What do you guys stock up on for the kitchen and meals. We are planning our meals but we always want to stock up on stuff incase we want to cook something easy that night or we have an off night and have nothing planned or we want to stock up in our pants for spices and what not... any ideas?
Our most commonly used pantry items are.... Chicken breasts Canned tomatoes Frozen corn Dried pasta Canned/boxed chicken broth Canned cream soup Tuna Canned beans (kidney, pinto, black) Parsley Lawry's (seasoned salt) Garlic powder Onion powder
Definitely certain seasonings: garlic pepper red pepper flakes pepper Lawry's seasoned salt onion pwder garlic powder pasta extra virgin olive oil onions Morningstart Farms meatless patties & links I'd keep mushrooms all the time if they didn't spoil so quickly
I keep all kinds of dried pasta and rice. I have canned and frozen veggies, canned fruits, dried beans, tuns, and canned or boxed soups. I have a variety of spices, and then the staples like flour, sugar, baking mix, etc. Cheeses, eggs, bread, tortillas, various condiments. I don't eat much meat, but I usually keep soy crumbles, shrimp, fish, and breaded chicken in the freezer. I shop every 4-6 weeks.
I always have a variety of pastas; simple tomato sauce as well as those tiny cans of sauce with garlic seasoning; brown rice; quinoa; canned carrots, potatoes, and green beans; vegetable stock; refried beans; tortillas; and then basic spices and seasonings such as pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic, onion, parsley, and basil. And cereal...lots of that.
I keep frozen meats in the freezer. For quick meals I have heat and eat chicken sausage. I also have some add chicken or pasta in the freezer. (Not really my thing, but comes in handy.) I can create a feast out of frozen hash browns, eggs, and what is in the refrigerator.
We always have: bread peanut butter chicken Broth/Stock pasta rice cream of chicken and mushroom soup Bertolli's Five Cheese Pasta Sauce or cans of hunts tomato sauce Lawry's seasoning salt Lawry's garlic salt salt/pepper and other herbs Italian salad dressing potatoes canned corn and green beans frozen mixed veggies shredded cheese milk various condiments- mayo, ketchup etc we eat a lot of chicken- so we normally have a package or 2 in the freezer, and usually some ground beef. I usually keep a frozen pasta dinner (like the Bertolli ones that come in a bag) incase I need a quick dinner.
I usually only buy for meals, but I always keep a jar of sauce (or some frozen if I have made my own) and some dried pasta. That way, there is always SOMETHING to eat. There is almost always stuff for a sandwich, too. As far as other things, there is always olive oil, flour, sugar, etc. and our spice cabinet is pretty ridiculous in size, so I don't really ever worry about not having a spice we might need.
Ground beef frozen chicken breasts pastas and sauce soups of various kinds butter bread bagels lunch meat lettuce tomatoes sliced cheese condiments seasoning salt sea salt and pepper corns eggs yougart cereal canned/boxed meals (I know they aren't the healthiest, but they are nice to have around in a pinch.) basic baking/cooking staples like what others have mentioned (flour, sugar, olive oil, etc.)
I have a huge pantry. Various pastas Couscous (cooks in 5 minutes!) Quinoa Cans of crushed tomatoes (sauté some garlic, add some thyme, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes, tomatoes and you have a great, tasty, cheap marinara; add veggies for more oomph) Wraps (freeze well) All sorts of flours All sorts of spices. If you find a store that has bulk spices, you can stock up on a wide variety cheaply. Soy butter Various oils and vinegars Nice quality salt Smoked salt, adds a nice depth to some things; ditto smoked paprika I always have fresh parsley, carrots, potatoes around Tofu In the freezer I keep veggie burger patties, edamame, Lima beans, corn, butternut squash I buy dried and canned chickpeas, black beans, black eyed peas, kidney beans I usually have sushi making ingredients too: nori, sushi rice and then can whip up quick sushi with whatever veggies I have on hand natural nut butters, can make up a quick peanut or cashew sauce for salads or pasta I always have lots of fresh lemons, some limes
The BF and I always have pasta sauce (I make my own with meatballs and sausage every few weeks and freeze it) dried pasta rice some sort of cheese (I'm a fanatic) Cereal Milk PB & J Whole grain bread we keep some chicken in the freezer usually a frozen pizza for those nights we REALLY don't feel like cooking potatoes onions or shallots garlic some frozen veg condiments canned tomatoes we ALWAYS have lemons butter all sorts of baking stuff b/c I bake often we shop weekly or biweekly and plan our meals ahead of time (we actually painted a chalk board on one of our kitchen walls that has our weekly menu ) We buy mostly meats and fresh veg/fruits then my most used spices/seasonings/herbs are olive oil, garlic, kosher salt, fresh black pepper, cayenne, red pepper flakes, basil, parsley
