Do you want to have a nicely stocked pantry, but don't know what to keep on hand and what to buy as you need it? Good news:
The Pioneer Woman has a great list for you. All you have to do is click
here.
What's that you say? You don't have an army to feed? Or you don't have a literal pantry cupboard with tons of shelf space to stock up on non-perishables for the Apocalypse?
(No offense Pioneer Woman. I love your page. As does my sister. In fact, she suggested I write this post because she loves yours so much, but has neither the pantry space nor the army to feed).
My pantry/freezer/fridge varies from season to season. For example, I have more soup vegetables on-hand during the winter months (carrots, celery, etc), and more fruit on-hand during the summer (apples, peaches, etc). Here's a list of what I, a single girl who likes to cook, keeps in stock on a regular basis.
PANTRY/FREEZER
Pasta: a select stock of basics. Depending on how much room you have, you do not need to keep a box of every shape of pasta ever created in your cupboard. For those limited on space, I suggest the following: spaghetti or fettuccine (one long pasta) and penne or macaroni (one short pasta).
Spaghetti Sauce: one jar of your favorite.
Dried and/or Canned Beans: one or two varieties - I generally keep black beans in both dried and canned, and canned red beans.
Rice: white & brown (though you should keep your brown rice in the freezer. The natural oils in the "husk" can go rancid if you don't use your brown rice quick enough - like me)
Cream Soup: one or two cans of mushroom, one can of celery and/or chicken if you use it often enough
Powdered Milk (for cooking/emergencies - not the zombie apocolypse type of emergency, the "
crap, my milk is bad and I'm making muffins" type of emergency)
Canned Milk: One can each of evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Evaporated milk comes in handy for cooking, so at least keep that one on hand. I love that you can buy the evaporated milk in small 5-oz cans - no wasted leftovers.
Instant Mashed Potatoes / Potato Flakes: For cooking - not for mashed potatoes
Macaroni & Cheese: one box (because, let's face it, we all crave a little
Kraft now and then)
Oatmeal: Large container of what you use most, small container of the other for cooking/baking needs (Old Fashioned Oats vs. Quick Oats) - or a small of each if you don't use it regularly. I make
baked oatmeal to have for breakfast every morning, so I keep stocked on Old Fashioned Oats. If you don't do last-minute cooking/baking, don't worry about keeping stocked on the type of oats you don't use often.
Chocolate Chips (in the freezer): Keep a bag on-hand for impromptu cookie making, or just to grab a few when you've got a chocolate craving. Note: freezing is not a requirement, more of a preference in a hot/humid-summer kind of climate.
Individual pack applesauce: Applesauce is handy for baking (and snacking) but it never fails, if I buy a jar its moldy before I finish it. Plus the jar takes up valuable fridge space once you've opened it.
Bread Crumbs: Plain and/or seasoned. The plain ones are easy to season, so if you're only going to keep one, plain gets my vote.
Pancake Mix and Syrup: Because breakfast is never a bad idea.
Canned Vegetables: One can (maybe two) of the canned vegetables you enjoy (green beans, corn, etc.). There's no easier way to add veggies to a meal than to open a can of green beans and nuke in the microwave. If you like frozen veggies better - and have the freezer space - that's ok, too. For me, canned veggies stay fresh longer (things like beans and corn are usually freezer-burned by the time I use it), and I like to save my freezer space for other things.
Black Olives and Green Chilies: One small can of each. They keep forever (until opened), together they take up less room than one can of cream soup, and they come in
handy.
Frozen Vegetables: Broccoli and cauliflower. (See note above why I don't keep other frozen veggies on hand regularly.)
Frozen Blueberries: For muffins, pancakes, or
breakfast bites.
Canned Tomatoes: Unlike garden-fresh tomatoes, these are always in season.
Fresh Grape Tomatoes: In the summer I just pick these right off my tomato plants on the back patio. Other seasons I've always got a container of grape tomatoes sitting on the counter. They're so small that you can't fake the freshness of them (so its not like buying a regular tomato at the grocery store in December -
gag). Put them on
tacos,
pizza, or just pop 'em in your mouth for a sweet snack.
Broth/Stock: One or two cans chicken, one can beef. What I don't use out of the can after I open it gets frozen in ice-cube-type trays.
