Quick Meals From Your Pantry

Many people claim that they don't have time to cook. Life is busy and the key to being healthy is planning the time in to cook. That said, time is always at a premium. You can have it both ways for those times when you just don't have time.

Planning for the times that you don't have time is pretty easy by selecting some key ingredients to keep on hand in your pantry. For instance, a plate of spaghetti makes a fine and a healthy meal. Keeping a few boxes of whole wheat pasta with your favorite tomato sauce on hand lets you make a great meal in just the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta--all of about 20 minutes.

Ingredients on hand are not just restricted to the pantry but your fridge also. For example, keep a good quality Parmesan cheese on hand--it enhances a lot of dishes, but of course it's perfect on your spaghetti and tomato sauce. With a good Parmesan in your fridge you can combine with other standard ingredients in your fridge like eggs and milk to make almost anything--a frittata, scrambled eggs, Macaroni and Cheese and Parmesan salad dressing to name a few.

Likewise, keeping veggies in your freezer can help you create everything from broccoli and cheese soup or cauliflower soup to almost any quick stir-fry. Don't limit yourself. Choose onions, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, edamame, green beans and yellow corn. These veggies combined with a few other simple ingredients from the pantry can make for a great meal.

Keeping corn tortillas on hand means that with a few ingredients you can make tacos, a taco salad or even a tamale pie using such things as frozen corn, black or pinto beans, canned diced tomatoes and spices. Simple foods are always the best and can help you be ready to make the most basic of comfort foods, like tuna noodle casserole.

Here's a list of some ideas for you to keep on hand:

Canned and Dry Goods
No salt added black beans
No salt added pinto beans
No salt added white beans
No salt added garbanzos
Diced tomatoes
Low sodium cream of mushroom soup
No salt added chicken stock
Taco shells
Whole wheat pasta

Frozen
Onions
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots
Green beans
Peas
Edamame
Yellow corn
Lean ground beef