Top Five Favorite Pantry/Fridge Staples

I have a ton of favorite things.  I figured I would make it pretty simple by breaking it down into manageable categories. So, here is my top five favs (staples) in my fridge/pantry.

Top five FAVORITE things in my fridge/pantry:

5.) Annie's Macaroni and Cheese

We eat a ton of mac and cheese around here. I feel good knowing (that even I spend a bit more for this brand) that the kids can enjoy their favorite without all the additives and preservatives. (I recently pureed carrots into the mac and cheese-worked like a charm!) Note: My kids will eat carrots and love them, but I figured what the heck, right? More veggies never hurt anyone! :)

www.annies.com

4.) String Cheese

Quick, easy, portable and generally a healthy snack or add-on to a quick lunch,we buy string cheese every grocery trip.

3.) Simply Go-Gurt

Oh, how we love Go-gurt! This is another product that is easy, portable and yummy. My kids love this stuff. I was tickled when Yoplait came out with their new product, Simply Gogurt. It's free from artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners. It can be frozen for an icepop-like treat, too!

2.) Diced Tomatoes

Fresh, frozen, canned-which ever way you prefer them; diced tomatoes are awesome to have on hand. I always add them to my homemade spaghetti sauce, chili, tacos, and my mac and cheese/turkey/tomato creation. :)

1.) Naturally More Peanut Butter

Unlike my friend JW's family, I don't make my own peanut butter. :) So, I finally found an awesome and relatively smooth, natural peanut butter at WALMART. It's pretty inexpensive (around 2.88$ and my kids love it. It) I buy one or two of these every time I shop.  Naturally More is all-natural, contains no cholesterol, and has no trans fats. Naturally More's unique formula has a peanut butter base fortified with flax seed, flax oil and other nutrients to provide all the protein and essential fats needed to keep the body naturally balanced. While normal peanut butter is almost exclusively monounsaturated fat, Naturally More contains omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. It’s What Peanut Butter Should Be!**

**NaturallyMore.com

Homemade Pickles

In the past month or so, I have really been trying to make-from-scratch most everything I can. In the midst of all of this homemaking in the kitchen, I discovered  that I really enjoy canning! I've only canned once before and that was some fabulous strawberry-blueberry preserves. I plan on making that in the very near future. I don't know why I haven't discovered this joy of canning before, but better late than never I suppose!

Recently, I made Bread and Butter Pickles. These were incredibly easy and so very tasty!  The only thing I will do differently next time is to use bigger canning jars! :)

Thanks to my cucumber supplier, NJPR, for these fabulous cukes! :)

 Cutting the onions, which leads to:

This horribly frightening picture of the after effects of cutting onions while not taking LW's advice and swiping my kids' swim goggles for use while cutting. Teary eyes, dark circles and no makeup-OH MY!!! Moving on.....

I have also found that I really enjoy taking pictures of food. I enjoy the food prep, the cooking and the "plating". :)

Lovely salt covered cucumbers and onions!

Getting ready for the liquid goodness...:)

Boil for three minutes....

Stuffing my cucumber/onion mixture into the jars.....

Sweet cucumbers waiting to take their boiling dip (aka-processed).

Processing....

The final product. I am so proud of these and they are so dang yummy.