This is the second piece in a three-part series about making it easier to cook homemade meals. For the third part of the series, which we’ll publish, Monday, April 5, we’ll talk about the life change that streamlined ALL meals in our house. If you missed Part 1, you’ll find it here.
PART 2: WHAT WE KEEP IN THE CUPBOARDS
The easier you make any habit, the more likely you are to carry it out. The same is true of homemade cooking. Reducing the amount of friction in the kitchen will help you cook with greater ease.
You can pave the way to becoming someone who cooks by keeping a solid foundation of ingredients in the cupboards, fridge, and freezer at all times. When you do this, you always have appealing meal options, even when groceries are running low. The key is to know at least a few meals you enjoy, and then stock those ingredients. This also cuts down on last-minute trips to the store, or ordering take out.
Below is a list of what you’ll find in our cupboards on any given day. We combine these ingredients in different ways for basically all meals and snacks. Our grocery budget is about $100 per week, and we typically shop once every two weeks. Of course these items and brands are specific to how we choose to eat, and may not be a good fit for you (we eat in the vegetarian style, but we do prepare some seafood), but the basic idea is the same: stock your kitchen well for how you want to eat, and you’re more likely to cook with ease.
Our essentials …
Whole grain flour: Our preferred brand is Bob’s Red Mill. It’s whole grain flour that produces an extremely workable dough. Jason makes rolls out of this flour that are as fluffy as white flour rolls. We order a 25-pound bag online. This employee-owned company has a fascinating history. Worth a listen on the podcast, “How I Built This with Guy Raz,” on NPR.
Rice: We keep a 50-pound bag of Jasmine rice, for nutrition and apparently exercise. Jason measures the water, and times his rice. I eyeball the water and don’t really pay attention to the time. Neither one of us can switch methods without ruining the rice.
Rice noodles: These are super fast (about 5 minutes), and they’re delicious in soups or with cooked veggies and sauces (or even just liquid aminos or soy sauce).
Whole grain pasta noodles: As with all products, check the label and make sure you actually see the words “whole grain” in the ingredients. Here’s a good guide by the Whole Grains Council for finding true whole grain products.
Taco shells
Whole grain wraps
Whole grain bread: If you make your own bread - that’s awesome! We go through bread-making phases, but it’s definitely a convenience purchase for us.
Eggs
Whole grain oats: We like Quaker Oats 100 percent whole grain oats. We buy either the 5-minute oats or the 1-minute oats. We love hot oatmeal with frozen peach slices, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, plus a pinch of salt. Jason also likes to make “overnight oats.” COOKIE + kate has really delicious ideas for these.
Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat flour is our favorite. It’s easy to work with, and turns out just as light and fluffy as white flour.
Favorite ingredients …
These items can be used in countless combinations, and transformed into just about any style of cooking.
Tomatoes: Fresh during CSA season, of course! But we also freeze cherry tomatoes in freezer baggies so they can be cooked down or popped on pizza. Cooked-down tomatoes also store well in freezer baggies. And canned tomatoes are super helpful. Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste make frequent appearances in recipes. On nights when we’re hungry, but tuckered out, we saute minced garlic in olive oil and add a few splashes of wine and balsamic vinegar, then add diced tomatoes. When you add salt, fresh or dried basil, and sugar, to taste, you have a delicious sauce over whole wheat noodles. Tomatoes are a wonderful source of Vitamin C, as well as many other boosts to your health.
Beans: We always have black beans and garbanzo beans in the cupboard. They’re fantastic for super quick tacos. We also love to make curry with garbanzo beans. Just saute any veggies you want, add garbanzo beans, and pour in coconut milk. Stir in curry powder, salt and pepper, and serve over rice or rice noodles.
Coconut milk: We buy it for the curry recipe above, and it’s quite pleasing in coffee. There are also many delicious and easy Thai soup recipes that use coconut milk.
Fresh or frozen veggies: The growing season is an exciting time, with so much fresh produce. But we do keep a supply of frozen veggies, like corn and peas. We also enjoy a lot of greens, shoots, and microgreens from the farm. Carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes are always in our kitchen.
Onions
Garlic
Fresh or frozen fruit: We love fresh fruit, and typically buy what’s in season. Now, apples, those we eat year-around. A lot of apples. In the freezer, we keep: blueberries, peaches, cherries, mango, and pineapple. These can be added to many dishes, and are also great snacks.
Cheese: We keep mozzarella for homemade pizza. We also love a buttery grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for lunch, so we stock a lot of cheddar. Queso sauce is also a favorite over rice and roasted poblano or jalapeno peppers.
Salsa
Olive oil
Butter
Cooking sherry
Liquid aminos (We use this in the place of soy sauce.)
Balsamic vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
To create an array of flavors …
Salt & pepper
Sesame seeds
Fresh or dried basil
Fresh or dried parsley
Cilantro
Curry powder
Cumin
Paprika
Fresh or ground ginger
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Bouillon: We like the brand, Better Than Bouillon. Bouillon is useful for soups and gravies.
Mustard
Lemons and/or limes
Other useful items …
Milk
Cream
Peanut butter
Honey
Red Hot
Anything pickled (pickled peppers, actual pickles, etc.)
Sugar
Cocoa powder
Coffee
Tea
Occasional seafood
For snacks …
Apples: We eat so many, they made the list twice. They’re terrific as a quick fix between meals.
Saltine crackers: These are multi-purpose for us. A snack when we want something salty, and also enjoyed cracked over chili and other soups.
Granola bars: Lately, we’ve leaned toward KIND bars.
Plain yogurt: Another multi-purpose item. We use it as a sour cream substitute on Mexican-style foods. We also enjoy it as a snack with whole grain oats, frozen fruit, and honey.
Dark chocolate
Total convenience foods …
Whole wheat bagels (We have a soft spot for bagels!)
Frozen pierogies
Meals don’t have to be complicated. It’s amazing what you can create with a little knowledge and a few ingredients. Know your tastes, stock your shelves, and you’re well on your way.
~ Stella
PART 1: Check it out here.
PART 3 (Monday, April 5): We’ll share the kitchen (actually life) change that streamlined the meal prep process.