davehayes.org

The other night, after being confronted with a refrigerator full of nothing but beer and condiments, I was trying to plan a trip to the grocery store. For me, this is typically a very haphazard thing and occurs in one of about three distinct situations. Usually, I’m either:

• Broke and trying to save money by eating frozen burritos and oatmeal for a week
• Shopping for a specific recipe (my Christmas Cheeseball of Awesomeness, for example)
• Or I have some type of craving.

But recently I’ve become somewhat interested in keeping a stocked kitchen. This happened for a variety of reasons, which I won’t detail here, but there was a problem. I knew the limited subset of items I liked to have around, but past that… I had no idea what a well stocked kitchen could contain. Enter my mother, who in her infinite wisdom and forethought gave me a (very complete and thorough) Betty Crocker cookbook when I moved out of her house. The specific cookbook I own details the items that should be present in a well stocked kitchen (it is by no means exhaustive, but it is pretty thorough, as you’ll see).

Using this as a basis, I dragged Jon to the grocery store to help me fill out the list. It was quite a lot, if I’m honest. Probably $150 worth of food which I subsequently had trouble cramming into the meager cabinet space of my apartment. This was great… I had things around and could make whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted without having to leave the apartment. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.

I had reached a point where the things I had left weren’t really usable without something else. Rather than make a trip to the grocery store, I’d usually just go pick something up from a local restaurant or even do without on occasion. For whatever reason, the other night, I decided it was time to restock. Remembering what a chore it was to copy down the entire shopping list from my cookbook, I decided to make an electronic copy so that I could print one out whenever needed, cross off what I already have and head to the store to get the rest.

This, as you may guess, was slightly tedious and time consuming. But, I did it and I think it’s pretty useful so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s just a generic list of things you’d likely want to keep around, and I hope you find it useful. There’s both a 3 column PDF that’s perfect for printing out and carrying with you to the store and a plain html list (after the break, hit the “read” link down there) that you can copy and paste into whatever you intend to use.

Dave’s Butt-kicking Grocery Shopping List (PDF)

Pantry Essentials

• Breads
  • buns
  • loaves
  • pitas
  • tortillas
• Pasta
  • lasagna
  • spaghetti
  • penne
  • fettuccine
  • macaroni
• Canned beans
  • black
  • kidney
  • refried
  • navy
• Pasta sauces
  • Alfredo
  • pesto
  • spaghetti
• Canned broth
  • beef
  • chicken
  • vegetable
• Peanut butter
• Canned meats
  • chicken
  • salmon
  • tuna
• Pickles and olives
• Canned tomatoes
  • diced
  • seasoned
  • peeled whole
• Rice and rice mixtures
• Cereals
• Salsa and chips
• Coffee and tea
• Salt and pepper
• Cookies and crackers
• Soft drinks and fruit juices
• Herbs and spices
  • garlic powder
  • basil
  • oregano
  • thyme
  • curry
  • allspice
  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • bay leaves
  • ground red pepper
• Soups (canned or dried)
• Jams and jellies
• Soy sauce and marinating sauces
• Ketchup and mustard
• Mayonnaise
• Syrups
  • butterscotch
  • chocolate
  • maple
• Main-dish mixes
• Tomato sauce and tomato paste
• Vegetable oil
  • canola, olive
• Vegetable cooking spray
• Vinegar

Refrigerator Essentials

• Cheeses
  • cheddar
  • cottage
  • Monterey Jack
  • mozzarella
  • Parmesan
• Milk
• Eggs
• Packaged salad greens
• Fruit juice
• Sour cream
• Butter or margarine
• Yogurt

Freezer Essentials

• Ground beef or turkey
• Chicken (boneless skinless breasts)
• Ice cream or frozen yogurt
• Fruit juice concentrate (lemonade and orange)
• Vegetables (packaged)
• Berries (for smoothies and desserts)
• Bread crumbs

Baking Essentials

• Baking cocoa and baking chips
• Chopped nuts
• Cake mix and canned frosting
• Baking mix (Bisquick®)
• Flour
• Baking powder and baking soda
• Sugars
  • brown
  • granulated
  • powdered
  • raw for gourmet coffee
• Brownie mix
• Vanilla and almond extract

Nonfood Kitchen Supplies

• All-purpose spray cleanser
• Paper towels
• Aluminum foil
• Plastic wrap
• Dishwasher detergent and antibacterial hand soap
• Sponges or dish-cloths
• Resealable food-storage bags
• Storage containers
• Toothpicks
• Napkins
• Waxed paper
• Nonabrasive scrubbing pads

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 12:44 pm and is filed under life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.