Ten Ingredients To Keep in Your Kitchen, Always

We've heard it before: you want to cook more at home but you never have the stuff you want to eat. You buy produce at the grocery store on a Sunday but it sits in your fridge until Thursday and by that time, why bother? You're going out to dinner anyway. 

We get it. It takes some skill to stock your kitchen with the correct quantities of the appropriate ingredients, without wasting food but still having a bounty of options to choose from so you don't get bored. Chefs calculate their food costs down to the cent for this exact reason. In the restaurant world, the way you stock your (walk-in) refrigerator makes or breaks you. 

It's the same at home. Or at least, we think it should be.

That's why we've created this list of ingredients to always have, so you can at least enjoy homemade breakfast and lunch. Dinner is up to you.

*This list does not include oils, salts and other seasonings, because that should be obvious. If you don't have olive oil in your kitchen right now, you probably should not be cooking anyway.

**This list does not account for food aversion or allergies. We don't care.  

1. At least one leafy green. 

2. Mayonnaise.

3. A mustard or two. We have country dijon and horseradish right now. 

4. At least one kind of nut (we like toasted, unsalted almonds) for snacking

5. Crackers (for snacking or homemade lunchable action)

6. CHEESE (at least three kinds of cheese, always). A hard, a soft and a good melting cheese.

7.  Tortillas (for breakfast tacos, quesadillas, etc.)

8. Dry noodles, rice and couscous. 

9. Protein of choice--whether it's cold cuts, a roasted chicken or tempeh, you need protein and sometimes you just NEED a sandwich. 

10, Some type of bread. #welovecarbs

Pictured here: roasted chicken sandwich with homemade horseradish aioli and arugula on toasted sourdough bread.