I’m convinced there are two types of cooks in the world: the kind who follows recipes to a tee, and the kind who can “just whip something up.” I fall very firmly in the first camp, but such a busy summer and the knowledge that the next chapter of life will be unpredictable at times has made me a little envious of the on-the-fly chefs out there. I’d love to get outside of my comfort zone and be better about having some kitchen staples on hand that I can throw together in a pinch! Not knowing where to start when it comes to making this happen, I (nosily :)) decided to poll a few family members and friends about the five things they always have in their refrigerators. I thought the answers were so interesting, especially knowing these people’s lifestyles, so I wanted to share their answers–mine are at the bottom of the post, too!
Jadzia (world traveler, Bible study leader, mom of four grown kids–including me!)
1. Hellmanns mayonnaise (sorry, but I even bring it to Singapore!)
2. A block of parmigiano-reggiano
3. Vegetables for roasting
4. A melting cheese, like cheddar, Colby Jack, or gruyere
5. Penzey’s chicken soup base to add a little extra layer of flavor to almost anything
Emily (magazine Creative Director, lifestyle blogger, new mama)
1. Pre-washed boxes of salad (usually baby kale or spinach and spring mix)
2. A bowl of our homemade vinaigrette (olive oil + red wine vinegar + grey poupon mustard)
3. Activia yogurt (I add dark chocolate chips to the strawberry for an after-dinner sweet)
4. Natural applesauce
5. Salsa
Callie (newlywed, photographer, recent half-marathon finisher)
1. Local, organic eggs from Whole Foods (between the two of us, we eat five eggs in the morning)
2. La Croix in an assortment of flavors
3. Trader Joe’s Soyaki (so good on any meat or vegetables)
4. Chobani flip yogurts–my favorite mid-afternoon snack
5. Natural Bliss coffee creamer in Sweet Cream
Rachel (mama of three little girls, family blogger, food Instagrammer)
1. Naan (as a side for Indian food or a salad, or a really easy personal pizza!)
2. Sweet potatoes
3. Honey Greek yogurt from Trader Joe’s–it’s just the best!! I add homemade granola and fresh fruit for a delicious breakfast or snack in the warmer months.
4. Balsamic Herb dressing from Green Garden from Costco (I used to make my own balsamic vinaigrette, but having this one on hand has made summer salads so easy!)
5. Bacon
Nicole (magazine Art Director, brand designer, consummate foodie)
1. Almond butter (the grind yourself kind from Whole Foods or Earth Fare)
2. Tortillas (you can make anything out of tortillas!)
3. Sparkling water like La Croix
4. Homemade bone broth
5. Homemade carrot top pesto
Amy (mom of two teenage girls, catering pro, my sister-in-law)
1. Frank’s red hot sauce
2. Spice World‘s minced garlic–I add it to anything I can
3. Wegman’s brand dill pickles (Mike and the kids eat them almost every day)
4. Symeon’s salad dressing (Symeons is a Greek restaurant in Utica, NY that is very popular in the Kirk family!)
5. Marzetti veggie dip in Southwest Ranch with carrots for Mike to snack on
Dana (soon-to-be high school English teacher, recent Austinite, #1 blog commenter, my sister :))
1. HEB flour tortillas
2. Avocado
3. Frozen waffles (Eggo multigrain or blueberry, or the new Trader Joe’s mango waffles)
4. Ginger-infused water
5. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Me (magazine editor, blogger, newlywed, mama-to-be)
1. International Delight Simply Pure coffee creamer, vanilla in spring/summer and hazelnut in fall/winter
2. Sabra classic hummus
3. A block of good parmiagano-reggiano cheese (apparently, I get this from my mom!)
4. Some type of berry for cereal, smoothies, and snacks
5. Mini cans of Seagram’s diet ginger ale (Dave likes them for bourbon + ginger ales, I like them for pregnancy queasiness :))
Your turn, friends! What five things do you always have in your fridge?
