For a number of reasons, I cook dinner almost every night. We are very lucky to be able to go out to eat about once a week, which is something we rarely did when I was growing up. Since I cook so often, there are a lot of things that are always in my cabinets and in my freezer, which is the topic for this week’s Tuesday Ten. (Well, the topic is actually what’s in your pantry and fridge, but I don’t have a pantry and my freezer has a couple of very important items in it!)

So, what do I have in my kitchen cabinets?

10. A jar of Classico Tomato Basil spaghetti sauce. I’m very picky about my sauce. It cannot have any sugar on the ingredient label! Trader Joe’s also has some good spaghetti sauce without sugar.

Of course, along with my spaghetti sauce, I also need a…

9. Box of spaghetti. Sadly, I’m not a big spaghetti fan, but the rest of my family is. When I am tired and don’t feel like cooking, spaghetti is my go-to meal because everyone likes it and it’s so easy to make that even my husband has made it. (He rarely cooks.)

Since spaghetti is my go-to meal, I also have a canister of…

8. Bread crumbs. Once I discovered that it’s not that hard to make homemade meatballs, I stopped buying frozen meatballs. If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll mix some up to serve with our spaghetti. I make a really tasty spicy meatball, if I do say so myself!

I also use bread crumbs in meatloaf, which is why I always have…

7. A pound of ground beef in my freezer. Ground beef is so versatile and can be used for so many different meals. Another one of my favorite easy meals to throw together is chili. Chili is not as popular as spaghetti with my kids, but my husband and I love it. In my cabinet, there is always…

6. A can of chili beans, and also…

5. Cans of petite diced tomatoes. Not only do I use diced tomatoes in chili, but I also have a simple chicken dish I like to make. I heat up a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and throw in some minced garlic and chopped onions. If I have some green peppers and mushrooms, I throw them in, too. Then I brown some…

4. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts (which I always have in the freezer) in the skillet, and cover it all with diced tomatoes. When the chicken is cooked through, I serve it over…

3. Rice, which is another staple in my cabinet. I’ve been making more brown rice than white rice lately, and the family eats it up! Another recipe that I serve with rice uses…

2. A can of cream of celery soup. Remember how I said I was picky about my spaghetti sauce? Well, I’m also picky about my cream soups. I’m not a big fan of cream of mushroom, so I stick with cream of celery instead. Here’s another thing I do with chicken breasts; I lay 4 chicken breasts in a baking pan, place slices of cheddar cheese on top, combine a can of celery soup with a 1/4 cup of cooking sherry and pour it over the chicken. Top with croutons and dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and serve over rice or noodles. Yum!

1. Making dinner at home every night is important to our family. We save money by eating at home and not at a restaurant, and our meals are also healthier. Every evening, we spend time together as a family when we eat dinner. As important as dinner is, dessert is also important! I always have a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in my cabinet, because we need some sweetness to go along with our dinner. My daughters and I love to bake, although not necessarily at the same time!

I’m so pleased to be co-hosting Tuesday Ten for the month of June with Lisa of The Golden Spoons and Rabia from The Liebers!