I can still feel the weight of the door as it opened up to reveal the sweet fragrance of sugar and spices, as well as I can still hear my grandma calling out, "I heard noise that - what are you kids up to?"

If any time of year was ripe for reliance on convenience foods, I’m declaring that it’s the week before Christmas.

I’m no Betty White, but I stopped accepting the things I didn’t like and began to do something to change them.

Lydia let her readers peek into my pantry this week which inspired me to write about how my “well-stocked for inconvenience” pantry has been helping me through this one-year challenge.

I had to ask some of the same questions of myself when I started this project, like is a condiment a “food” or is it a “seasoning?” Am I going to make my own mayonnaise and barbeque sauce and ketchup? Can you even make your own mustard?

And yogurt – well I really never considered making it at home since it’s a product well within the limits of my rules – however everyone was saying it’s just so darn easy and economical – so I had to try my hand at it.