Essential freezer stuff
i.e. if you have these you will feel secure in the knowledge that you can feed lots of unexpected guests unexpectedly - and if you have a microwave the thawing isn’t a problem.
Joints/chicken - varied. Remember that joints and chickens are priced per weight but also that smaller cuts/birds shrink to nothing in the oven. Be reasonable in your choices - you probably aren’t feeding an army but leftovers make good ingredients for other dishes, to be eaten later in the week or frozen (you can re-freeze them because they are already cooked). At the same time, faced with a huge joint, lots of people get overcome by greed so if you can’t afford for there to be very little in the way of leftovers, don’t go too mad!
Lean steak mince - plus other varieties of mince in different quantities. If you’re going to cook burgers etc., use fresh mince and freeze some of the raw burgers. If you thaw mince, cook it all and freeze some for later.
Sausages, quiches, pizzas.
Fish - fillets, crumbed fillets and shellfish
Bacon
Diced meat for stirfries and casseroles
Cooked mince - cooked by you
Soup - made by you
Pitta bread (heat in the toaster from frozen), tortilla wraps (heat on a heavy frying pan from frozen) and ‘Danish’ bread for puddings. Leftover bread for using in burgers and for making your own croutons (fry cubes in garlic flavoured olive oil).
Herbs, picked in the summer and frozen in sealed containers, well labelled - sorting out unlabelled herbs is a nightmare.
Slices of lemon to save lemons going bad when you bought too many - use them in cooking or add to drinks as frozen slices!
Ice cream and sorbets - bought and home made
Cake or flanbases for desserts. Whipped cream can also be frozen if you have any left over.
Fruit e.g. berries for summer puddings or decoration, and sliced cored apples (good for apple sauce as well as pies and crumbles) - and cranberries, of course.
You will be told that good cooks freeze stock. I’ve tried this but I tend to forget about it or I’m faced with a lump of ice when I need liquid, or I can’t remember what sort of stock it is or what I added - or when. So I stopped even trying.
Fridge essentials
These are always in my fridge.
Butter/spread
Jam/marmalade/jars of pickles - if they are homemade (using reduced quantities of sugar) or are expensive bought varieties (using reduced quantities of sugar) they will keep much longer in the fridge!
Useful things like ‘lazy ginger’ and garlic puree...
That white vegetable fat for pastry making - better to handle than butter and lighter than lard.
Milk (but see note at end)
Fruit juice - both the open cartons and the ones from the chiller section of the supermarket
Cooked meats
Bacon (not on the same shelf as the cooked meats)
Smoked pork sausage/boiling ring - for a meal by itself or as an ingredient in a casserole
Cheeses
Ground coffee (it keeps much better in the fridge)
Cream, plain yoghurt etc.
Leftovers, covered!
Cut salad ingredients e.g. half a tomato or avocado, half an onion (in cling film), half a sweet pepper.
A bottle of tap water to take when you go out in the car or to the gym.
Cupboard essentials
My cupboards, anyway. As all these keep for ages, the list isn’t as frightening as it looks and can be built up gradually. then you just need to replace things. Don’t be tempted to buy more than you can use just because it’s cheap. They keep for ages, not for ever. My mother in law ended up with a lot of peppercorns once....
Rice, pasta, cous cous, lentils
Nuts, sultanas, sunflower seeds, dates and other dried fruits
Coffee. tea, fruit teas (I don’t like tea but I know other people do...)cocoa.
Flour. I usually have plain flour, self raising flour, and strong bread flour plus cornflour for sauces (and dried yeast)
Suet - I buy the packets of vegetarian suet
Coffee extract, caramel sauce, maple syrup, ginger sauce, pumpkin oil, pomegranate syrup (this gets everywhere), soy sauce, good mayo
Various types of vinegar including malt, wine etc.
Sugar - brown, caster and icing (I keep some caster sugar with a vanilla pod in it but that isn’t essential...)and sweetener for people who like sweet drinks but don’t want to have sugar, and for making apple sauce.
Custard powder
Eggs N.B. Do not keep eggs in the fridge, or at least, never use them straight from the fridge. Buy about a dozen at a time and keep them in a cool place then transfer the ones you need to a bowl in the kitchen to reach room temperature. They keep longer than supermarkets would have you think but always break them into a cup before using in a recipe, just in case. If they’ve been around for a while, hard boil them and use them in sandwiches/salad.
Jars of Marmite, peanut butter, tahini, creamed coconut (and desiccated)
Olive oil and other cooking oil - I prefer sunflower. Olive oil doesn’t react well to very high temperatures.
Cereals especially oatmeal (home made muesli or crumble). You can use them for breakfast, in e.g. crumble mix and as toppings in place of breadcrumbs.
Biscuits - especially crackers for cheese. (I am aware that biscuits in US are scones in UK and that some of you might be confused. Tough).
Packets of jelly cubes and of quickjel and ‘dream topping’
Packets of stuffing mixes.
Cartons of breadcrumbs.
Cans of baked beans, evaporated milk, raspberries, tuna chunks, chick peas, kidney beans and corned beef. Also, sardines, but these are bought and eaten (on toast) by my husband - I prefer fresh/frozen fish.
Jars of e.g. mango chutney, creamed horseradish, preserved ginger in syrup, mustard, - easier to buy than to prepare
Jars/cartons of passata or other tomato sauce plus tubes of tomato puree.
Any sauce people have expressed a desire for e.g. tomato ketchup...
Rock salt, black peppercorns, ground ginger, cumin, paprika etc. Spices keep a fair time but start to lose flavour. Dried herbs don’t - try to use fresh or frozen.
Stock cubes. You get what you pay for.
Wine and spirits. Lots. Use cheaper varieties for cooking. This is based on the theory that as you tend to pay for the alcohol content and the alcohol is evaporated in cooking, you don’t need to pay for a 15% wine and use it in a casserole. I know there’s another theory that pays attention to the flavour of more expensive wines but frankly, if they’re that expensive I’m going to drink them.
Canned and bottled beer/lager/cider for drinking and for cooking.
Fruit drinks such as J2O and mixers such as tonic or lemonade. Plus tomato juice to turn into emergency soup...
Crisps.
Bought fresh in small quantities
i.e. more than twice a week - probably whenever anyone passes a shop!
Bread - find a baker you like and patronise them. You need bread for sandwiches, toast and meal accompaniments. You also need leftovers for adding to burger mix etc. Yes, you will have a bread maker but no, you won’t always remember to use it and anyway, the results aren’t brilliant for sandwiches.
Vegetables (including potatoes)
Salad ingredients
Fruit
We usually run out of milk and it should be in this list. I try very hard to have a supply of milk in the fridge but my husband drinks it in large glassfuls and forgets to buy more/ tell me it has run out. So it’s on the fridge list but that’s more of a hope than a reality.
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