A Well-Stocked Kitchen

[hobbsyoyo]

What kinds of things do you think a well-stocked kitchen or pantry should have to be considered 'well-stocked'? What ingredients do you keep on hand? What things are essential (you will run out to buy when out) and what is nice to have, but not necessary?

Do you tend towards dry ingredients, canned, fresh, frozen or what?

Do you like to keep ingredients that lend culinary flexibility - or do you only keep the staples on hand?

For myself, it's mostly about convenience. I don't have a lot of time to cook (and I really do like cooking) so I keep a variety of boxed meals that only take 20 minutes to cook on hand and these make up most of my diet in a given week. I don't need to be lectured on how they are and how bad they are for you. For someone who is busy, they're a godsend (and much cheaper than if I tried to buy all of the ingredients and make the same meal from scratch).

I keep a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer as well as a pound of ground beef. I rarely have other cuts of meat but I am interested in hearing what kinds of meats I should keep in the freezer that would allow a lot of flexibility in what I cook. Chicken can be turned into so many things, but the ground beef is mostly there to add to the various boxed meals. So for protein, I don't have much variety.

I also always have lunch meats and sliced cheese on hand, along with sliced bread as I make sandwhiches for work/school. I like to keep peanut butter but I have a bad habit of eating it by the spoonful until there's none left.

I have a decent spice rack with the 'usual' stuff and I always have sesame seeds and a variety of chili powders on hand. I also have bullion cubes because you can do a lot with them and they don't spoil like an opened box of broth. Though recently Borachio informed me you can't be sure what's in bullion cubes and it's probably ground up pig anus so I'm rethinking them.

I keep olive oil, vegetable oil, butter and margarine to fry with and to add to dishes. My wife tried buying low-fat margarine but it has a very high water content and is therefore useless for cooking with and tastes bad, so we don't get that anymore.

I always have fresh taters on hand and lots of canned corn and beans. I don't usually have too many other fresh veggies except salad and carrots. I like the convenience of canned stuff and I tend to forget about fresh veggies and they go bad. I do buy lots of fresh green beans and asparagus, but I buy them when I plan to use them immediately.

Oh I've always got milk too and cottage cheese.

So what's in your pantry?

 

[schlaufuchs]

Assortment of vegetables/garlic/ginger/etc. A large herb/spice rack. Butter/Olive/Vegetable/Canola oil. Basic baking materials. A good, well-sharpened knife set. Ample pots and pans. Ample counter space. Everything else I usually buy for the meal.

The bare essentials are a knife set (at the very least a chef's knife, a bread knife, and maybe a paring or filet knife), garlic/cinnamon/chili powder/s&p/cumin/paprika/coriander, a boiling pot, and 3 frying pans.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Bread, tea, peanut butter, and jelly. The essentials of life.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Bread, tea, peanut butter, and jelly. The essentials of life.

You can live without mac n cheese?

Assortment of vegetables/garlic/ginger/etc. A large herb/spice rack. Butter/Olive/Vegetable/Canola oil. Basic baking materials. A good, well-sharpened knife set. Ample pots and pans. Ample counter space. Everything else I usually buy for the meal.

I don't have ample counter space. Which is another reason I don't cook as much as I'd like, along with the absense of a dishwasher making every from-scratch meal a chore.

I do have a decet knife set though and a sharpener. Forgot about that - it's important.

So what do you have to eat when you don't feel like cooking?

 

[schlaufuchs]

You can live without mac n cheese?

I don't have ample counter space. Which is another reason I don't cook as much as I'd like, along with the absense of a dishwasher making every from-scratch meal a chore.

I do have a decet knife set though and a sharpener. Forgot about that - it's important.

So what do you have to eat when you don't feel like cooking?

Yeah counter space is always a problem. Washing dishes by hand isn't so bad as long as you do it once you finish eating. It's like 15 minutes tops to clean up after a meal. Dishes only are a problem when you have roommates and nobody does theirs.

