Back to Basics

The simple phrase, “Getting Back to Basics”,  has been going through my head since I have been setting up my camp kitchen with “basics” and while I was concocting the elk stew melange earlier this week.

Basics, in my mind, are learning basic cooking skills such as sauteing, stock making, baking, yeast bread baking, roasting meat, basically cooking from scratch.  Basics are good to know in an emergency and as part of a family preparedness plan.

Not surprisingly, basics are often quite economical and budget friendly ingredients and recipes.  Basics are ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs, milk, salt, vegetables, fruits, bread, and cheese.

Basic vegetables in a pantry would include potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, cabbage and celery.

Basic fruits in my house are based on what is in season.  Right now strawberries, pineapple, apples, bananas, and oranges were on sale at my grocery store so that is what I bought.  Here is the complete Master Pantry List that I work from when re-stocking basics.

If all this back to basics cooking sounds a little too complex and confusing to you I discovered there are numerous websites that enable you to list what items you have on hand and then generate useful recipes to try out.  Check out http://www.recipematcher.com/ which enables you to type in a list of ingredients on hand and then select the type of cuisine you are trying to prepare such as breakfast, American, Mexican, Chinese, side dish, healthy, Vegetarian, Crock Pot or 30 Minute Meal, etc.  Voila, recipe suggestions are listed.  This will definitely be a handy website for my menu planning in the weeks ahead.  A google search will locate other similar sites.

Now that Spring has officially arrived,  I challenge you to clean out your pantry, fridge, and freezer to make room for putting aside some of the bounty of this coming years harvest.  You might even want to do some pantry planning and overhauling.   Are you Prepared?