trying to keep it stocked and would like ideas.
i’ll start, i always keep a block of Parmsean in there!
Omg the truth of this hurts lmao
Can’t forget moldy berries that were fine yesterday and shriveled up ginger
Ginger- keep fresh ginger in the freezer then just grate as much as you need for a dish. Then put the rest back in the freezer til you need it again.
I have started doing this and it's PERFECTION
Avocados also!! On month three and mine are thawing well!
Wait. You can freeze avocado’s? This sounds magnificent!
I recently found this out myself and my testing has proven it true.
Could be overkill butt this is what was recommended in a Reddit comment and I follow. Wrap each individual avocado in Saran Wrap. Store in a freezer bag otherwise. Thaw when needed.
Great suggestion! Can you or do you freeze them before they've ripened?
Wish I would have known about this sooner! A while ago I bought some that were on sale and they went bad before I could eat them. Well, now I know what to do in the future.
This reminds me I have avocados in the fridge. I’m afraid to check them now.
My son taught me a neat trick. He grated ginger and froze it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. I just snap off pieces as needed.
It’s honestly the only way! Freezer, grating, perfect.
You assume I have space for anything in my freezer
Dunk the berries in either vinegar or everclear alcohol.
20 seconds is all you need.
Same for container but separately and remove the absorbent material they pack in it.
Rinse well, dry on paper towels, and put back in the container and in the fridge.
That kills or inhibits the mold spores, not sure of the exact science but the fresh berries will stay fresh much much longer.
I love you in the most platonic way ever.
☺️ glad to help!
Great tip - This has helped my berries last so much longer! I also put a paper towel in the bottom of the container to absorb any remaining moisture. You can change it out as needed
I keep a spray bottle of vinegar and water on the counter. I spray almost all of my produce and then rinse with water.
Juicy and glistening strawberries on a Saturday, tiny Gandalf bearded fridge wizards on Sunday.
Freeze the ginger. Soak berries in a big bowl of water with a 1/4 cup of vinegar for two minutes, then air dry. Refrigerate in glass container with a paper towel at the bottom to absorb moisture.
We call it a ginger mummy
sticks snout in fridge
QUIT CALLING ME OUT, u/spencie61!!
Never occurred to me to put ginger in the fridge!
You shouldn’t - it goes bad
Sucker. I let my herbs rot in the garden, like a real man.
/s kind of (at least I’ve always got way too much rosemary)
Don't forget replacing the wilted spinach every week.
Brown dried rosemary needles that are all over the crisper drawer.
I got some garlic from earlier this year. I once had some garlic for 2 years and it grew.
With the current quality of garlic in UK supermarkets that are going off or sprouting within a few days, I've just started using the frozen minced garlic that you find in the Asian food section of the supermarket frozen food cabinets. Time will tell but it's been easy to use so far.
Reported cause I'm in this and I don't like it /s
I feel personally attacked lol
You can freeze them in olive oil in ice cube trays. It saved me a ton of herbs that would be otherwise wasted.
This guy cooks. ⬆️
Slimy green onions or parsley can be found in the bottom left "crisper" drawer of my fridge.
Eggs
Not in the UK
Yes. I’ve heard that in Europe and other countries, eggs are unwashed and can be kept at room temperature.
Get them farm fresh in the US from someone that doesn’t wash them. I currently have a bucket of eggs sitting in my kitchen.
A bottle of champagne. You never know when a friend, neighbor, or family member has good news. And it is soooo fun to pop a bottle to celebrate at the drop of a hat.
Oh. And butter.
The best advice I heard was to always have a bottle of champagne in the fridge for a special occasion. And sometimes the special occasion is that you have a bottle of champagne in the fridge.
I think I may start using this advice lol
I always do and my wife and I just got back from the hospital with a baby that came before we were ready. We didn’t have time to pack much, but when we got back an hour ago or so, we could pop some champagne!
