# Things that are staples in other houses, but not yours. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526 "2005-06-23T13:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/1 "2005-06-23T13:44:50Z")
List some foods that everyone else in the entire world keeps on hand, except for you. For us: Cereal - We haven’t had cereal in the house in over a month, and we probably won’t for the rest of the summer. My brother and sister are somewhat picky eaters, and if left to their own devices, will eat cereal for breakfast and lunch, which bothers my control freak dad for some reason. Eggs - I don’t know why we don’t have any in the fridge every time I want some, but we don’t. I even bought mushrooms, and we have leftover ham in the fridge, and I thought that they would go really well with eggs. Guess what? We don’t have any. Bread - Nope, I’m not kidding, here, guys. Same issue with my brother and picky food stuff. He’ll spread two pieces of bread with butter, microwave them and eat. Rinse and repeat. My dad has a huge problem with this. Milk - Milk is an off and on kind of thing. My dad doesn’t like buying it because we drink it. Yup. That’s his logic. He doesn’t want to buy something that we’ll sit around and drink. Anyone who’s read previous threads on my dad will recognize the flawed logic. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/2 "2005-06-23T13:51:09Z")
Prepared foods. We do buy canned soup when we’re sick. They seem to be a staple of everybody. The only thing in our freezer is frozen vegetables and some booze. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/3 "2005-06-23T13:58:46Z")
:eek: My head is about to explode, **chaoticdonkey**. I’d like to think that I’m not a complete dullard but I just can’t fathom even the edges of your dad’s logic. In my house food is and has always been ritual gathering, conversation, joy, occasion, celebration, comfort and basically life. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/4 "2005-06-23T14:02:10Z")
Oh, I dunno, FOOD . . . 😉 Seriously, we don’t really “stock up” on stuff’ there are only two of us, so things go bad (except for the processed stuff, which we don’t buy a lot, either). So I’ve never been one of those people who can come home, look in the pantry, and think, “Hmmmm, what should we have for dinner?” Instead I look online or in my recipe collection, find something good, and then have to go to the store to get the stuff to make it (although recently I have been surprised and thrilled to be able to make a couple of things–chocolate chip cookies come to mind–that only required the purchase of one or two items from the store). ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/5 "2005-06-23T14:05:39Z")
> [@auntie em](#): > > Instead I look online or in my recipe collection, find something good, and then have to go to the store to get the stuff to make it. I should clarify that this does not happen often. Mostly we go to Taco Bell. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/6 "2005-06-23T14:05:54Z")
He doesn’t buy it because you drink it? Sheesh. Most parents are thrilled when their kids willingly drink something nutritious like milk! I rarely buy hamburger, which, from what I understand, is a major staple in many homes. I don’t buy it because I don’t eat it. Once in a while I will buy a small package if I’m making spaghetti because my husband likes hamburger in his sauce. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/7 "2005-06-23T14:07:04Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Prepared foods. > > We do buy canned soup when we’re sick. > > They seem to be a staple of everybody. The only thing in our freezer is frozen vegetables and some booze. I’m the opposite–no fresh foods, except butter and milk to prepare pasta envelopes, and milk for cereal. The only thing in my fridge besides those is sparkly Splenda flavored water. The freezer is full of Stouffer’s and Lean Pockets. I like to think it’s because it’s just me and if I had a family I would feed them right, but I’ll probably never find out. I do have baking staples (flour, sugar, brown sugar, extracts) but have to buy any fresh ingredients (eggs, cream cheese, etc.) if I want to bake anything. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/8 "2005-06-23T14:09:56Z")
“You know, I really need to pick up bread today.” **One Month Later:** “Damn! I still haven’t picked up bread? I need to do it today.” Repeat step one. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/9 "2005-06-23T14:22:03Z")
Flour. Last Thanksgiving my SO and I had several people over for dinner, and everything was ready except the cheese sauce I was going to make for the vegetables, and which required flour. Even though my SO and I are both on Atkins, it didn’t even occur to me that we didn’t have any flour. I was in the process of making the sauce, and when the time came to add the two tablespoons of flour, there was none. I had to drive to 7-11 to get some, after ranting about “What kind of house doesn’t have flour?! Isn’t there a law or something?” So now we have flour, but haven’t used it since Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/10 "2005-06-23T14:28:06Z")
Milk. I do not drink it. If I am using it in a recipe I buy the smallest possible amount and throw out what is left. Sliced bread. I buy or make loaves and slice cut one slice at a time, as needed. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/11 "2005-06-23T14:40:29Z")