I usually just make something easy when I don't feel like cooking. A quesadilla or a sandwich or pasta. Cereal if it's breakfast. I generally like cooking though. I find the hardest part about cooking on a budget is vegetables. It's really difficult to make a good meal without them, and it's not like meats where you buy a chicken breast and your set - you can't just buy tomatoes - you have to buy a buttload of other vegetables too. And since vegetables perish rather quickly it makes cooking while you're alone a bit more irritating and costly.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Cooking for one or two people is a real problem for me as well. The budget is one concern for me, but it's really hard to get the portions right so that you don't have a ton of leftovers. Then I have the problem of Do I really want to spend 2 hours prepping this awesome meal for just me or me and my wife? Naw, it's a chicken nugget night, I have homework. It's also frustrating when they package or wrap up the veggies so that you can't just buy one stalk of whatever, you have to buy 30 and 25 are going to go to waste.

 

[Berzerker]

stainless steal for cooking pots/pans, no more copper/iron stuff

plenty of spices

 

[Zack]

"Those Hollywood shows are always so incredibly detailed." - Tobias Funke as he opens the cabinet

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Anyone fond of slow cookers? I've only found a couple of recipes that I really like that are slow-cookable.

 

[Zelig]

Dry goods that I buy in bulk and put in my own plastic containers: Lentils (green and red), beans (white, red, black), steel-cut oats, almonds, walnut bits, brown sugar, rice, wild rice, bulgur wheat, wheat germ, oat bran, peanuts, popcorn, barley.

Dry goods I keep in their containers: Weetabix, muesli, granola, hippie cereal, various dry pastas, flour, couscous, falafel mix, protein powder, pine nuts, a loaf of bread.

Oils/vinegars: EE olive oil, avocado oil, canola oil, butter, sesame oil, clarified butter, rice/red/white/balsamic vinegars.

Canned stuff: tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, chickpeas, pineapple tidbits, coconut milk.

Teas: Tins of white/black/oolong/rooibos/green/herbal.

Spices/herbs/hot sauces: I've got a full stock of these, I'm not going to list them all.

Freezer: Various meals I've made and frozen into single-serve containers for easy future meals, a bag of assorted frozen veggies, bags of frozen fruit, bread crusts that I turn into croutons eventually, any bread I'm not going to finish before it goes bad.

Fridge: Rice milk, beer, parmesan, various cheeses, mango chutney, various sauce bases (fish sauce, oyster sauce, curry paste, soy sauce, Worcester sauce, etc.), various salsas, capers.

Fruits/vegetables that I always have on hand: Onions, garlic, carrots, apples, bananas, leafy greens, cruciferous veggies.

Booze: Fully stocked, not listing this either.

(and much cheaper than if I tried to buy all of the ingredients and make the same meal from scratch).

There's no way this is true.

Assortment of vegetables/garlic/ginger/etc. A large herb/spice rack. Butter/Olive/Vegetable/Canola oil. Basic baking materials. A good, well-sharpened knife set. Ample pots and pans. Ample counter space. Everything else I usually buy for the meal.

The bare essentials are a knife set (at the very least a chef's knife, a bread knife, and maybe a paring or filet knife), garlic/cinnamon/chili powder/s&p/cumin/paprika/coriander, a boiling pot, and 3 frying pans.

I'm pretty happy with only a chef's, bread and paring knife that I have my own sharpening stones for. My next upgrade to the set is going to be a nice end-grain cutting board. After that probably a butcher knife.

Not sure if you need three frying pans either - I did for years with a single 12-inch cast iron, only added a second 8-inch pan last year.

It's really difficult to make a good meal without them, and it's not like meats where you buy a chicken breast and your set - you can't just buy tomatoes - you have to buy a buttload of other vegetables too.

There's some stuff you can get away with - I came into an abundance of peppers the past few weeks, and have been frying them four at a time, they're quite good this way without any other vegetables.

Cooking for one or two people is a real problem for me as well. The budget is one concern for me, but it's really hard to get the portions right so that you don't have a ton of leftovers. Then I have the problem of Do I really want to spend 2 hours prepping this awesome meal for just me or me and my wife? Naw, it's a chicken nugget night, I have homework. It's also frustrating when they package or wrap up the veggies so that you can't just buy one stalk of whatever, you have to buy 30 and 25 are going to go to waste.

