Build a Frugal Pantry

January’s Eat from the Pantry Challenge showed me how fun it can be to cook from my food storage. I never had before given it much thought, but I was pleased to find out I had enough variety in the cupboard to pull together some tasty meals.

As I thought about it, I realized that with a little coaching and some recipe inspiration, the average home cook could regularly stock a pantry with all kinds of tricks inside. If we are purposeful in what we buy and keep on hand, there’s no end to the yummy things we can create. And if we can do it on a budget, too, well, that’s the cat’s meow!

Starting on Monday I will be bringing you ideas, recipes, and ingredients for you to add to your shopping cart. And some fantastic bloggers will be chiming in along the way. Cooking from scratch is a fantastic way to keep more dollars in your pocket. And we’re going to show you how with a few key ingredients.

I identified 12 ingredient categories that I think fit the budget as well as the “we-like-to-eat-this” pantry. They include:

Flours