Now I just need to go get another stock bottle …
Sometimes I pop a pat of butter to celebrate.
This. I'm mostly sober, but I always have a bottle of sparkling cider in the fridge and will pop it open to celebrate any little thing. Celebrating the little things helps bring some extra happiness to your life, and it's nice to always be prepared when there's something big to celebrate too.
Your username seems about right ✨🍾
Yup! And that’s another thing I always have in my fridge right next to the double shots.
We are the same! Always have a bottle of champagne and always have butter (usually two kinds- AA unsalted for baking and kerrygold or plugra for toast and the like…)
Your username seems about right ✨🍾
Your username seems about right ✨🍾
And then you can make Champagne Chicken!
You are my hero.
I keep a bottle of it in the fridge ever since I saw the seinfeld episode where jerry offers champagne only to find no champagne.
Sooooooo many bottles of condiments and sauces
Fridges aren’t big enough to hold all the condiments!
We have a mini fridge for condiments and one for just cheeses. Yet, still have the main fridge overflowing with both.
I thought I was excessive with a drink fridge. This sounds amazing!!
Padma Lakshmi posted something on ig the other day and she’s one of us, too. Fridge FULL of condiments.
Hot sauce for days. I have 15 bottles in my fridge, and 32 unopened in the pantry.
Sometimes I make my own green herb sauce. Mostly cilantro, some chives, some scallions, a jalapeno or two, honey or agave, mayo, avacado, salt. Might be forgetting something but that's pretty much it. Just blend it all up and viola. The vid I got it from used it in a griddled sandwich of bacon, fontinella cheese, and avacado. Also great on damn near any sandwich, just bread dipped in it, on most meats, rice, or noodle bowls
Cheese and Eggs.
plain Greek yogurt
I keep cheap full fat non greek for cooking too. Lasts longer than buttermilk and works great in pancakes. Just add water to get the correct batter consistency. Then marinating meats (often indian or Mediterranean stuff), sauces, dips, curries, whatever. I've eaten it with granola and berries when I was out of greek. That wasn't worth it though. At least not with dannon or store brand
Oh yeah!! The big tub of it for me.
Pickles
Like three different kinds of better than bouillon
Chicken, beef, veg?
Sometimes onion instead of veg but you nailed it
They used to have mushroom too but now they don’t and I can’t find any decent mushroom broth anywhere.
:(
You can still get the mushroom one from their website!
- Garlic 😈
So true! They need to stop coming up with new flavors. Right now I have veggie, onion, garlic, no-chicken, Italian herb, beef, and chicken. If they ever go out of business I won't be able to cook.
All in the back of the shelf requiring that I pull everything out to find them.
Ain't that the truth
Amateur…you should be stacking them precariously on top of soda cans/mayonnaise jars, etc. so you’re always anxious when opening the fridge door, wondering when, not if, it will inevitably slide off and land on your shoeless big toe or on your toddlers head who managed to squeeze in before you finished opening the door.
Ham, chicken, beef, and veg. The ham is hard to find but I love it in my homemade wonton soup.
I used dried bouillon for decades and thought Better Than Bouillon was a bit bourgeoisie, but I’m a convert now.
Milk. Butter.
Lactose free milk for my dog, she loves it. Butter for me and eggs for us both!
Wait... dogs can handle lactose free milk?? (i know milk is not great for dogs bowel-wise, so she only gets a tiny spoonfull once in a while but she loves it 😅)
My dog does very well. She gets about 1/3rd cup 4 to 5 times a week. She's a gsd so her digestive system is very sensitive. But the lactose free milk doesn't change her bowel movements at all. Probably helps that her kibbles are specific for keeping her digestive system healthy. She'd probably kill me in my sleep if I took away her "milky milk" lol.
Miso (red & white)
I always have it but usually only one kind at a time. I'd like to incorporate more miso into my cooking though, what are some of your favourite uses?
Here's one I make every day for lunch.