This is so interesting! In the same style as you wrote…
Anna (university student, rower, quality-time lover)
1. Milk (I drink a mug of warm milk with breakfast every day)
2. Mini plum tomatoes
3. Honey Greek style yoghurt and mini petit filous yoghurts
4. Block of cheddar
5. Granny Smith green apples (not necessarily kept in my fridge, but I’m addicted to them!)
I also agree with your mum about the mayo thi
Yum! I love cheddar and apples together :)
Interesting! I’d be curious as to what everyone’s go to meal is with their five items. (Also, yay shout-outs! :D )
Five go-to meals would be a fun post!
This is truly SO interesting!! It was really fun to think about what the answer is for us- our answers are kind of boring, haha!
1. Low sodium, deli sliced turkey breast
2. Lowfat Babybel or Lowfat string cheese
3. lots of eggs (Ben eats at least three a day!)
4. Vanilla or strawberry greek yogurt
5. Whole Wheat Tortillas
Possibly my greatest complaint about living outside of Texas: no fresh tortillas at the grocery store! Thankfully, there’s a Chuy’s in town…Dave and I buy a few dozen extra tortillas from them every time we go and keep them in the freezer, haha!
Sabra classic hummus and parmiagano-reggiano are staples for us, too! We also keep eggs, plain yogurt, and chicken stock base on hand at all times–we’d be lost without them!
All classics! Plain Greek yogurt would probably be #6 on my list–it’s a must! :)
I agree with Victoria! SO interesting!!!
For me:
1. Eggs, I always have one at breakfast
2. coffee creamer
3. a pitcher of water
4. some sort of easy grab n go fruit like grapes, or watermelon
5. shredded cheese
Glad you enjoyed the post! Watermelon in the summer is the best :)
I’m not quite sure why I find this so interesting, but it really is! My go-to items are very similar to a Victoria’s. Some staples we always have on hand…
1. Some sort of fruit for snacks
2. Eggs – I eat one for breakfast everyday
3. Deli turkey meat
4. Fresh lettuce to throw together salads
5. Chabani yogurt – great snack/breakfast
I thought so too! :) I need to be better about having salad greens on hand!
My top fives!
Citrus (lemon, lime, grapefruit) – great for garnish, water infusions
Kale or spinach – quick side or greens for smoothie
Goat cheese or feta – great protein and topping
Hummus, always! Add olives for flavor
Mahi mahi (wild caught) frozen – defrosts quick as needed
Ooh, we may need to start buying mahi mahi to freeze!
The fact that Nicole always has homemade bone broth and homemade carrot top pesto on hand blows my mind. But also doesn’t surprise me :)
Not sure I have five items in my fridge at any one time; kind of free range in there.
1. Marie Sharp’s Belizean Heat hot sauce
2. Hellmanns mayo (ok that’s Mom’s)
3. Peanut butter
4. Juice (mostly to flavor the yucky tasting water; pineapple, orange, apple)
5. Tuna ( I like it to be cold when I make it so the cans stay in there – plenty of room).
Awesome post! I guess I just love to hear how other people handle the daily tasks of life but posts like this one (or morning routines, works out schedules, etc. :D) are always my favorite! So here goes…
Kristina (university student, lover of eating out, wanna be runner)
1. Seasonal fruit
2. Eggs
3. Greek yoghurt
4. Chocolate chips ( yes, I keep them in the fridge and love to add them to the yoghurt with pb as an afternoon or bedtime snack)
5. Plant milk
I just realized my fridge is usually always filled with items I need to make brekkie which makes total sense because it’s the one meal that I usually have at home and the rest of the time I never know ahead of time where I will be :)
Fun to read and making me hungry! This was hard to narrow down to 5…but I’d have to say:
1. Pastured eggs (We can get these at all local stores now!!)
2. Whole milk plain organic yogurt
3. anything for a smoothie (greens, berries, fruit etc.)
4. Whole chicken
5. Grass fed ground beef
I think it’s awesome that someone said homemade broth is one of their staples! We used to make it a lot too with leftover chicken bones but have gotten lazy.