Get containers you can freeze leftovers in, then you spend 2 hours to get an entire week's worth of meals.

Anyone fond of slow cookers? I've only found a couple of recipes that I really like that are slow-cookable.

No, they're too limited use. You can do anything slow cooked in a dutch oven, which you can use for other stuff too.

 

[schlaufuchs]

I'm pretty happy with only a chef's, bread and paring knife that I have my own sharpening stones for. My next upgrade to the set is going to be a nice end-grain cutting board. After that probably a butcher knife.

Yeah. At the very least I like to have a chef's and a bread knife. My girlfriend's apartment only has steak knives and I honestly don't know how they get on like that.

Not sure if you need three frying pans either - I did for years with a single 12-inch cast iron, only added a second 8-inch pan last year.

At the very least I like to have a smaller pan for omelettes or pre-cooking ingredients (particularly for things like fried rice) and a large pan for everything else.

Oh and measuring cups. That's another one that's important.

 

[Antilogic]

So I have a small galley kitchen with an oven, a sink, and about 1.5 sinks worth of countertop space, with my food split between the minifridge provided in the apartment and the minifridge I brought from undergrad.

I tend to not have much food and shop often, is what I'm trying to say. So here's roughly what I have on the average day:

• A few eggs, a half-gallon of milk, sugar, and a little flour available as the classic essentials. I guess dry rice and pasta fall here.
• Some butter and olive oil for cooking fats.
• A large herb/spice rack given the size of my cabinets. Includes some dry rubs for chicken and steak, which is probably the most common meat dish I cook.
• 2-3 boxes of cereal for breakfast.
• Loaf of bread; jams and peanut butter; deli lunchmeat and cheese, mayo, spicy mustard for sandwiches.
• Baked chips, dried fruit, Greek yogurt, nuts, healthy granola bars for lunch sides.
• Frozen skillet meals or boxed meals for days I don't have time to cook a real dinner.
• Frozen vegetables, potatoes, and either chicken breasts/pork chops/steak for days when I can cook dinner.
• Alternately, pasta, canned sauce, and stuff like spinach and diced sausage that can be mixed into a pretty nice Amero-Italian meal.
• Drinks: 12-pack of soda (especially good for mixing with coconut rum or whiskey), fruit juice (esp. cranberry and orange), tea, etc.
• Hot chocolate for the wintertime.
• Chocolate soymilk--a recent addition, my brother got me hooked on this stuff for an after-workout beverage.

I have a slow cooker but don't use it often because I'm not often in my apartment several hours before I have to cook dinner to set it up and use it.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I tried chocolate soymilk recently as well and it's really good. I don't buy it very often though, basically just the one time.

How does pork and steaks hold up in the freezer?

Oh and I often buy ground turkey instead of ground beef. It's really good. Turkey bacon is kind of meh though.

 

[Borachio]

Anyone fond of slow cookers? I've only found a couple of recipes that I really like that are slow-cookable.

Slow cookers are great.

Pressure cooker is a must have.

 

[Zelig]

At the very least I like to have a smaller pan for omelettes or pre-cooking ingredients (particularly for things like fried rice) and a large pan for everything else.

Oh and measuring cups. That's another one that's important.

I use a small pot for rice. I don't really see the point of a "boiling pot", you can use one with a proper bottom just as well for boiling, and it's not useless for everything other than boiling water.

Measuring cups I rarely use, they're only really important for baking (where you need a scale for serious baking), which I don't do.

[*]Chocolate soymilk--a recent addition, my brother got me hooked on this stuff for an after-workout beverage.

Too much sugar. In the context of unsweetened milk-replacement beverages rice>almond>soy.

 

[Borachio]

Aaaaand for those short of time, here's:

Cooking in Ten Minutes
- Edouard de Pomiane

 

[schlaufuchs]

I use a small pot for rice. I don't really see the point of a "boiling pot", you can use one with a proper bottom just as well for boiling, and it's not useless for everything other than boiling water.

Measuring cups I rarely use, they're only really important for baking (where you need a scale for serious baking), which I don't do.