Homemade Miso Soup
```
Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 tablespoon hondashi granules
1 tablespoon dried wakame
1 tablespoon red miso paste
1 tablespoon white miso paste
1 green onion, diced finely
1 slice of a silken (soft) tofu, diced finely
```
#1 Boil water. Turn off heat immediately.
#2 Toss in hondashi and wakame. Wait until boiling frothing subsides.
#3 Add miso paste.[*]
#4 Add tofu and onions. Enjoy.
[*] - There are ways to stir the hot broth into the paste first to properly liquify it but I'm 100% against that. I like to smoosh it along the side of the pot and stir it in that way. Finding a little unmelted clumps of miso paste is what makes it homemade...
Thanks! This is the main use I currently have for miso paste so was curious if there were other things you use it for other than miso soup. If you're having it daily though I guess that explains how you get through so much miso paste.
Miso-lemon dressing!
I'll write out the recipe below. I really enjoy it over a grain and greens bowl - like I'll make barley or brown rice or quinoa, let it cook down and then toss it with shredded greens like spinach, kale, arugula, carrot tops, etc.
Add in protein like salmon, chicken, tofu, and some roasted vegetables (favorites are carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers, zucchini).
Toss it all with the dressing and you can enjoy hot or cold! Great finishing toppings are sliced green onions, herbs, sesame seeds, or crushed nuts like peanuts or cashews.
Dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice - approx the yield of 1 lemon (can sub lime or grapefruit here)
Optional add lemon zest for stronger lemon flavor
•2 tablespoons white miso (or yellow for stronger miso flavor. Can use half white & half red miso to achieve)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt & black pepper to taste
Whisk thoroughly to combine.
Heat for 10 seconds in the microwave to loosen up honey if mixture is too stiff to incorporate
Mustard
Mustard goes in the pantry! I learned quite late that vinegar and mustard powder doesn't go bad. Keep your fridge room for what needs refrigeration.
Mustard powder in pantry yes. Hot English mustard premixed in bottle, definitely fridge for me.
Because you like it cold I take it? It doesn’t need to be in the fridge
Something moldy
Roquefort?
Chili oil
Kimchi and eggs
Watermelon, it's available year round, here in South America, cheap and the sweetest I've ever had.
I am so painfully jealous i am obsessed with watermelon but it’s absolutely seasonal
Parm cheese
Mushrooms
I go through two pounds a week. I'm currently the only one in the house eating them.
What's your favourite mushroom recipe?
I don't know that I can narrow it down to one! Top five probably looks like:
Mushrooms cooked in red wine over polenta or mashed potatoes.
Thai soup with coconut milk and mushrooms.
Mushroom fajitas
Simple mushrooms sauteed in butter with thyme.
Chicken and mushrooms braised in white wine.
Sautéed mushrooms on toast. Yum.
Pickled ginger. I love the vinegar for salad dressing.
Do you make your own? I just started making sushi so I bought some because it was easy. Definitely seems like something I could also home make very easy as we have the dove and tools.
I’ll add pickled carrots and jalapeños.
I've looked into it before and the issue with making your own pickled ginger is that you have to specifically use young ginger and not fully grown kind you are most likely to find in stores
That is such a good idea!
Cheese. Gouda and/or Cheddar.
Yes. Do you also have a cheese drawer?
Eggs
Cold air.
11 types of hot sauce!
We have a so-called "magic salad bowl". As it gets used up, one of us refills it. Voila, we always have fresh salad lunch or dinner.
I have been making big salads 1-2 times a week and eating a huge bowl daily for brunch on work days. I add a little turkey meat,a sprinkle of crumbled bleu cheese, a single serving of ranch and hot sauce to get a "buffalo chicken" vibe. Very filling and satisfying and I have lost 12 pounds in three weeks with no other changes to diet.
Miso paste. It keeps basically forever and is just a little boost of oomph especially in sauces and soups.
