What I Have In My Fridge and Pantry At All Times
Food is a very personal thing. What you love, what you hate, brands you swear by, and brands you won’t touch with a ten foot pole. Everyone has their idiosyncrasies when it comes to taste preferences, and I am no exception. Once I find a brand of food I love, it’s very difficult for me to stray. Yes, I try new things all the time but I almost always regret getting off the proverbial boat, ESPECIALLY when it comes to coffee creamers, but we’ll get to that later.
I’m not sharing this list as the end all be all or even as a guide to what you SHOULD keep in your own fridge and pantry at all times. In fact, most of it is pretty standard (IMO anyway). If you happen to get inspired by something you see and want to try it, that’s tight! But I’m sharing this list only because it’s fun content for you and for me and, if we happen to have any fridge or pantry items in common, that’s a special little bonus now isn’t it?!
FRIDGE
Getting enough protein in my diet is a forever work in progress. SHIT’S HARD, MAN. One way I attempt it, though, is via greek yogurt. And not the plain shit. Fuck that. I have to have some infused flavor or I can’t get over how tart that shit is. I’ve loved Chobani forever, and recently I discovered they have a “less sugar” version! I’ve been ordering that shit from Whole Foods every week, and it’s a delight. I use it in smoothies or eat it with my favorite granola (we’ll get to that later). So good.
Unsweetened Almond Milk
I can’t remember when I made the switch to almond milk. It’s been years now, I know that. And I know there’s controversy around it what with bee-killing and it not being “good” for you, but I’m tired of switching my milk around every time there’s a new trend. I’ve grown accustom to unsweetened almond milk, and that’s where I’ll stay. I usually get Silk brand, but don’t discriminate at all. Whatever’s available, that’s what I get!
Coffee mate Sugar-Free Hazelnut Creamer
This is probably the fridge product I’m most passionate about. As I mentioned at the top, I’ve been on a journey with coffee creamers. For a full history, I use to do hazelnut cream with more, separate, granulated sugar for YEARS. Then, I switched to Splenda. Then, I got off of “added sugar” in my coffee forever. I realized the Coffee mate hazelnut creamer was enough sugar for me. THEN, I figured why not try the sugar-free Coffee mate hazelnut creamer? And that’s where we’re at. Alas, I love ordering my groceries every week from Whole Foods and they don’t carry the sugar-free, and I hate having to go to a separate store to get it, so I’ve tried hundreds of creamers that aren’t Coffee mate and I JUST CAN’T. OKAY? I CAN’T DO IT. Absolutely nothing tastes the same. Don’t @ me. Don’t do anything to me. Just read the words I’m writing and move on.
Baby Carrots
A true staple. They are always in my fridge, no matter what. And I almost never eat enough of them before they the get all crusty with that white shit. Sometimes I’m real cute and put them in a separate Tupperware like Cher from Clueless, but it doesn’t help. I still don’t eat nearly enough of them before they go bad. But they’re always in my fridge. That much you can count on.
FUCK ME UP, GRILLO’S!!! Ugh these pickles, y’all. I always have some sort of dill pickle in my fridge (the more tart, the better), but these take the fucking cake. They’re just so damn dilly and pickly and tartily. The top doesn’t stay on for shit, so that’s annoying, but it’s worth handling them carefully.
Avocados
The teeny tiny bag of them from Trader Joe’s always and forever. And yes, I keep them in the fridge. The second avocados feel/look even a little ripe, throw those motherfuckers in the fridge and they’ll last for a month. I shit you not. Trust me on this. Anyway, I love the teeny tiny ones because half of it is perfect for a salad or sandwich, but you can easily have the whole thing and it’s not wildly caloric. It’s like the perfect single serving of homemade guac!
Apples
Once you have a cold fridge apple, I literally don’t understand how you could ever go back to room temperature smut. It doesn’t hold a candle. Or flame. Or whatever the saying is. Of course, it can’t just be any apple. Honeycrisp is preferred, but Gala or Fiji works in a pinch. Also, any other sort of exotic apple will do; Red Delicious and Granny Smith aren’t allowed in my household, though. I absolutely discriminate against them and I’m not sorry for it.
Are you even a Texan if you don’t have a 12-pack of Topo in your fridge at all times? Not only does it look legit sitting pretty in your fridge, but having ice cold Topos on hand is the dream. It’s what I Imagine it felt like growing up in a household with a garage fridge that housed every beverage one could dream of. #wealth.
Organic Brown Eggs
Always. Once I went brown, I haven’t gone back. White doesn’t feel right (someone write that down) (oh wait, I just did).
Spinach
For smoothies, specifically. Sometimes for a salad or side of greens, but almost exclusively for smoothie roughage.
Spicy Brown Mustard
For sandwiches and pretzels! Yes, pretzels! When my older guy cousin was going through a growth spurt in his teen years, he introduced me to crunchy pretzels dipped in mustard and my palette was forever changed.
I grew up on this shit. Not from the restaurant itself—IDK what that shit is. THIS shit is available at grocery stores (like Kroger) and, in my opinion, is the best. Some people agree, some don’t. But it tastes like home to me. Home and childhood and college and adulthood. All of it. I love the stuff.
The good stuff in the tube. So many recipes call for tomato paste, so I’ve just gotten in the habit of having it on-hand always, and I’m always so thankful I do!
BONUS ROUND: FREEZER!
