"Keep-Around" Ingredient List

We're a young couple. We don't have unlimited funds to stock our pantry, so I always budget shop. Although, I must admit, if we had a Whole Foods Market in our area I would buy lots of fresh produce there. But we don't. We live in a small town where the nearest chain grocery store is located in the next town over. This often limits my options for supplies, and all those fancy ingredients some recipes call for. Nevertheless, there are several things that I always like to keep around in order to create/have quick meals. They are things that don’t expire quickly, since cooking for two often means not knowing when and how you will fix fresh ingredients. Here's a helpful list:

1. Chicken Stock (Carton or Can)

2. Frozen Vegetables (A good variety, including mixes)

3. Canned Vegetables (especially mushrooms and diced tomatoes)

4. Frozen Meal (Bertolli type or similar)

5. Frozen Protein (ex: Perfect Portion Chicken from Perdue put in freezer or Tilapia Fillets)

6. Onions

7. Potatoes and the occasional Sweet Potatoes

8. Olive Oil

9. Minced or Fresh Garlic (little jars)

10. Pasta (different varieties, including Tortellini)

11. Couscous or Rice (Brown or White Minute Rice is great!)

12. Jars of Pasta Sauce (variety)

13. Cream of Chicken/Cream of Mushroom cans

14. Bag of Bacon Bits

15. Frozen Pizza (We all love Pizza!) :)

16. Spices and Dried Herbs

a. Salt & Pepper

b. Paprika

c. Cayenne Pepper

d. Some type of All Spice (Chef’s Blend, ect)

e. Basil

f. Parsley

g. Garlic Salt or Powder

h. Beef and Chicken Bouillon Cubes

i. Any other type of spices/herbs or like

17. Eggs

18. Flour

19. Sugar (Granulated, Brown, and Powdered)

20. Butter (unsalted)

Then there are several fresh ingredients I try to keep around that are great! The only thing is that I have to have a plan for them within the coming week! So here’s that list:

1. Fresh Baby Bella or regular mushrooms

2. Carrots

3. Tomatoes

4. Cheese

5. A Bottle of cheaper Wine for sauces

Then, of course, I often have certain meals in mind while at the grocery store, and I will stock up on those individual ingredients at that time. I’m also big on using my resources. There are cooking magazines, websites, and books out there for a reason! And I use these recipes often. You don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” when cooking- I like to use what’s out there or make individualized adaptations. However, the items in the first list will definitely provide meals for two without additional ingredients or complicated recipes. I will try to prove this to you throughout my cooking journal!

Objective of this Blog

I have contemplated about starting this blog for quite a while now. I really enjoy cooking and really think it’s a great way to bond with friends or family. In between jobs, night classes, and other life stresses it really is nice to sit together, enjoy a balance meal, and talk about our day. It’s a time that Justin and I cherish. I’m normally the one cooking though (Justin grills on nice days) and sometimes it just isn’t the easiest to cook after a long day and especially the added difficulty of cooking for two. Since we’ve been living together, I have started to come up with some helpful techniques that have made this process less problematic. I’m also in that age range where a lot of my friends are also beginning to get married, living with our significant other, or actually starting to have to cook for ourselves (post-college cafeteria). So, there may be other’s that could benefit from sharing these little discoveries and recipes.

Since, formal cookbooks sometimes call for rare or expensive ingredients that stretch a young couple’s budget, adapting recipes is key. I plan to blog about our dinners, including how to make it, with the hope that it may help or inspire others that share our situation. They’re not fancy, but sometimes it’s hard to come up with something quickly, so these simple meals work great for us.

Now, I’ll be realistic, I don’t cook every night of the week. We really enjoy eating out every Friday night. So, unless it’s a special dinner, I don’t cook on Fridays. Then there are the occasional other times when it just doesn’t work out, and I think that’s okay too. However, for the most part I strive to create a delicious, well-balanced meal for the two of us through out the week. We do have a wedding to get ready for, aside from trying to be healthy, so I don’t cook with a lot of fats or sugars. Let’s just say I do my educated best to have yummy, yet healthy dinners. (Justin agrees that they taste good too!)

Please feel free to comment, make suggestions, and definitely be sure to let me know if you tried a recipe and it worked out for you! I’m really excited to see how/where this goes! :)

About Me

I am getting married in August! :)

I love cooking for my future hubby, but life gets busy (as it does for everyone), and this sometimes becomes a challenge. We’re young, we have lots of things we are doing to get ourselves established in the “real-world”, and we often don’t have the extra time to cook a balanced, delicious dinner. Not to mention the fact that most of us are inexperienced chefs, myself included, who are still learning the ins and outs of cooking.

My Fiancé and I have been living together for a little over six months, and I have discovered some little tricks that allow us to have great meals, and most importantly enjoy each other’s company after our hectic days.

We all know it’s hard to cook for two and especially after running around all day. So, I want to share our experience with others; young couples who enjoy spending that extra valuable time with our “other-half” while, enjoy yummy food! I hope you can benefit from this information to enhance the cooking experience for you and your love bug! :)