What's in my pantry

Someone asked me the other day how I buy all of the crazy ingredients that go into my recipes all of the time.  My answer - I don't have to buy much.  Six years ago I moved into my first apartment and I have been accumulating spices and long lasting ingredients since then.  At first, I would find a recipe online or in a magazine I wanted to make and have to go buy everything.  At some point though, I had gotten most spices that I use on a regular basis.  I also figured out based on my tastes what I need to have on hand to make recipes that I enjoy.

I usually go to the grocery store once a week and try to spend $50 or less.  With that money I buy all of the fresh produce, dairy, and (once in a blue moon) meat, along with anything else that I might be running low on.  Some weeks I run out of pantry items like olive oil or ketchup and those weeks I run a little over budget.  There are times when I have some crazy inspiration and want to make something exotic that I need to buy a lot for as well.  For the most part though, $50 will feed Josh and me for a week, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We only eat out once a week, so I think we're doing pretty good with this.

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post.  My pantry is currently a disaster and I'm slightly embarrassed to take a picture of it (or my fridge).  So here is my list of things I like to have in stock, and then weekly purchases for us.  (In case you are curious)

Spices -

• Sea salt
• Black peppercorns
• Garlic powder
• Cumin
• Basil
• Oregano
• Cayenne pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Dill
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cloves
• Ginger
• All spice

Canned goods -

• 2-3 cans chickpeas
• 2-3 cans black beans
• 2-3 cans diced tomatoes
• 1-2 cans diced green chiles
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 can corn
• 2 jars marinara sauce

Other pantry staples -

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Canola oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Red wine vinegar
• Peanut butter
• coffee

Grains/nuts -

• Quinoa
• Oats (rolled and steel cut)
• 2-3 boxes whole wheat pasta
• popcorn kernels (not bagged)
• Almonds

Baking goods -

• Unbleached all purpose flour
• Sugar
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Vanilla extract
• Brown sugar
• Powdered sugar
• Honey
• Chocolate chips
• Craisins

Normally stocked items in my fridge -

• lemon juice
• low sodium soy sauce
• mayonaise
• park cheese
• some sort of jam
• olives
• pickles
• butter
• Earth Balance margarine

Weekly purchases -

• good cheese (I'm a Wisconsin girl after all...)
• milk
• yogurt
• eggs
• vegetables (based on what's in season)
• spinach
• tomatoes
• onions
• carrots
• broccoli
• bell peppers
• mushrooms
• avocados
• potatoes
• fruit
• bananas
• apples
• berries
• oranges
• fish and/or chicken if "happy" items are on sale
• bread
• pita chips

Now I know that seems like an awful lot of stuff (which is why my kitchen is not exactly organized (read - stufffallsouteverytimeiopenthedoor), but with these things I find that I can do pretty much anything I want in the kitchen.

And if you're still with me at this point, here is a picture of what you can look forward to tomorrow.