Instructions: SPEED PANTRY BASICS
Items like couscous, frozen or canned beans, canned lentils and frozen french fries can make the difference between being able to pull off a 15-minute supper or buying dinner ready-made.

Condiments add dash and zip to quick meals and leftovers. Stock the larder with a variety of vinegars, chutneys, mustards and bottled sauces. Such products can be used as culinary shortcuts at the table or to inject flavour to marinades and sauces.

New on the horizon and poised to become a fixture in many cupboards are bottled Asian and Indian simmering sauces that can be added to sauteed meat and vegetables to make a fast ethnic meal.

FROZEN ASSETS
If you have a microwave with a defrosting cycle, the freezer can be a handy pantry tool. Buy and freeze a selection of small cuts of meat - chicken stir-fry strips, pork chops, ground meat and sausages - that can be quickly defrosted and cooked on a weeknight.

Be careful to choose packages labelled as tender cuts or fast fry and stir-fry appropriate since these meats will still tender after defrosting. Likewise, if you feel flustered when you have to pull together a basting sauce or marinade, you can freeze pre-marinated meats and later turn them into tasty dinners, too.

Add zip to leftovers with chutneys, mustards and bottled ethnic sauces

LEFTOVER LUXURY
Home meal replacements (fresh store-made entrees) can be expensive. To save money but have the same convenience, make double batches of stews, casseroles and chilies on the weekend then ``hold-over a portion for a weeknight supper.

Or prepare a double batch of mealtime cornerstones such as meat, potatoes or pasta to use in a skillet supper or hearty salad later in the week.

HERBAL MAGIC
Fresh herbs such as basil and coriander perish quickly in the refrigerator but can be finely chopped and frozen in ice cube trays. Then, when you need a little fresh herb flavour, toss a cube or two into your saucepan.

Another neat way to add herbal flavour to cooking is with infused oils, available in a range of flavours.

A HELPING HAND
Faster preparation and less mess make partially prepared convenience products very attractive on weeknights, when theres more time pressure for families than on the weekend.

Items such as peeled garlic, bagged cleaned lettuce, deli-made chicken stock and shelled liquid eggs eliminate a few of the temporal road blocks one often faces when cooking on a weeknight. The cost for such items may be a little higher, but the convenience outweighs the added cost for many busy people.

MAKE A LIST
To pull meals out of the cupboard quickly you need a well-stocked pantry. That means knowing what to shop for and when to replace it. The trend toward bigger grocery stores means one-stop shopping is more convenient, however, picking up a few necessary items at a large store can take longer than it did when you could cover the aisles in a few steps.

To keep your pantry primed for fast meal preparation, break your grocery shopping trips into monthly, weekly and occasional shopping trips. See the checklists to the right for a list of what to buy when.

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