Picture heavy post ahead - Staple Items part TWO

I have received a couple of comments and emails about this blog crashing browsers. I have never experienced this but I googled it and found it seems to be related to Internet Explorer, which I never use. It is something with the html on blogspot but I wasn't able to find much more in the short amount of time I looked. I apologize for this causing problems but can suggest (for many reasons other than my blog) that you use Firefox. If this happens for folks in Firefox please let me know. I don't have any crazy content on here so I am not sure what it could be!

Vix had another question about storing produce. I never refrigerate my tomatoes, I read somewhere that this causes them to get mushy. The only produce I regularly have on hand in my fridge are green onions, lemons, limes and spinach.

So lets get on with the show!


I have a standard spice rack given to me as a gift from my brother who works in housewares at a department store. He has been very gracious to me and a lot of my very nice cookware has been gifts from him. You would be surprised at the deals he can get on clearance and returned items. That beautiful red cast iron skillet I used to roast my game hen was from him and its one of my favorite pieces. (maybe I will get into my cookware and gadgets at some point also) Please note that I am 5'3" and this is the first time I have seen the top of my fridge in a long time, I am impressed it is clean!

Now you get to take a look into my nearly 50 year old kitchen cabinets. They are in need of a paint job so I apologize for their haggard looks.


I had to use flash as its dark in my pantry so I am sorry for how this photo looks. I hate flash! This is my pasta collection which thanks to an awesome surprise gift from my sister now contains all that beautifully colored linguine you see. She got some of this flavored pasta for Christmas and bought some for me to experiment with! I have some nice siblings! I keep angel hair, penne, orzo and a few other kinds of pasta on hand. It is so cheap so I just stock up on what I like when it is on sale. I have said before but I try to buy as much whole wheat pasta as possible.


Instant rice might be frowned upon by the snobby foodie culture, but I am not ashamed to say I use it.


I never have milk in my house, I can't stand to drink it. So, I keep powdered milk around for when I need milk in a recipe. Jif is and always will be my PB of choice. The Macallans 12 you see in the background falls into another of the SO's food groups, aged Scotch.


Somehow I have 3 containers of quick oats. I have a problem with buying food.



These pastes are great for quick cooking. Please do not say GAG ME over the anchovy paste. You would be surprised what anchovy is in that you may already eat and it adds a nice flavor to a lot of dishes. These pastes are great if you can find them.




This is a sampling of the many, many varieties of broth that I have. If it is on sale I buy it because this is used in so many recipes.


I love canned tuna, it is total comfort food to me.



I have dried and canned beans on hand and sometimes refried beans.


These are another thing that I have multiple cans of and if they are on sale I buy them. You just can't get good fresh tomatoes year round and you really can't even get good tomatoes at all here in AZ so I use canned a lot.


After I open a can or box of tomato paste I get the plastic wrap out and cut a million squares out. I then spoon 1 Tbs of tomato paste on a square and fold it up and drop it in a ziplock bag. I put the bag in the freezer and anytime I need tomato paste I have some already measured and ready to go.


Gotta have these guys around. I make a pretzel dip with yellow mustard so I like to have a lot of it on hand. I will post that recipe up here soon because it is so good and so easy.


Maille is my dijon mustard of choice, this stuff is SO tasty. You should be able to find this in a regular grocery store. The apple mustard I got on clearance at Sur La Table and I am going to smear it on some pork and grill it very soon.


My brother makes delicious hot wings, so I have a lot of hot sauces around. Maybe he can do a guest spot on the blog sometime. I really like that green tabasco, I kind of think of it as a gateway hot sauce. I was not able to tolerate hot sauces but I started with this milder sauce and it really tasted great and got me excited about getting a tolerance for hotter foods.


In addition to Olive Oil I like to have peanut oil for stir fries and that walnut oil was a splurge from Sur La Table. Somewhere I have some vegetable oil but I very rarely use it.


