No matter how hard I try, my pantry always seems to balloon out of control. It’s filled from top to bottom with tins of things that went on sale, boxes of items that I just had to try, and so forth. It seems the moment I think I’m getting it under control I turn around and the shelves have filled back up again. To battle this I’ve started incorporating my pantry into my food planning for the week.

Rather than making a meal plan for every day of the week and then buying all of the items I need, I’ll now include my pantry in helping me choose what I’m going to make, based on what I may already have at home. This is not always the easiest thing to do—I mean, the reason this stuff collects in there to begin with is because it doesn’t always scream meal ideas out at me.

You’d be amazed how many products today come with recipe ideas right on their labels or provide links to their website with the same. For me, that’s a great way to get inspired while helping to make headway on the ever growing collection in my pantry. While I’d like to come up with my own recipes every night for my kids, sometimes I just need something that’s fast and easy.

The recipe for Maple Syrup Squares below was off the top of a can of pure maple syrup I bought on my way through Quebec this summer. They were divinely sweet and inhaled by my kids in no time flat.

Ingredients:
Maple square bottom
• 1/4 cup softened butter or margarine
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 beaten egg

Maple square topping:
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup medium-grade pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 beaten egg

Preparation:
1 Preheat oven to 425°F.

2 To make the base, cut butter into dry ingredients. Add beaten egg and mix well. Bake in 8″ square cake pan for 8 minutes.

3 To make topping, combine brown sugar and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes.

4 Cool topping for 10 minutes, then add remaining ingredients. Pour over crust and bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Go raid you pantry and see if you can find some inspiration there!

By day, Gav Martell is vice president at a software company. By night, he’s busy cooking up a storm, exploring culinary adventures, watching copious amounts of Food Network, drinking a nice red wine, training for half-marathons, playing endless amounts of hockey, and being a dad to three awesome taste-testers—not necessarily in that order. Each Monday, he shares a yummy recipe or great food tips to help your family get the most out of mealtime. Check out his blog at GrillInterrupted.com. You can also find him on Twitter.