Coffee. Neither of us drink coffee, ever. We’re tea people. I always try very hard to remember that most other adults drink coffee, and more than that, _expect_ coffee, and try to pick some up if we’re planning to have guests over. I do love the way coffee smells when it’s being brewed, so I don’t mind making it. It’s remembering to buy it in the first place that’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/12 "2005-06-23T14:43:23Z")
Don’t have cereal, don’t have eggs, don’t have treats like biscuits, crisps etc (or cookies and chips if you prefer), don’t have alcohol. If we want them we buy them when required, I don’t like the idea of having a stock hanging around the house, either because they don’t get eaten and go off (eggs) or present the opportunity to binge (treats, alcohol). Things in my store cupboard: honey, jam, peanut butter, sugar, tea, coffee, drinking chocolate oatmeal, rice, couscous, pasta, bread, lentils, flour, corn flour spices, balsamic vinegar, Lea&Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco, soy sauce, stock cubes, salt, black pepper jars of ready made pasta sauce and stir fry sauces olive oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil tins of: tomatoes, kidney beans, peaches, pineapple, tomato puree In the freezer: meat, chicken, fish, frozen herbs, frozen peas In the fridge: butter, cheese, milk, mayonnaise, ketchup, a big jug of sugar free Ribena, baon, frankfurters, ham, red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, onions, garlic, scallions, potatoes, courgettes, broccoli, snow peas, baby corn, letuce. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/13 "2005-06-23T14:46:01Z")
I don’t have any flour, sugar, cold cereal, pasta, rice, potatoes or milk in the house. The cereal I stopped eating a few years ago, because I loved it too much. Way too much. The rest I stopped buying about 2 1/2 years ago when I started Atkins. I have had high gluten wheat flour in times past, but other than that, none of that stuff ever enters my home. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/14 "2005-06-23T15:56:42Z")
I don’t drink coffee so I never buy it. Same with cereal. I don’t drink milk, so I only buy that when I’m planning on using it to cook something. Eggs are a somewhat bizarre case; I like eggs but, like milk, I only buy them when I have specific plans for some recipe. I can’t think of any real reason why I don’t buy them just to eat. I never add salt to anything. If I buy a normal sized shaker of salt, it will literally last me for years. ---
**Author:** ![haardvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/15 "2005-06-23T16:12:18Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Neither of us drink coffee, ever. My monitor must be acting up. For some reason, these words just end up all blurry and smeary whenever I try to focus on them. Non standard character set, maybe. 😉 We don’t have milk in the house, as the kids are allergic to dairy. Nor butter. Occasionally cheese because I eat it. When my dad comes to visit he’ll buy 4L of milk for his coffee and leave 3.9L of it when he goes home again. I’ve discovered that I no longer like the taste of straight milk (esp. 2%); it ends up tasting kind of curdly and “skinning” my mouth. We don’t keep many prepared foods in the house, again because a lot of stuff uses dairy or dairy components as binders or flavouring aids. This makes quick and dirty dinners a bit of a challenge … mostly we are limited to jar pasta sauce in this regard. We don’t use paper towels, which seems to throw most guests off. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/16 "2005-06-23T16:14:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Milk - Milk is an off and on kind of thing. My dad doesn’t like buying it because we drink it. I knew a guy who refused to buy bacon because it wouldn’t last—his wife and kids would eat a one pound package of bacon in a couple of days and he wouldn’t stand for it. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/17 "2005-06-23T16:26:21Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I knew a guy who refused to buy bacon because it wouldn’t last—his wife and kids would eat a one pound package of bacon in a couple of days and he wouldn’t stand for it. Pshhhht! That’s nothin’. I know a person who can eat a pound of bacon, by himself, in one sitting. He says he shares with the dog, but I don’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/18 "2005-06-23T16:54:47Z")
Meat. Other than that I think I have all of the usual stuff. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/19 "2005-06-23T17:14:16Z")
Cereal. Neither of us eats the stuff on any regular basis. We do have brand new boxes of Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops in the cupboard right now, but we only bought them for the Light-Saber spoons inside! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526/20 "2005-06-23T17:33:38Z")
Another no-coffee person here. I don’t drink it, and I live alone, so why have it? I don’t even have a coffee maker. Fresh fruit and veggies. I usually only buy them if planning on using them for something specific, othwise i forget I have them and they go bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-staples-in-other-houses-but-not-yours/309526.md?page=2)