This is my collection of Asian sauces. You might recognize the 'rooster' sauce with the green top. This is Sriracha sauce and it also got me really excited about spicier foods. I used to think hot was just hot, but now I can recognize the flavors too. I have this in a garlic variety and I put it on popcorn and its DELICIOUS. left to right in this photo is: Fish Sauce, Sriracha, Oyster Oil, Sambal Oelek (I have not used this yet but have seen it in some recipes), Hoisin Sauce (kind of like a BBQ sauce), Sweet Chili Sauce.


I love love love vinegar. It is a fabulous way to bring flavor without fat. I think those are all pretty easy to read so I wont name them. The two on the right are store brand cooking wines. There is a balsamic vinegar in my fridge that I did not include. If I had to recommend a starter vinegar kit I would say, a good balsamic, red wine, and rice vinegar.



These two guys have been a staple for me since childhood. One of these guys also has anchovies swimming through it...


These are so important to me and I will pull the snobby foodie card on this one because iodized salt is GROSS. My friend Vix who asks me a lot of great questions remarked that she got Kosher salt but didn't realize how coarse it was and needed a grinder. I don't grind my kosher salt I just use it as is. The reason you can do this is because Kosher and Sea salts are not nearly as powerful as iodized salt. They are a much more subtle salt flavor and do not taste like chemicals. If you use Kosher for a month or so and then go back to iodized you will be amazed at how bad iodized salt tastes.

In addition to my spice rack that has the usual suspects I have a lot of supplemental spices. I do mean a lot. But these are the ones I cannot live without.





More preaching...use real vanilla, not that imitation junk. Also, use whole nutmegs if you can find them.


I have been replacing a lot of my honey and sugar with Agave Nectar. It has a lower glycemic index than any other sweetener and is derived from plants and is treated by your body as such so it burns the sugars more effectively. (at least that is what it says on the internet). I have molasses as well but its on the top shelf and I didn't feel like dragging out the step stool.


These guys are close by to my prep area because I make cucumber salad with them a lot. Rice vinegar has a delicious sweetness combined with tart that I love.

Wow, we are done! I really hope this helps you as you have helped me to stay motivated in my cooking. You do not need to buy all of the things I have but its a general idea of what basics I have around.

I can't stop thanking you guys for the comments but I will say again that I do appreciate them. If you make the dishes I feature here I'd be excited to see photos as well.

Tomorrow, more cooking!

Staple items part ONE!

I have a lot of photos of my pantry items so I will do them in a couple of steps. I will post some today and some tomorrow and then back to cooking on Tuesday!


The fridge has the standards, butter, ketchup, a few mustards (I will show you some of these in the next series) and this delicious item. I adore mayo, to the point that I decided to find a healthy alternative since I like it so much and its really not good for you. In college some of my friends were Vegan and Vegetarian and they told me about this wonder product. It really does taste just like real mayo but it is a lot better for you.


I always have some kind of nuts in my fridge or freezer. I store them here because nuts can go rancid and the freezer keeps them good for a lot longer than storing them in your pantry.


I always have bananas, but actually I cannot stand bananas. There are only a couple of things that I really do not like and bananas are one of them. These are for the dogs :)


This is my produce basket.


Tomatoes


Yellow onion. I usually have one yellow and one red, but I had used the red that week.


Of course my shallots. I can't cook without these guys.


My true love, garlic.


White and red potatoes. I love the creamy texture of these guys.


Salt and Pepper grinders. I use sea salt in the grinder.


My salt pig full of Kosher Salt. This sits on my counter at all times.


Cheap but drinkable wine.


Olive oil. Vix asked what kind of olive oil to get? I always use extra virgin for everything and I just make sure it comes from Italy. I don't know enough about it to say more but that combo has never failed me!


A timer. This is the second one of these that I have had because the first one fell into a pan of boiling water as I was making soft boiled eggs. It did not survive. I thank my great sister for supplying me with a second one this past Christmas.


These are always on my stove top and I use these for 99% of my cooking. A good pair of tongs is very important. I use them for everything, especially for getting stuff off of high shelves.

This is just a small sampling of what is always on hand right around my stove top and counter. Tomorrow we will go into the pantry! If you have questions about anything please just ask!