Spices: Almost everything. If you don't use it often, buy the tiny containers (as a recipe calls for them). If you use it all the time (chili powder, garlic powder, etc.), buy it in warehouse club quantities.
Basic baking essentials: flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda/powder, vanilla, salt, etc.
Flax Seed Meal: Anytime a recipe calls for flour, I replace about 1 Tbsp per cup of the flour with ground flax seed meal.
Peanut Butter: Natural creamy peanut butter for sandwiches and such, and cheap crunchy peanut butter for baking and
Thai Peanut Butter Chicken.
Corn Muffin Mix: One box
Honey: Bear-shaped bottle optional.
Nuts: Walnuts, pine nuts (in the summer - for
pesto). Keep nuts in the freezer. They contain oils that you don't want to go rancid (unless, of course, you eat them quickly - then the pantry is ok).
Bacon (freezer): I've always got bacon around. ALWAYS. And in the thickest slices available. Freeze slices individually and then wrap in foil, then you can just take out what you need (i.e. one slice - chopped - to go on the
Pesto Chicken Artichoke Pizza or a few slices for the
BCTA). If you place the frozen bacon directly into the warming pan, your bacon will cook slower and thus not curl as much on you.
Oils & Vinegars: Vegetable/canola oil, olive oil, cooking spray, white vinegar, balsamic vinegar. If a recipe calls for another (like cider vinegar), buy the small bottle. It won't take up a lot of shelf space but will keep pretty much forever. White vinegar is fantastic for cleaning. Buy it by the gallon.
Raw Shrimp (freezer): Such a quick way to add some protein to your favorite pasta dish (or
tacos). They thaw quickly and cook even quicker.
Wine: (why are you looking for an explanation here?)
REFRIGERATOR
Tortillas: flour and/or corn. I keep both. Why? I like them both.
Eggs: The more you use, the more you should keep on-hand. I went from buying eggs by the half-dozen to buying eggs by the 18-pack now that I have
egg muffins for breakfast every morning. And an egg sandwich on Sandwich Thins makes for a great quick/healthy supper. Speaking of......
Sandwich Thins: I generally move these to the freezer after a week or so. Microwave (from frozen) for about 10-15 seconds then pop in the toaster.
Cheese: There's always an extra block of cheddar and mozzarella in my fridge, as well as sandwich slices. Frequent visitors include smoked gouda, fresh mozzarella and fresh parmesan. If you prefer to buy your cheese already shredded, keep it in the freezer unless you use it quickly. Shredded cheese gets moldy quicker than block cheese in my experience.
Individual Thin Pizza Crusts (package of 3): For
Pesto Chicken Artichoke Pizza or
Sausage Bruschetta Pizza.
BUY FRESH / AS YOU NEED IT
Potatoes: I use them so rarely that I don't even buy them by the bag, I buy them by the potato.
Lasagna Noodles: There are other lasagna ingredients that you'll be buying fresh (ricotta, for example), so you can just pick up the lasagna noodles when you're at the store. Not to mention I can count on one hand the number of times I just suddenly decided I wanted to make lasagna. Generally, something like that is planned.
Meat: Sure, you can freeze meat. And I'm not against it. But in an effort to keep valuable freezer space for other things (and because I'm only feeding myself, not an army), I try to buy meat as I use it (so not in bulk), or only freeze what I can't use out of a single package, and make sure to use the rest within a couple weeks. Exceptions: shrimp, bacon, leftovers.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Shopping Convenience: I live in a large city where I can go to the grocery store at any hour of the day, so keeping stocked on items is not done out of necessity.
Freezer Space: If you don't have a deep-freeze (or any type of second freezer), you know how valuable freezer space can be. Since moving recently, I've decided not to use my deep-freeze until I
need to, mostly because when I do use it, things tend to get lost and forgotten.
Menu Planning: Is there something you make regularly, or is your star-standby? Make sure you've always got ingredients stocked for it.
Because I'm always discovering new recipes, I'm sure this list will evolve from time-to-time, so feel free to check back every once in a while. I'll also continue to link my recipes to the list as new recipes get posted.
I consider this one of my mom's signature recipes. I'm not sure where she got the recipe from, but I LOVED when she'd make it (though I don't remember her making it just for us as a family - there was always an occasion). These days I don't need an occasion to enjoy this great cake. Its very much like a coffee cake, so it works for breakfast or dessert. Or whenever.
