I continually find myself at the grocery store without any good ideas about what to buy for dinner. What are a few basics I should keep on hand so I can always throw something together?
When grocery shopping, ALWAYS buy:
Celery
French bread
The reason should be obvious?
…celery sandwiches?
…to look like a grocery shopper in the comic strips, just in case a cartoonist happens by and is in the mood to do a quick caricature?
Head to the Asian foods aisle. There’s noodles or rice sticks, stir fry sauce and canned asian veggies. Supplement the canned veggies with fresh ones (e.g. bok choy, red peppers, onions, garlic and a hot pepper), head to the meat aisle (if you’re not a vegetarian) or pick up some tofu and voila, you’ve a meal.
Because anyone walking out of a store must have a paper bag full of groceries. And popping out of that bag should be celery fronds and a baguette.
I’d say the following are good staples:
rice
chicken
bags of frozen veggies
pasta
pasta sauce
those would offer some simple options when you combine them in different ways…
Assuming you’re not veggie, I would buy:
ground beef
spaghetti
pasta sauce
cheddar cheese
tortillas
bread
eggs
chocolate
Assuming you already have things like standard spices and condiments you can use the above ingredients to create the following options.
- Tortillas + cheese = quesadillas
- Tortillas +cheese + ground beef + standard seasonings = tacos or enchiladas
- Spaghetti can be eaten just with the sauce out of a can or you can add ground beef and spices to make it more interesting.
- Ground beef can be made into meatloaf.
- Ground beef can be made into hamburger patties.
- Bread + eggs = french toast
- Eggs + cheese = cheese omlette
- Scrambled eggs and shredded cheese rolled in a tortilla makes a breakast burrito.
- Egg salad sandwich
- Don’t feel like cooking tonight so you snack on chocolate until you’re not hungry anymore.
Of course several of those options go away if you have an aversion to breakfast for dinner.
Excellent ideas and suggestions Pendgwen, Scout, and Juanita! Now we’re cooking.
Yes, you may assume I’ve got the basic spices and condiments on hand.
And Pendgwen, I love breakfast for dinner.
Does anyone else want to chime in with their ideas?
In addition to scout’s suggestions (which I agree with)
Useful Items That Keep a Long Time
celery
carrots
yellow onions
potatoes
eggs
powdered milk
couscous (assuming you like it)
canned tuna
Taste enhancers:
Soy sauce
ginger
garlic
worchestershire sauce
and I forgot to mention
=stir fry
=tortilla espanol (slice potatoes and onions, fry until until "home fries: consistency ~20 minutes, scramble eggs, pour eggs over potatoes/onions, put in 350 oven, bake 10 minutes. dinner!)
I happen to love tuna casserol w/ tater tots on the side, so I always have the ingredients in the house (cream of something soup, can of tuna, box of rotini noodles)
Another approach is on weekends, to make a big ol’ plate of something, then freeze in dinner-size portions.
Baked Ziti: 1 box ziti or tubular noodles of choice
1 16 oz. container of ricotta cheese
1 package grated mozarella
2 eggs
1 jar sauce.
cook ziti, and oil a 9x13 baking dish. Put 1/2 the ziti in the bottom of the dish and cover with half the sauce. Beat eggs and mix into ricotta. Spread all the ricotta over the sauced noodles and sprinkle half mozarella over it. Add the rest of the noodles, cover with the rest of the sauce and mozarella. Bake 1 hour at 350. Makes about 6 dinner-sized portions.
Also, canned beans of various kinds (refried, black, kidney, lentil, garbanzo) They never go bad, and quickie nachos are one of my favorites!
Various other canned tomato products/jarred salsa: almost everything I cook (except dessert, of course) includes tomatoes and onions in some form.
