My Pantry Part 1

There are a few things that I always have to have in my pantry or it just feels weird. This is other than the typical things like flour, sugar, sour cream, cream or chicken... I am a little weird about cooking. I have very specific things I like and very specific things that I do. Every so often I will go over some of the items I just can't cook without.

This I probably the item I use most often. I just don't like mincing garlic and so I use this. I don't have a specific brand that I always buy. Whenever I am out I just get what I can find whenever I am. It is very convenient to have and so much simpler than using fresh garlic. Garlic is the one thing I use in almost every non sweet thing I make. I almost always cook my meet with it or marinate my meat with it. It is such a good flavor and goes with so many varieties of food. It is a must in my house and it is a bad day when we run out.

One of my dreams is to have a spice cabinet with all my major spices in the larger jars like the ones above. These are the spices I use most often and I would not know what to do with out them. I have tried a few different types of Garlic Salt but Lawry's is my all time favorite. I use garlic salt basically every day. It can go in so many things and I use is it as much as I can.

The Grill Mates Montreal Steak is amazing! It is the best combination of seasons for just about anything! I used it on most meats and sometimes for seasoning some vegetables. I have not found a 'favorite' taco seasoning but this is the one from Sam's Club and it does the job that I need. It is very convenient to have around when I want to throw a Mexican flair into a meal.

I absolutely love having Ranch whenever I need it. They sell this jar at Sam's Club and it is so much better and cheaper than buying the packets. I use ranch in hamburgers, meatloaf or to season vegetables. I also am a little bit of a ranch snob and I only like homemade Ranch. It is so easy to make and so worth it. Just a cup of milk a cup of may and three tablespoons of the ranch and mix it up.

When I am baking there are a few items that I love having around. First is Butter Crisco. It is a very easy replacement for butter. There are somethings that just need butter but for like cookies Butter Crisco is the way to go. My absolute favorite chocolate chip cookies only use Butter Crisco. It is nice to have in the pantry in case I run out of butter. It doesn't happen often now that I have a freezer but it does happen. 

The other thing I am kind of a snob about is my choice in chocolate chips... I will not use semi sweet chocolate chips. I just do not like the taste so I use milk chocolate chips always. I will use non Hershey chocolate chips if I have to but Hershey's Chocolate is my all time favorite. I'm not a Nestle person to me the chocolate just isn't as good. It was the best day when I was at Sam's Club and they had these big bags of Hershey's chips! I an go through a bag a month sometimes. The best part is these big bags are about $6.50 (I can't remember the exact price). The best part is I don't have to worry about Keith opening a package of chocolate chips and eating so much I don't have enough for cookies or whatever else I need it for. 

I haven't really thought about buying peanut butter chips before but these have become a new staple. They are so delicious and can go with so many different desserts. I've been experimenting with them and have found they are really good in cookies and dessert breads. I've also mixed them with the chocolate and melted them for ice cream and to put on gram crackers.