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"Known as &amp;quot;The Minimalist&amp;quot;, Mark Bittman writes for The New York Times food pages. Last Wednesday, he published a wonderful column called &amp;quot;Fresh Start for a New Year? Let&amp;#039;s Begin in the Kitchen&amp;quot;. In it he gives a list of pantry and refrigerator items that you&amp;#039;re better off discarding and gives easy substitutions for these handy but relatively flavorless items. Among his recommendations are tossing bottled lemon juice in favor of fresh lemons, canned peas for frozen ones, the little green box of &amp;quot;Parmesan&amp;quot; cheese for the freshly grated kind, pancake syrup for real maple syrup. I have to say with just a few exceptions, I heartily agree with his suggestions. One of my personal pet peeves is the use of bouillon cubes and canned chicken broth--if you taste them straight I think you&amp;#039;ll join me in saying salted water is a better base for soups and sauces in the absence of honest-to-goodness chicken soup. (You many not believe it, but I personally keep a supply of homemade chicken broth or &amp;quot;liquid gold&amp;quot; in my freezer.) His column received an outpouring of comments and most respondents also congratulated him on his prudent advice but almost everyone had a small bone or two to pick. Like many of his readers, I think canned beans are perfectly fine and while perhaps not as tasty as ones that you&amp;#039;ve soaked and cooked yourself, I don&amp;#039;t think using them is a shortcut you have to apologize for taking. And he lauds the virtues of frozen shrimp, which probably got the most thumbs down from the peanut gallery. Anyway, follow this link, take a look for yourself, and let me know what you think. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/dining/07mini.html?scp=4&amp;amp;amp;sq=mark%20bittman&amp;amp;amp;st=cse "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a2876/thank-you-mark-bittman/>