Soy sauce
In the fridge?
yup
As someone who makes jerky yep, and there’s another few bottles on top of the fridge in my shop.
Why? Do you not use it fast enough? Or is it like how some people like cold ketchup so they put it in the fridge even though they don’t need to?
I keep it under refrigeration for this reason https://i.imgur.com/kqt7OfE.jpeg
Yeah, the quality does deteriorate after many months or years if it’s not in the fridge. But most people use it faster than that, so you can probably ignore that without your soy sauce changing in any way.
I keep a ton of stuff that never spoils in the fridge because I think the cool and dark will preserve flavor.
Milk, butter, eggs, cream for coffee, soy sauce, mustard, Better Than Bullion
Tomatoes,onions and cilantro,gotta love a pico de gallo
Cottage cheese
A large size of the options at a standard grocery lasts me 3 days tops. A 3 pound tub from costco or wherever might last a week. At this point it's no longer cheap to keep on hand so I just get it every now and then.
Yeah, I'm usually buying 2 of the quart size large curd at Publix every week. I just got an instant pot and love the yogurt I can make so I'm thinking about trying my hand with cottage cheese too. From what I hear the taste is supposed to be excellent. The yogurt I make with some sweetened condensed milk in it is awesome. Nice and sweet with no bitterness.
Lol that sounds expensive and a pain in the ass. I shop about once a month, longer if I stretch it with canned tuna and long lasting produce. Also, try a small container of small curd too one time. Of course, a fancy premium brand will have the biggest difference, but I think small curd has more flavor, even though I like the bigger curd texture more. I heard it has to do with the process that makes small curds.
Also does the yogurt have a nice tang? I could start doing that but the acidity is what makes it a buttermilk replacement and makes it tenderize meat.
Eggs
Butter
Pickles of various kinds.
hellmans mayonnaise on lock
Dukes
Multiple pounds of butter, never less than 5. I enjoy baking and also like to cook with butter. Please don't lecture me how it's unhealthy. I'm perfectly aware of that but have no plans to change how I do things.
I keep a lot of butter because I don't want to feel like a given recipe will use up most of what I have. I don't want to have to run to the store for it. So I keep a lot in the house, and more around holidays.
I also keep at least 3 dozen eggs around, and we do use them quickly. I fix eggs a lot to eat, and again love to bake.
I always have celery. I eat a rib of raw celery nearly every day to provide fiber in what is sometimes an over processed diet.
Ha! Well one stalk is shy of one gram fiber so you might need more
Beer. I am from Wisconsin.
You mean America.
Soy sauce, butter, pickles
String cheese
A wide selection of fermented cabbage (kimchi, sauerkraut, red cabbage etc) I only use it as side dish little by little but they keep for so long my collection keep growing
Latino Holy Trinity : onions, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes. and cilantro for herb. In Spain they include celery.
I don't think you know what "trinity" means
You shouldn't store onions and garlic in the fridge.
Add tomatoes to that list. Their taste and texture suffer from being stored in the fridge.
Why no?
They keep better in their papers under a dry dish towel to keep the light out. If you cut them then you can store them in the fridge but airtight so the gases don't stink up your other foods
Milk, butter, cheese, salad veggies, eggs, salad dressings, mustard, ketchup, Mayo, lettuce, cold cuts
Eggs, milk, onion
Green olives
Various cheeses, eggs, carrot, celery, onion, garlic
Butter, carrots, yellow onions, freshly shredded parmesan. Several opened containers of Better Than Bullion (I have 4 open flavors right now). Salad dressing, ranch, soy sauce, Worcestershire, a tube of tomato paste.
Almost always other cheeses: string cheese, sliced cheddar, sliced Swiss, shredded blend for lazy casserole days.
Honorable mentions: tortillas, opened jars of pickles applesauce and pepperoncinis.
Edit: if I were to pick my number one never run out item: carrots.
Eggs and a boatload of condiments.
