Pantry Dives aka Plan B Meals

Last week I had stuffed pork tenderloin on the week's meal plan. When I cut into the pork tenderloin package however, the smell quickly killed any hope of making my original meal. Ugh, it was nasty...the pork had clearly gone bad (swine flu, perhaps? Sorry, couldn't resist).

The original recipe was one I created that was going to be a goat cheese, black olive and red pepper stuffed pork tenderloin. So I took the ingredients, added a little milk and corn starch (to make a thickened "cream" sauce," some seasoning and instead ended up with



I'll post the recipe tomorrow or this weekend, but in the meantime, I share the story of my cooking plans gone awry as a way to share:

1. Every cook has days when they have to go with plan B.
2. If you have a well stocked pantry, plan B can be an equally delicious meal, not a trip to the drive thru.*

I posted this list on familyeducation.com today as well, but I wanted to share it here too. Below is my list of things I usually have on hand to help dinners get to the table, even if plan A fails.

Pantry/cabinet items:

Dried spaghetti/penne
Dried tortellini
Lasagna noodles
Brown rice
Whole wheat couscous
Quick cooking grits
Dried beans (usually black, lentil, great northern)
Vermicelli Noodles
Jarred spaghetti/pasta sauce/marinara
Canned diced tomatoes
Canned tomato sauce
Canned beans (chickpeas, black, kidney, great northen)
Canned corn, peas and green beans
Broth
Olive oil
Vegetable oil
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Honey
Spice mixes (jerk seasoning, steak seasoning, etc)
Peanut butter

Refrigerator items:

Barbeque sauce
Jarred pre-minced ginger (doesn’t get a weird flavor like pre-minced garlic)
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Jam(s)
Worcestershire sauce
Jarred olives
Ketchup/mustard
Mayonnaise
Applesauce (good for eating and baking)
Eggs (we go through them crazy fast)
Boxed, pre-washed spinach
Pre-shredded carrots
Cheeses
Tortillas
Pita
Bread

Freezer items:
Meat and poultry—whatever has been on sale
Shredded cheese
Butter

A pretty good list, huh? But what am I missing??

SPC

*I don't mind a good drive thru once in a while, but I just hate succumbing to it on a night when I had a home cooked meal planned