Dry, Fridge and Freezer Pantry
Today we got our first significant snow here at the Jersey Shore. Despite the fact that I hate shoveling and cleaning off the car, I admit I’m still like a kid when it snows. It brings back all of my childhood memories of running around our backyard throwing snowballs and making snow angels. When we came in from playing, my mom had hot chocolate and cookies for us. And we had the best dinners; Mom always made something warm and rib-sticking like a soup or stew.
With my childhood memories swirling around my head on this snowy day, I wanted soup. But, I worked until 4:30 and was in no mood to start chopping; not to mention I had not 
thawed anything. So, I rifled through the cupboards and found a can of Goya Butter Beans with a soup recipe on the back.
And, yay, I had everything on the list of ingredients thanks to my freezer pantry. In the freezer, I had snack bags of chopped onions and carrots. I had a few stalks of celery in the fridge along with chopped garlic. In fact, I decided to clean the fridge, thus the name, Clean the Fridge Soup. I found a cup of leftover brown rice and a slice of ham. I cubed the ham and threw it along with the brown rice in the pot. I jazzed things up with a few shots of hot sauce, a packet of Goya Sazon seasoning, a pinch of dry basil, rosemary, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. As the soup simmered, and the smell filled the kitchen, I made some cornbread. In an hour, I had a satisfying meal. Mom would be proud.
This recipe shows how your dry, fridge and freezer pantries help you pull together an easy, satisfying, nutritious meal quickly.
