dish. I always keep fresh garlic in my kitchen as well as garlic powder. If you are looking for an easy way to make something like scrambled eggs more exciting, just add a little garlic powder in with your salt and pepper! Using fresh crushed garlic is a great way to add flavor to butter or olive oil when cooking. If you're searing a roast before putting it in the oven or crock-pot, simply add oil to a hot pan, add a couple cloves of pealed and crushed garlic once oil is hot, let garlic cook for 1-2 minutes, then add your roast. After another minute or two, remove and discard garlic cloves and finish searing your roast. I always add minced garlic when cooking things like taco meat, or fajita veggies - just mix one or two minced cloves (a small teaspoon or so if using the prepared garlic from a jar) into your pan while cooking - super easy and makes such a difference. If you keep fresh garlic in your kitchen, you can easily roast a couple of bulbs and store the roasted cloves in a bit of olive oil in a little jar and use it as needed on pizzas, in sauces, or with anything else that needs some extra flavor!

*The smaller the the garlic is prepared, the stronger the flavor will be. Garlic powder will be more widely distributed throughout the dish than garlic slivers or crushed garlic, plus when spices are dried (such as garlic powder), their flavor becomes stronger.

Pasta

Oh pasta, how I love you. Everyone should always keep at least one box, or bag, frozen, fresh, or dried, in their kitchen at all times. With pasta, the possibilites are endless. You can find filled pasta, wheat pasta, gluten-free pasta, potato pasta (gnocchi), chile pepper pasta, practically anything that you can imagine or ask for. Pasta is not limited to traditional Italian dishes, either. Egg noodles are awesome with beef stroganoff, or Swedish meatballs. Cajun chicken, or shrimp dishes are great with linguini, and many Thai/Asian dishes are just as good with pappardelle (long wide noodles) if you don't have rice or rice noodles around. I always have different types of pasta in my kitchen because different types and shapes are better for certain sauces, so if you want to experiment with a variety of flavors and dishes, keep a variety of noodles on hand.

*Always cook your pasta al dente, especially if it's going into a baked dish like lasagna - as the dish bakes, the pasta will cook a bit more in the sauce. There's nothing worse than overcooked pasta!

Fresh Fruit

In the last few years, I have found that fresh fruit is the best snack. While I was pregnant I began keeping more fruit in the house, 1) because it's obviously great for you, and 2) because I always wanted sweets. Ever since, I have always had at least two kinds of fresh fruit in my kitchen at all times. My favorites are bananas, pineapple and berries. Bananas are great because they're so simple - you grab it, you peel it, you eat it. You can take them to work for breakfast if you're running late and they give you a little extra energy. They're the perfect food for kids of any age - mash them up for you infant, or begin peeling it for your toddler and they can do the rest! Bananas are great sliced into stuffed French toast, a peanut butter sandwich, or mixed into pancake batter. Not to mention one of the best uses of a banana comes when they're past their prime - banana bread!

Pineapple is not only one of my favorite fruits, but one of my favorite foods. As a whole, it simply looks awesome, I love buying fresh pineapple. Don't be intimadated by cutting a fresh pineapple, try it once and you will find out how surprisingly easy it is to do. All you really have to do is (using a very sharp knife) lay the pineapple on it's side and cut off the top and bottom. Stand it up on one end and remove the rest of the outside by cutting it off in strips. I like to remove the core by slicing the fruit off vertically in long pieces while it's still standing on end. Last, cut long pieces into desired sized chunks and you're done! By the way, the core is super sweet, so I recommend doing this at least once - hold the core like an ear or corn, dig your teeth in and such the juice out... I swear, it's delicious! Also, if you have a teething baby, stick the core in the feezer and give it to baby later like you would a teether toy :) What is there to say about fresh berries that you don't already know... probably nothing, everyone knows how many kinds there are, how delicious they are and everyone has a favorite... so maybe I'll just share how they're most commonly used in my house. In cereal - we love blueberries and strawberries in pretty much any cereal. In pancakes - mix some blueberries or raspberries into your pancake batter for an extra sweet breakfast treat. In fruit crisps or pies - if you're ever baking an apple or peach pie, mix in some fresh berries if you have them. Berries do not only make your dish more tasty, I promise it will also be more beautiful!