I wasn’t planning on including my freezer “at all times,” but I realized I couldn’t respectfully craft this post without them. So.
Some Type of Ice Cream Treat
Be it ice cream sandwiches, pints of Ben & Jerry’s or Jeni’s, ice cream bars—there is some type of ice cream treat in my freezer always. When there’s not, it’s not a good situation. Ice cream is my #1 dessert. I never don’t want ice cream, so instead of making it a “no-no” food that I don’t keep in the house, I always keep it here and slowly go through it. No, really! A pint can last me a month if I approach it right. All about that control.
Frozen Fruit
I slice up my own bananas to freeze, but I keep Trader Joe’s frozen pineapple and mango in there for smoothies, too. I just added frozen blueberries to the mix, too! They’re excited to be included. Oh and, a “smart” dessert is frozen grapes. Just buy a bag at the store, rinse them off, put them in a Tupperware or gallon ziplock bag, and you have a low cal, delicious frozen treat whenever. DON’T SLEEP ON THEM!
Frozen Meat
Salmon, for sure. Chicken breast and thighs. Sometimes a red meat. But I almost always have salmon and some sort of chicken in there ready to be defrosted.
Cookie Dough Balls
With every cookie recipe, I’ve always baked the entire batch at once. Why? Why did I not have the wherewithal to make the dough, form the balls, and freeze them? The shit you learn as you grow older, ya know. Having frozen cookie dough balls is a fucking godsend. Take one out, bake that puppy, and you’re done. And satiated. IT’S THE BEST! I’ve had these in my freezer since JULY and they’re still perfect.
PANTRY
Obviously I always have the usual suspects on-hand, i.e. flour, sugar, etc. etc. These are all the other usual suspects.
Years ago, my best friend took me to a cooking class at Central Market. It was pasta night, and the cook told us that you can use any type of oil for pesto! She was using avocado oil and told us she liked the quality and taste better than EVOO, plus the added health benefits of avocado’s natural antioxidants and whatnot. Ever since that day, my best friend and I both exclusively use avocado oil for all of our cooking needs. I keep EVOO in the house, but 9 times out of 10, I use avocado oil when a recipe calls for oil (unless it specifies a certain type like vegetable).
I also use avocado oil spray in lieu of PAM or the like. Get some!
Cereal
Keeping cereal on hand is a quarantine thing. My job used to always have cereal in the pantry and it was such a fun afternoon snack I never got at home. So, here we are in 2020 and I always have at least one cereal box in my pantry. It changes every time, but thus far I’ve had: Cinnamon Chex, Rice Chex, Frosted Flakes, Multigrain Cheerios, Cheerios, Kashi something or another, Frosted Mini Wheats… I think that’s it. For now.
THIS. SHIT!!! I am hooked. It is my go-to bread for the foreseeable future. This was also a quarantine discovery. I’d been relying on Ezekiel bread for a while, but was drawn in by Dave’s and haven’t looked back. I get the thinly-sliced stuff, and toast it up for sandwiches or just with butter for breakfast with eggs and stuff. It’s fantastic.
My journey with granola has been very similar to my coffee creamer journey. It’s like, I KNOW that Purely Elizabeth is the best but I keep thinking I can find something better. Sort of like swiping on dating apps. Anyway, the Original flavor of Purely Elizabeth granola is bar none the best. End of fucking story.
Brown Rice
Always. It’s just always there.
Canned Tuna
In bulk. In water, sometimes in oil. Whatever your preference, it’s the best most life-saving in-a-pinch pantry staple. Here’s a tuna salad recipe I love!
Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
These are so clutch to have on hand for overnight oats, oatmeal, or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, OKURRRR?
Popcorn
I don’t understand people who don’t have popcorn in their pantry. Like, what do you do when you need a light afternoon snack or late afternoon snack or a movie snack? As Kelly Kapoor once said, “It’s almost no calories.” I prefer doing my own stovetop popcorn with some coconut oil and my own seasonings, but also love SkinnyPop’s microwavable stuff. Sea salt, though. Not butter. NOT BUTTER.
JIF Crunchy PB and PB2
JIF til I die. Literally no other peanut butter will ever be as good, and I’ve tried many. Yes, I will eat other PB in a pinch, but if I have control over the situation, it’s JIF all the way. Crunchy. In fact, I just multiple packs of individual JIF crunchy cups and am living. Now, when I’m trying to save on calories while making overnight oats, oatmeal, a smoothie, whathaveyou, PB2 is the secret ingredient. Same peanut buttery taste with a fraction of the cals and all the protein.
Some kind of pretzel or cracker or chip
Not all three at the same time, but at least one. With pretzels, it’s sticks or twists. With crackers, Nut Thins, Wheat Thins, or even Saltines (I will put a sleeve down in one sitting, no cap). For chips, I really try not to keep them around ever because I will 100% lay in bed at 11pm and eat an entire bag of plain ass tortilla chips if I’m unmonitored. For example, these damn Popcorners chips. They are addictive, and up until this very moment, I had no idea they came in individual packs for portion control so… *adds to cart*.
That’s it, guys. Everything I listed are in my fridge and pantry at all times, but I’m always adding new things (and usually subtracting them as quickly as I added them). I hope this list was insightful, fun, and interesting for you to read. If you feel you just wasted 5-10 minutes of your life, I completely understand and am so sorry.
xox,
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