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Pantry Staples for Frugal Meals
Building a pantry of frugal staples is a great way to save money on food making frugal meals. Stocking a few basics can go a long way when things get tight or you need to stretch your budget. Here are a few pantry staples you should stock up on.
Rice is a great filling pantry staple to keep on hand. Rice can be added to soups and stews. Rice can be seasoned and flavored to make a variety of side dishes or to become the main component of a main dish like Jambalaya or red beans and rice. Rice can be bought in bulk for next to nothing and has an extremely long shelf life.
Oats are a great pantry staple to stock up on. Quick oats are a great way to bulk up meals. Add quick oats when cooking ground meats. They will take on the flavor of the meat you are cooking and blend well. This will bulk up the meal and allow you to use less meat in dishes like pasta and tacos without anyone noticing. Quick oats make pancakes soft and fluffy, can be used to make homemade bread fluffier and more nutritious.
Beans may not be and every day favorite but they are a great pantry staple that can be sued to make frugal meals. Beans combined with rice makes a complete plant-based protein. If you find yourself trying to make a meal out of what is left in your pantry beans allow you to add a protein easily. Red beans and rice is an easy meal to toss together using pantry good and any spices and veggies you have in your fridge.
When it comes to easy to store and versatile pantry staples pasta is always a winner. Pasta can be used to make soups and stews more hearty and filling, made into butter noodles to feed even picky children or turned into a casserole. Pasta dishes are a great way to use up spare contents in your refrigerator including meats and vegetables.
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