PANTRY POWER

Her secret is behind closed doors

By KATHLEEN PURVIS

McClatchy Newspapers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jennifer Joles’ secret weapon has doors on it.

An accountant with two kids — Emma, 9, and Alex, 6 — a blogger (at momscharlotte.com) and a police officer for a husband, we wondered how she balances all that while cooking dinner at home? Open Joles’ pantry cabinet at her home in Mint Hill, N.C.: She’s learned the trick of making the kitchen do the work.

“I keep it stocked with what I consider basics: beef stock, beans, rice, pasta. There are certain seasonings that I would never not have — Italian seasoning, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, garlic salt.

“I always have tomato pur e or canned diced tomatoes. I can do everything with that. I’m a big Bisquick person. Bisquick can do so many things. You can make breakfast, you can make lunch, you can make dinner.

“Any of those things in your pantry, you can take what you buy perishable and turn it into a meal.”

Dinner at the Joleses’ tends to go a couple of ways. When husband Ray, an officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, is working at night, she and the kids have fun meals. They’ll do build-your-own pizza night, a soup and salad, or breakfast night with that Bisquick.

“When he’s home, I like to put a real meal on the table. He says I don’t need to do that, but that’s my old-fashioned thing.”

Dinner the night before we talked to her was a cold chicken tortellini salad with bread sticks.

“One of the things I talk about in my blog is preparation. If you do as much as you can ahead, it makes dinner that much easier.”

So for that one, she boiled cheese tortellini and cooked the chicken the night before. She shredded the chicken and tossed it with tortellini and bottled Caesar dressing, then refrigerated it. When everyone came home the next night, all she had to do was pull it out, toss it with baby spinach and warm up the bread sticks.

Joles, 43, was the oldest of six kids, so she learned to cook by watching her mother. But she didn’t have any interest in it until after she left college and started living on her own.

As a “bean counter” — her own description of life as an accountant — she watches money carefully and knows that using a kitchen well can save a lot.

“I’m very mindful,” she says. “I’m very big on not wasting food and not throwing things away. If it’s left over, I’m making it into another meal.”

She doesn’t shop much at warehouse clubs. Bulk isn’t always the best deal, she says.

“The snack foods aren’t good to stock up on. They’re expensive. I don’t stock up on cereal. I don’t need a six months’ supply of cereal.”

Instead, she saves by shopping sales and using coupons, particularly watching for double and triple coupon deals.

“Whenever I come home from the store, my husband is like, ‘OK, go ahead and tell me how much you saved this time.’”

Her best advice for beginner cooks: Keep it simple and avoid recipes with more than 10 ingredients.

“You’ll sabotage yourself and all of sudden, you’re calling the pizza guy.”

Some of Joles’ recipes follow:

BUFFALO CHICKEN BURGERS

1 pound ground chicken breast

1‚Ñ4 cup buffalo wing sauce, divided

1‚Ñ2 cup finely chopped onion

1‚Ñ4 cup finely chopped celery

1‚Ñ4 cup plain dried bread crumbs

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon garlic salt

4 whole-wheat hamburger buns

Blue cheese crumbles

Lettuce and tomato

Combine ground chicken, half of the buffalo wing sauce, onion, celery, bread crumbs and garlic salt. Form into 4 patties (wet hands to prevent mixture from sticking). Brush tops of burgers with some of the remaining buffalo sauce.

Place burgers on grill sauce side down. Brush remaining sauce on top of burgers. Grill, turning once, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Lightly toast buns during last minute of cooking.

Serve on whole wheat buns topped with crumbled blue cheese, lettuce and tomato. For additional heat, add a little buffalo wing sauce to your toasted bun top.

Note: To save time, chop the onion and celery the night before.

EASY SAUSAGE DINNER

1 (14-ounce) package turkey smoked sausage

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 green bell pepper, cut in thin strips

1 small onion, cut in strips

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

Saut onion and pepper in olive oil until soft.

Cut sausage into approximately 1‚Ñ2-inch pieces and add to onions and peppers. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add diced tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Simmer on low for 10-15 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

SHRIMP CREOLE

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium green pepper, finely chopped

1‚Ñ2 cup finely chopped celery

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (14.5-ounce) can plain tomato sauce

2 bay leaves, crushed

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1‚Ñ4 teaspoon hot sauce or to taste

1 (16-ounce) package frozen cooked shrimp, thawed

Hot, cooked rice

Saut onion, green pepper and celery in olive oil about 5 minutes or until tender.

Stir in tomato sauce, 1 cup water, garlic salt, bay leaf and hot sauce. Simmer 10 minutes.

Add thawed shrimp and cook just until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve over rice.

To save time, chop the onion, green pepper and celery the night before and move shrimp to the refrigerator to the thaw.