I meant a large pot for cooking pasta. I do a lot of baking.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So what do you have to eat when you don't feel like cooking?

Depends on whether or not I'm in the mood for the microwavable stuff in the freezer. If yes, it's either a TV dinner or fish or a cheese sandwich (I freeze my bread and warm it up in the microwave when I want a slice). If not, I pick up the phone and call Lucky's Kitchen (my favorite Chinese food place). Or if in the mood for pizza, I have a couple of places in mind where I can order online. Sadly, the place I moved to has no restaurants within walking distance unless I want a steep climb uphill to come home.

I really hate cooking, and prefer to have stuff on hand that can either be eaten cold or microwaved in a few minutes.

 

[Quintillus]

Quite a topic... guess I'll start with "the staples" that I'll restock soon if they run out:

- Cereal of some sort for breakfast. Ran out of this a couple days ago; promptly bought more.
- Pasta and pasta sauce for a quick, easy-to-prepare staple meal.
- Frozen vegetables to go with said pasta. Tastes better than canned, and doesn't perish quickly like fresh.
- Milk.
- Something you can make a quick meal from when you don't want to/don't have time to cook. Usually frozen TV dinners, sometimes lunch meat + bread + mustard.

There's other things I usually have on stock, but don't use as often. Flour/sugar/baking powder/eggs are always good to have on hand for baking or hotcakes, but I don't use any of them that often. I almost always have olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, and a variety of spices as well, but use them all sparingly. I try to keep some variety of fruit on hand; right now it's strawberries and an orange. Usually there's some sort of meat or fish in the freezer; right now it's chicken, but more often it's fish (salmon, tilapia, etc.) for a quick dinner with protein. And there's usually some sort of salty snack, but I've found I don't eat them often when they're hidden in a cupboard. Recently got out my bag of pretzels that was a year past the date. Still tasted fine, though. Either a loaf of bread, English muffins, or bagels for breakfast is also something I prefer to have on-hand.

I wouldn't consider my pantry that well-stocked, but it has the essentials. I could probably get by for a week off of it if need be. And generally, I agree with Antilogic's philosophy of buy-it-shortly-before-you-need-it. In particular with fresh vegetables. They're great, but they have the shelf life of a banana. Except garlic. Does it ever go bad?

I find it annoying that some vegetables are hard to buy in small quantities. Usually I'm buying for myself; I don't need, nor can I finish in time, a whole head of lettuce. I like it when I can buy exactly 14 brussels sprouts if that's how many I want.

Another meat I've used occasionally and sometimes have frozen is shrimp. It's fairly easy to cook with; the time-consuming part is peeling and deveining. But you can buy peeled, deveined shrimp at a relatively low additional cost. Last time I bought it, I bought deveined but unpeeled; probably would've been making a lot less than minimum wage if I'd been paid the cost difference for the time it took me to peel them (though I haven't been doing that my whole life).

Kitchen supplies:

- At least one 3-4 quart pot
- At least one saucepan (1-2 quart)
- At least one frying pan/skillet
- At least two stirring spoons
- At least one halfway decent knife. Preferably a couple of different sizes/specialties, but I've been known to cut strawberries with a chef's knive
- A cutting board. I'm using a glass one presently because plastic seems to dent and glass looked cooler than wood.
- A baking pan of some sort for use in the oven. Probably in addition to the skillet, even if the skillet is cast iron.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

I don't cook a great deal, mostly breakfast, but these items are permanently in my kitchen (often in quantities of two so I don't run out).

Loaf of multi grain bread
Butter
Vegemite
Peanut butter
Tobasco sauce
Big ass fruit bowl constantly topped up
Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas (can't go wrong with these, last a while and take just a few minutes int a steamer and you're good to go)
Steak, sausages and chicken breast in the freezer
Instant coffee
O.J
Case of beer
Chocolate
Egg Mayonaise
Refried beans
Tinned baby corn
Artichoke hearts in oil
Quality, expensive Italian spaghetti (it's surprising how much better it tastes)
Chinese style chilli sauce
Bacon and eggs