This is an actual file on my computer, it’s stuff that we buy regularly enough that I check to see if we need any for the week:
Groceries
Produce
Mushrooms
Onions (red, green, white)
Bell pepper
Apples (red, Granny)
Celery
Carrots (big or baby)
Bean sprouts
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Packaged salad
Cabbage
Radishes
Potatoes
Oranges
Lemons
Limes
Melons
Artichokes
Avocados
Other fruit in season
Canned produce
Corn (kernel, cream style)
Green beans
Peas
Black eye peas
Garbanzos (chickpeas)
Pork & beans
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Pineapple
Applesauce
Maraschino cherries
Meat
Ground beef
Steak
Pork chops/sirloin chops
Chicken (whole, boneless skinless breasts)
Roast
Lunch meat (deli or prepackaged)
Ham
Salami
Pastrami
Roast turkey
Roast beef
Corned beef
Drinks
Juice
Soda
Cocoa mix
Chocolate milk powder
Dairy
Milk (skim, 2%, whole, half’n’half)
Sour cream
Cheese (American, Cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, ricotta, cream)
Butter/margarine
Price’s pimiento cheese spread
Bread
French
White sandwich
Wheat
Rolls
Rye
Bagels
Crackers (saltines, Ritz, cheese, wheat)
Cereal and breakfast foods
Instant breakfast
Slimfast
Cereal:
Cheerios
Life
Froot Loops
Oatmeal
Other hot cereal
Poptarts
Granola bars
Pickles etc
Pickles (sliced, dill, sweet gherkins)
Olives (black, green)
Peppercini
Spreads and sauces
Peanut butter
Ketchup
Jam/jelly
Salsa
Mayo
Mustard (yellow, spicy)
Pickle relish
Canned soups
Cream of mushroom
Cream of celery
Cream of chicken
Cream of potato
Tomato
Beef broth/boullion
Chicken broth/boullion
Chicken & rice
Canned meat
Tuna
Corned beef
Tamales
Chili
Ravioli
Spices, herbs, flavorings
Garlic powder
Minced garlic
Minced onion
Poultry seasoning
Seasoned salt
Salt
Pepper
Mrs. Dash (original, garlic&herb)
Rosemary
Parsley
Snacks
Chips
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Dry goods
Cleaning
Soap (liquid, bar)
Laundry detergent
Dishwashing soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Paper/disposable
Cups
Napkins
Paper towels
Toilet paper
Maxi/minipads
Frozen produce
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Green pepper (chopped)
Corn
Green beans
Snow peas
Green peas
Squash
French fries
I don’t keep EVERYTHING on this list in stock all the time (for instance, I’ll generally only have one lunch meat at a time, not half a dozen kinds), but this is all stuff that we’ll eat or use. We usually buy a week’s worth of groceries at a time.
So…
what are the maraschino cherries for???
for me…
potatoes
rice
onions
ground beef
sausage
bacon
picallily (makes a meal out of mash potatoes or toast)
peanut butter
buttermilk pancake mix
maple syrup
butter
angel hair
seasonal fruit
vine ripe tomatoes
pabst blue ribbon ( for marinades and drinking)
/hi-jack/
for a roast…
pork butt
or rump roast
potatoes
carrots
onions
fresh garlic
fresh greens i.e. collard, red swiss chard, spinach
1,get a really big pot.
2,put the roast in the middle
get jiggy with the salt and pepper (more than you’d think you’d need.)
peel the potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic.
cut the veggies into big ‘rustic’ style cuts
and fill the rest of the pot with the veggies
cover the top really tight with foil and poke a few holes.
let it sit in the oven no higher than 350 for no less than 6 hours, letting the steam from the veggies and the juices from the roast
‘do they thang’
and… viola!!! you’ve cooked for half a week!!(and THE best veggies ever!!)
i separate the meat from the veggies myself and put it all into those cool ziploc containers and on with my business
(and the dishes can be used as currency)
TV dinners and small frozen pizzas
margarita mix
limes
milk (reg. and chocolate)
bloody mary mix
Coke
tomatoes
blue cheese
feta
a whole chicken
cottage cheese
Hostess Cupcakes
Hostess chocolate dounuts
tortillas
queso
hand cream
lip balm
hydrogen peroxide
french fries
salsa
sour cream
Fritos
ground beef
tequila
vodka
triple seq
makeup remover
That’s the normal list. Scary.
My mother apparently thinks that list should include double-chocolate brownie mix. :eek:
Robin
I often start cooking a meal by sauteing onion, garlic, celery, and green (bell) pepper…while I decide where to go from there. A can of “chili ready” diced tomatoes, and it speaks Spanish rice. A half jar of Italian red sauce, and you’re looking at pasta. Rice, sausage, shrimp, and hot sauce, and you’re talking jambalaya.
Sorry, I gotta go help with supper, now. Bon Appetit!
Dear MsRobyn, your mother sounds like my kind of woman !!!
It Should Be Obvious But I’ll Mention It Anyway Department: keep at least a small amount of flour and sugar on hand at all times, even if you never bake from scratch. Lots of recipes call for a spoonful of one or the other, and it’s frustrating as all get-out to have to choose between abandoning a recipe or running out for one – lousy — TABLESPOON of something. In airtight containers, both will last for yonks. Same goes for salt and pepper, already mentioned.
I think you should consider what you like to eat most and keep the ingredients for those things on hand, never mind what other people regularly shop for.