A yahoo group I've belonged to forever recently had some posts about clean pantries
and more frequent, but less acquisitive, stops at the market. We been thru this before on that group (french chic) and it's understandable as this is one of the cornerstones of a healthy, chic way of relating to food. Lean pantry, eat seasonally,
realistic portions, unprocessed foods - all building blocks of your personal chic culinary lifestyle, one that will satisfy your mouth and your soul. Wow, who knew. Anyway I also love that it is thriftier (yes,despite costlier organics etc) and just a superior way to conduct yourself (earth consciousness, the whole picture).
You've got to clean that refrigerator out. First timers must take every single item out, wipe the fridge clean, and sort and restock, wiping down the condiment bottles as before returning to their shelves. I try to do this a few times a year- seasonally seems right, and once you do it, and you keep a sparse, clean fridge, it's not too time consuming. First timers - for you it is tho, almost certainly. So worth the effort.
As you go make a list of what you need to eat asap and what you need to replace.
You can make some quick menus from these items. Today I had 1 1/2 lemons (squeezed them right into the existing, summer-fridge omnipresent pitcher of lemonade). One cooked chicken breast and 2 hard boiled eggs - made a quick bowl of chicken salad adding some celery and green grapes. Get the picture? "yes, we see".
Don't forget the freezer. And the dry pantry of course.
The pantry basics, well you can find lists everywhere and you will want to make it
'your own' anyway. The flavors of jelly, the particular spices, what sort of mustard you enjoy - this is what not only makes all sorts of delicious sustenance easy for you to prepare daily - it is your way of treating yourself to what you love! Pick what rocks your world! Experiment! What do YOU like? Indulge yourself here. Condiments are the accessories of your pantry and, as we chics know, accessories are essential, fun and can make or break it.
Off to pick some golden raspberries for the yogurt that needs to be eaten up. It was my first attempt in years to make homemade. And it is delicious, thick Greek style stuff. Maybe I'll post about that process...
La