Cold air
Aside from the usual milk, butter, eggs, cheeses etc, kielbasa sausage. It is my emergency protein. I have used it in cabbage dishes, sautéed in bacon grease for collards and chopped and browned in scrambled eggs and omelets. In moments of “need food NOW” desperation, I will split it, brown it and eat it on a bun.
The other unusual item is a long English cucumber. One lasts us a week and is used in regular salad, cucumber salad, and for dips and appetizers of various kinds.
Unidentified Food Object in a "Cool Whip" bowl.
Coffee Creamer
(It could be any kind, lactose free, Almond, including milk)
Tofu.
Pretend you're poor and in college again. What would you make with it (I am poor and in grad school with firm tofu rn)?
Baked tofu- I don’t know why they call this herb baked, it’s more Asian. It’s a nice template to mess around with. Serve with rice and maybe a cucumber salad with rice vinegar and a little sugar.
Tofu scramble! Paprika, turmeric, onion, veg. Always a favorite of mine.
I make it like I would make a steak. Salt pepper and maybe a bbq seasoning (onion garlic and cayenne powder)
I don’t eat curry but my wife uses it is a curry sauce with rice.
Tofu noodle soup, marinated and baked or grilled, scrambled, ramen, stir fry, ricotta (for pasta, pizza, sandwiches, or on crackers), feta (for salads) and if it is the shelf-stable kind then smoothie, dip base, creamy soup base, or mousse.
Tiffy Cooks has a really good tofu and egg dish that I make for lunch pretty often! Although, it relies heavily on dashi powder for flavor so if you’re not a dashi fan you might not like it lol.
Editing to add that I just realized you said firm and her recipe uses silken, sorry. But if you end up with some silken tofu soon, give it a try!
Here are some easy tofu recipes:
Tofu ricotta:
1 block extra firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 C nutritional yeast
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 C packed fresh basil, finely chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper - Combine and use just like ricotta. It's delicious.
Vegan BBQ Shredded Tofu: I use taco spices instead to have with my tacos
I like it firm, cold and cubed with soy sauce or cooked with soy sauce in a slab and covered with chili
Creamer
Eggs, onions, garlic, butter
Smoked sausage.
Kewpie mayo, fish sauce, butter, milk, parmesan cheese block, and eggs are main items I like to keep on hand at all times.
Butter (if I have to choose just one!) But I always ALWAYS have: butter, parm, heavy cream, dijon mustard, chopped garlic (in a jar), tamari sauce & coconut aminos. You can make almost anything taste better with these!
kewpie mayonnaise
minced garlic
Butter and garlic
Cold water
Eggs, butter, garlic hummus
loads of butter
Kewpie mayo 🙏
Milk, cheese, eggs
At least 4 types of mustard
Oh geez what the heck is wrong with us? I have 4 types as well. Lol
Don't get me started on the salt in the pantry.
Ponzu sauce. It’s what I dump on my grocery store sushi. 😋
A light bulb.
Fast food condement packets from the early 00's.
A weird smell.
Fresh corpses.
Butter. Kerrigold for toast and such. Unsalted sticks for baking. And I always have at least 2 dozen eggs.
Mold.
😂
Also, I like your handle. My middle name is Stasya.
half n half
Dairy products. We have too many. Would not recommend.
Eggs
Pickles! Probably at least five different kinds (3 different kinds of peppers, cucumbers, okra).
An entire drawer of different cheeses, most are fairly moldy and forgotten in their drawer. And Pickles! One Must ALWAYS have 3 different types of dill pickles (relish, slices, and whole)
Something growing in a hidden location.
Eggs. Mainly because I'm trying to go more keto.
Franks red hot
Molded lemons because I convinced myself I should buy a bag because last time I ended up needing more then two :(
Bacon, butter, and dozens of containers or foil wrapped bowls full of leftovers I neglect until it’s too late
A strange smell I can never pin down
Rotting herbs