Kitchen Staples To Stock Up On (PHOTOS)

Before you even think about picking up that spatula, make sure you have all your bases covered. To assist you in your cooking ventures during The Week Of Eating In, here's a list of kitchen staples you should always keep in plentiful supply. You never know when you're going to need vegetable stock or herbs, and don't you just hate starting a new recipe only to discover you're missing the most basic ingredient? With this arsenal of supplies at your ready, you'll be prepared to handle most cooking situations. What do you think are the most important kitchen staples? Vote on the biggest necessity below.

Rice Or Other Dried Grains (Oatmeal, Barley Cornmeal, Etc.)

Get a sack of grains, and be fed for a lifetime. Well, not really, but if you keep replenishing said grains, you should be set. This shouldn’t be too hard especially if you like mixing it up a bit. So if you find cooking rice to be your kitchen nemesis for whatever reason, try something easier or quicker, like quinoa, or couscous instead. Whole grains are even healthier for you, so make a mental note of those. My go-to grain for the past year and still going strong has been Thai Jasmine brown rice.

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Comments

[spilkus]

01:30 PM on 02/27/2010

Beer is essential. Huge omission in this post. Has anyone out there ever seriously tried cooking without it? Nightmare.

[rf dude]

11:31 PM on 02/26/2010

'
9) Chef Pierre...

[ForVivi]

11:08 PM on 02/25/2010

My husband and I use coconut oil for frying and as a replacement for butter for baking (banana bread, brownies, oatmeal cookies).

We use the less expensive coconut oil from Walmart for frying and an extra virgin kind bought online for baking. It is wonderful on air-popped popcorn also.

I encourage people to look at the benefits of coconut oil (not palm oil!), one of which is discouraging Candida overgrowth.

[hayness]

10:41 PM on 02/25/2010

Some canned items are great to have in the pantry to whip up a quick dinner. Canned tomatoes for soup or pasta sauce, canned coconut milk for curries, canned beans for hummus, falafel, soup, tacos or chili.

[Principaldad]

03:45 PM on 02/25/2010

I can't believe nobody has mentioned wine.

[ForVivi]

10:58 PM on 02/25/2010

Befriend people who make their own red wine and/or learn to make it!

[hippie4ever]

03:18 AM on 02/25/2010

Bars of chocolate. Man does not live by bread alone.

[ForVivi]

10:59 PM on 02/25/2010

Lindt dark chocolate with orange = yum!

[MJinCanada]

01:55 AM on 02/25/2010

Storage tip: With three growing boys, I found that a few of the 3 gallon plastic tubs that some ice cream shops get their product in made a fine set of canisters for big bags of unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, basmati rice, oatmeal and, yes, sugar. And very affordable at 3 for a dollar in late summer.

[KellyRyan]

10:21 PM on 02/24/2010

Coucous, delicious desert, oats for trail mix, nuts for salad and trail mix, no to eggs, yes to semolina and marinara.

[naschkatze]

08:00 PM on 02/24/2010

Whole wheat couscous and bulgur wheat, and I loves me some garlic.

[loupbouc]

07:49 PM on 02/24/2010

Correction of typing error: What a proliferation of premise-lacking quaint pontificatings. The cutest aspects are bad diction & worse grammar.

[FranklinCat]

01:01 AM on 02/26/2010

Correction of punctuation and vocabulary: What a proliferation of premise-lacking, quaint pontifications.

[loupbouc]

07:48 PM on 02/24/2010

What a proliferation of premise-lacking quaint pontificatings. The cutest aspects are ibad diction & worse grammar.

Examples:

The matter is not whether dried beans are healthy or healthier than canned, processed beans. Live, thriving poison mushrooms and certain living blowfish may be healthy. But they are not HEALTHFUL, since you will die if you eat them. Likewise, do not “eat healthy”—both because an adjective cannot modify a verb and because the matter is eating HEALTHFULLY.

Since you cannot utter linguistically sound statements, you cannot think sound thoughts. So, your ideas do not deserve respect.

[Principaldad]

03:57 PM on 02/25/2010

Actually, it does not follow that a linguistically unsound statement indicates a person cannot "think sound thoughts". It certainly does not follow that ideas articulated in such a manner are undeserving of respect.

For example, you use the term "utter" when nothing in this instance was uttered. That, however, does not make the rest of your comment unsound or undeserving of respect. The rest of your comment stands on its own as irrelevant bIather.

[ForVivi]

11:01 PM on 02/25/2010

Yes, I like linguine too.

[Jennifer Mitchell]

04:44 PM on 02/24/2010

I often look at the food I'm buying at the supermarket as I check out and I think "Does this reflect who I am and what I'm about?"

[NWBrunette]

12:17 PM on 02/26/2010

Oh that's nice. I'm going to use that myself. Thank you.

[cedy]

04:34 PM on 02/24/2010

tofu eggs

just kidding

[Roses]

08:55 PM on 02/24/2010

I bet that has been tried......for real;)

[edejan]

09:59 PM on 02/24/2010

True. As a vegan, I make tofu "scrambled eggs." They're good.

[twilight193]

04:03 PM on 02/24/2010

Since you are trying to encourage home cooking, I think it is a mistake to include
expensive items, like a food processor, in your list of essentials.

While it's handy to have in some recipes, you can certainly cook all of your life without one.

[TotallyAmazed]

06:06 PM on 02/24/2010

You CAN cook all your life without a food processor, because I never had one until my grown son gave me one 2 Christmases ago. But, since I have been watching what I eat, eating healthier, cutting out as much sodium as possible, I've found that I've learned how to use the appliance and I like it. I had it stored in the cabinet over the fridge and because it was out of the way, I never pulled it out.

When I needed it not too long ago to make some hummus, I decided to break down and do battle with it. I'm glad I did, it has cut down on the time I spent trying to chop and blend foods with a blender or Magic Bullet. I even took the juicer off the counter where it had lived for over a year, and now the food processor sits there. (Since I'm eating better I don't need as many limes juiced for daiquiris . . . I'm not sure that's a good thing. ha)

One last thing - while an expensive, high-powered processor might be great, the one my son gave me has proved capable of handling everything I've needed it for. It's a Black and Decker Quick 'n Easy PLUS, and I doubt seriously if it cost anywhere near $100.

I use it constantly, and, I've learned HOW to use it. Guess old dogs CAN learn new tricks. /TotallyAmazed

[hayness]

10:37 PM on 02/25/2010

You can buy a mini food processor for $20-$40. I use mine at least once a week and I would not be without it. A small batch of hummus, pesto or salsa takes moments to whiz up. Well worth it.

The giant food processor, not so much. I use it mainly in summer when I'm canning large batches of spaghetti sauce or applesauce.

[simarti44]

03:22 PM on 02/24/2010

I always have popcorn around for snacking and always cook it on the stovetop with olive and/or canola oil.