I can't tell you how many times I have promised myself that I would keep inventory of all the food in my house, so that I could check at a glance whether we were out of ketchup or sugar or whatever.  I always start a system, and then I lose interest.

I also hate the panic of not knowing what to make for dinner, not knowing what's in the fridge, and I can't even explain how much I hate writing and rewriting grocery lists. Menu planning makes me cry.

I've always wanted to be the kind of person that cooks with whatever they already have at home. A person very much like my mom.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I love cooking and real food? Prepackaged food makes me sad. Martha Stewart and Ina Garten are my idols. I'm just no good at the prep work.

So when I was offered a copy of The Stocked Kitchen I jumped at the chance, even if I was a little skeptical. Would the system ask me to stock my kitchen with junk and would the recipes <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2iWTJqo98">be crap a la Sandra Lee</a>?

I took a look at the book and sighed with relief. Their shopping list is full of real food. The recipes were delicious. I made chili, black and blue skirt steak,

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