{"id":7937,"date":"2009-05-05T09:44:12","date_gmt":"2009-05-05T14:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=7937"},"modified":"2009-05-05T09:44:12","modified_gmt":"2009-05-05T14:44:12","slug":"top-10-must-have-pantry-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/05\/top-10-must-have-pantry-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Must-Have Pantry Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pantry-basics\"<\/a>So, you’ve got a busy life.\u00a0 Classes, work, errands, a few kids thrown in the mixture that have this annoying <\/em>habit of wanting to eat on a regular schedule.\u00a0 What’s a busy mom to do?\u00a0 Well, wait – scratch that.\u00a0 A busy<\/strong> mom might not think twice about hitting the drive-thru a few times a week.\u00a0 That’s not great for your wallet, and it definitely plays havoc on your health.\u00a0 I’m trying to focus more on the healthy side of the balance, though, and fast-food drive-ins don’t play well.\u00a0 So here’s a list of items that I keep on hand all the time to make a quick, healthy meal on the fly.<\/p>\n

1 – Canned Beans<\/strong>. HUGE amounts of flavor, fiber and protein, and low in both fat and calories.<\/p>\n

2- Whole Grain Pasta<\/strong>. Quick cooking and high in protein, you can make virtually anything – pasta salad<\/a>, serve it with sauce, mix it with beans.<\/p>\n

3- Frozen Vegetables and Fruits<\/strong>. Flash frozen straight from the field, they have a surprisingly high vitamin content and you can add them to tomato sauce to help fill little tummies.\u00a0 Frozen fruits make excellent smoothies<\/a>, perfect for a fast breakfast.<\/p>\n

4 – Canned Tomatoes<\/strong>. Tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene, an antioxidant linked to reduced rates of cancer.\u00a0 They come in all forms – pureed, sauce, diced, whole and seasoned – which cut prep times for meals to almost nothing.<\/p>\n

5 – Nuts and Seeds<\/strong>. Although they tend to be high in fats (but the good kind of fat), nuts and seeds add tremendous flavor to meals and are also a great snack item.\u00a0 Buy in bulk and store in the freezer to keep fresh longer.<\/p>\n

6 – Dried Fruits<\/strong>. They add a sweet touch and are amazing in salads.<\/p>\n

7 –\u00a0 Cheese<\/strong>. Especially shredded low-fat cheddar and mozzarella, but don’t forget Parmesan.\u00a0 Lower in fat than many cheeses and full of flavor, you can create pizza, add depth to a salad, or even serve it in large chunks atop pasta.<\/p>\n

8- Bag Salad<\/strong>. This kitchen staple can be used for the obvious, but you can use it to fill in a sandwich or mix it with garbanzo beans and chopped tomatoes for a twist on the original. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to five days.<\/p>\n

9 – Canned Tuna and Salmon<\/strong>. You can create quick and simple fish patties, add tuna to spaghetti sauce for depth of flavor, or eat it right out of the can. Slip it into a whole wheat pita and add some bagged salad.<\/p>\n

10 – Oatmeal<\/strong>. Long forgotten as a poor man’s breakfast, this whole grain cooks quickly and easily, especially in the microwave, and the great fiber content fills you for hours.\u00a0 Stir in some dried fruit<\/a> and nuts and you’ve got a breakfast that will rival anything you could buy at Starbucks.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite pantry staples?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, you’ve got a busy life.\u00a0 Classes, work, errands, a few kids thrown in the mixture that have this annoying habit of wanting to eat on a regular schedule.\u00a0 What’s a busy mom to do?\u00a0 Well, wait – scratch that.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695,16],"tags":[2493,520,67,342,29],"class_list":["post-7937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","category-recipes","tag-canned-foods","tag-cooking","tag-diet","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7937"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7953,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7937\/revisions\/7953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}