Food we love

Recently I was speaking with a friend and she was saying that she really didn’t enjoy cooking and thus wasn’t a good cook.  She spoke about not knowing what to stock in her pantry as far as staples and spices and I thought about what I consider staples for my cooking and realized that I couldn’t give her any advice because the things that I always stock in my pantry probably aren’t your typical pantry items.  We tend to eat such a wide variety of foods from all over the world so I always seem to have somewhat odd and different items on hand.  It works out well for neighbors and friends too because anytime they need a little bit of some exotic or less than common spice, they know who to call!

I looked at just what I’ve cooked in the past month and we managed to hit quite a few countries with our meals including China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Argentina, Eastern Europe, England, Ireland, Wales, France, Spain, Jamaica, the Caribbean, Mexico, Iran, India, South Africa, Australia, Italy, Greece and even a few traditionally American meals thrown in for good measure.  I have to say that for my cooking my pantry is perfectly stocked because other than for the fresh veggies, meats & fish I generally don’t have to shop for much as most everything is already in my pantry or freezer.

I’m going to start posting recipes for the meals I’ve recently made and I hope that some of you will give them a try and let me know what you think.  I’m starting with Cheaters Chicken Soup which is used in many of the recipes I’ll be posting.  I consider this soup to be an important basic staple thus I always try to keep some in my freezer because I use it all.the.time.  From the liquid for making cous cous and rice to the base for other soups and of course anytime a recipe calls for broth, this soup will give your meals that extra flavor.  Maisie loves the broth loaded with udon noodles and requests it almost as often as she requests dumplings.  Homemade chicken soup is simple to make and the flavor is rich, hearty and full, just so much better than anything you can buy packaged and if you make my Cheaters Chicken Soup it is also quick and easy to make.  So go, give it a try and enjoy.

I’ve posted the recipe on Cook Lisa Cook and here’s the direct link:  Cheaters Chicken Soup.

Enjoy!!