12 things to keep in your pantry

this is a stretch, because there are more than ten things in a well stocked pantry, but these are ten that are essentials,

1. Pasta sauce -   A good versatile start for many dinners.    
2. Pasta - elbows. Speghetti. Bow ties.   - getting pasta that is double  fiber or that has servings of vegetables in them is even better.   Pasta has a very very long shelf life.   
3. Beans.    Dry and canned.    Canned beans are for emergency 🚨 storage.   Of you don't have power, cooking dry beans may be difficult, but you can eat cold beans and they are a source of protein.   
4. Rice - rice and beans make a complete protein and are a good staple.   Again, very versatile.   
5. Flour, yeast, salt.    Basically another basic that is very versatile   and affords everything from pasta to pizza to noodles, to copious  kinds of breads.    I bought a five dollar bag of salt  years ago.   We will have salt my,entire lifetime and probably still have salt my granddaughters lifetime too.   Lol 
6. Diced tomatoes.   Diced tomatoes are universal for tomatoes, you can make a salad, top a pizza, make salsa, or isle them in chilli etc.   a quick whirl with a blender can make tomato sauce.  It simplifies the amount of things in the pantry,   
7. A few cans of chilli and / or soup for emergency rations,   Again, you can eat it cold if necessary on a pinch,   I have been known to light a fire in the fireplace and heat soup on a covered cast iron pot.   
8. Dry milk powder.    Dry milk is more expensive than buying regular milk.   But, I keep some in case of emergency,  it's another thing that lasts a long time and I do use it for some mixes,   Buying mixes can get really costly, and any mix you typically buy you can find a recipe for on the internet,    I have several on my blog.   
9. Cans of green beans.  
10. Back ups of mayo, mustard, catsup , salsa.  Basically condiments that you use in a regular basis.   No one wants to run out in the middle of a recipe-  it's just plain inconvenient,   Watch for sales, especially around picnic times for good prices.   
11. Cans of tuna, salmon, or other fish/meat.   Another good thing you can eat cold and sustain yourself in an emergency,   Tuna melts, tuna  cassarole , or tuna cakes can be a dinner,   If you don't like tuna, substitute canned chicken,   Basically, protein in a can,   
12. Peanut butter.