Kitchen Pantry

These are my recommendations for a well-stocked pantry, fruit bowl and refrigerator.

**I buy organic when it makes the most sense!

Spices

  • Salt
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Cumin
  • Curry Powder
  • Garlic Powder
  • Chili Powder
  • Celery Salt
  • Pepper Mill Melange
  • Celtic Sea Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • Nutmeg
  • Mace
  • Allspice

Baking

  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Baking Soda
  • Corn Starch
  • Yeast
  • Pancake Mix:  We love Klodic Mix or making them from scratch.
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Melting Chocolate
  • Muffin Mix, Cake Mix, Scone Mix:  for those days when you want to be creative and make something without the fuss.

Beans

  • Canned:  Black Beans, Chili Beans, Pinto Beans, Northern Beans—Ok, just buy every dang bean you see and use it!
  • Lentils (dried)
  • Split Peas (dried)

Rice

  • Jasmine
  • Basmati
  • Brown rice
  • Ok, just like beans buy every rice you can find, try it and see what makes your heart sing!

Pasta

  • I always have the classic elbow and lots of other kinds.  Kids love pasta so I often let them pick what kind they would like to try—hopefully it will be a teaching moment.

Peanut Butter

We love PB!

  • Creamy
  • Crunchy
  • White chocolate

Mustards

We all have our favorites — we use them on sandwiches and in salad dressings.

  • Honey mustard
  • Horseradish
  • Spicy brown

Vinegars

  • Basalmic
  • Apple cider
  • Pear infused
  • Fig infused

Fruit Bowl

I keep a fruit bowl on the counter for snacking.  The tricky thing about fruit is that it is readily available at the grocery store yet where I live only apples are local.  I make every effort to eat as much in-season fruit as we can and we now have our own strawberry patch!

  • Apples
  • Banana
  • Pineapple
  • Oranges

Vegetables

  • Greens (kale, spinach, romaine, iceberg, Swiss Chard)
  • Peppers
  • Celery
  • Broccoli
  • Onions
  • Mushrooms
  • Carrots
  • Seasonal from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

Grains and Nuts

  • Oatmeal:  I love Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal
  • Rice Cereal:  again Bob’s Red Mill has a large variety
  • Polenta:  I prefer the fine grain
  • Wheatberries
  • Quinoa (I cook this in the rice cooker.)
  • Walnuts
  • Almonds
  • Pine Nuts
  • Pistachios
  • Dates
  • Figs

Breads

  • We have a wide variety of breads, homemade jams and peanut butter.

Extras

  • Cooking Stock
  • Vegetable Stock
  • Tortillas
  • Taco Shells
  • Red Sauce for Pasta
  • Pizza Sauce
  • Almond Milk
  • Coconut Milk
  • Olive Oil
  • Taco Sauce: We often buy boring and add our own frozen organic mango or pineapple, beans or corn.

Freezer

  • Garlic Bread
  • Variety of Frozen Vegetables
  • Ravioli (we try lots of different flavors)
  • Pizza dough
  • Frozen juice concentrate (emergency purposes)
  • CSA Vegetables:  I save some of our CSA veggies and freeze them down for out of season enjoyment!  I have lots of spinach, squash, peppers and carrots ready for soups and stews.
  • Homemade Bread crumbs