Kitchen Essentials - The Software

Now, to tackle the second half of Jaime Oliver's list of essentials - the pantry staples.

pantry porn found on Ohdeedoh Be still my OCD heart!

Here's the list, broken into three parts:

Essential Cupboard Ingredients

Dijon, Whole Grain, and English Mustards - I can't STAND mustard, so this is not something i buy. I know there are a couple of small containers in the fridge that my husband uses for the occasional sandwich, but I couldn't tell you what they were beyond the fact that they're not that crappy French's stuff.

Extra virgin olive oil - Not only do I always have this on hand, it's also locally grown. It's the oil I reach for when I'm cooking most of the time.

Olive oil - Um, I just use the EVOO.

Canola or vegetable oil - I usually have canola too, for cakes.

Sesame oil - I like to cook Asian foods and this is used in a lot of those recipes.

Peanut oil - Also mostly used for Asian foods.

Red wine vinegar - Yup.

White wine vinegar - Nope.

Balsamic vinegar - Three different kinds.

All purpose flour - Tons of this because I use so much.

Self Rising flour - Essential for Pioneer Woman's blackberry cobbler!

Bread flour - Yes, but I rarely use it.

Whole wheat flour - Yes, I used it this week for pizza dough! I just substitute it for the All Purpose flour in Pioneer Woman's recipe and it works fine.

Cornstarch - Yup

Baking powder - Yup

Dried yeast - Yup

Superfine sugar - I bought this one time and the carton sat in the cupboard for YEARS. Not worth the price if you ask me.

Brown sugar - Yup. I like the dark brown kind, personally.

Confectioner's sugar - ALWAYS. And it seems like I'm always running out too, since it's essential to buttercream frosting.

Unsweetened cocoa powder - Only the good stuff. No Hershey's for me. I made a batch of brownies with Hershey's and one with Scharffen Berger and you could TOTALLY taste the difference.

Dried pasta - I'm currently out because we need to go grocery shopping, but we usually have some. I try to get the whole wheat or whole grain kind, but I'm a total sucker for the cute Barilla Piccolini. I know, I'm a dork.

Egg noodles - Not something I usually buy unless I specifically plan to make something with them.

Canned garbanzo, cannellini, and kidney beans - I don't eat any of these, so therefore I don't buy them.

Canned tomatoes - Y'all know how I feel about canned tomatoes. When roma tomatoes go on sale I'll stew my own and put them in the freezer to use in place of the canned ones.

Canned tuna - I buy the pouch kind, but rarely eat it.

Canned coconut milk - Nope. I've never used it before.

Olives (stone in) - Yet another food I don't eat. I'm the world's most adventurous picky eater.

Anchovies - I'm going to chalk this one up to Jamie being British, because seriously, do people really eat these?

Quick cook couscous - The baby LOVES couscous.

Basmati rice - Nope.

Brown Rice - Nope on this one too. I do have short grain (for sushi and sticky rice), long grain (for Mexican rice) and Arborio (for risotto).

Oatmeal - Two kinds - rolled for cookies and steel cut for breakfast. I buy these in bulk at Whole Foods and the organic kind ends up being about the same as the regular kind at the supermarket that way. Plus, I'm not wasting all that packaging each time I buy it.

Honey - Yup

Maple syrup - Yup

Almonds/hazelnuts or mixed nuts - I have walnuts and pecans for baking, plus a can of mixed nuts for snacking.

Mixed seeds - I'm not a bird, Jamie!

Cream or plain crackers - I have no clue what these are. I have saltines but we rarely eat them.

Organic chicken, vegetable and beef broth - I tend to make my own chicken stock. It's really easy if you do it in the crockpot. I have some beef stock that I made in the freezer too.

Marmite or Vegemite - Um, no. Just no.

Jarred pesto - Although I love basil, I'm not a big fan of pesto. Weird huh?

Patak's curry paste - I've seen this but never bought it. The chapter on curries tells me I may be adding this to the list of "yups" soon though.

Soy sauce - I use organic, low sodium, gluten free Tamari. Almost the same taste (less salty) but better for you.

Ketchup - Even the smell of this makes me gag, so no.

Tabasco sauce - Yes, but I don't like it. I think I bought it for some recipe and my husband has it occasionally.

Steak sauce - The smell of this makes me gag too. I don't get how people can ruin a steak like that. Put some butter or gorgonzola cheese on it if you need a topping!!!

Mayonnaise - I don't care for many condiments or sauces, as you have probably figured out by now, but I do happen to love the one that grosses people out the most. Go figure. It's also probably the worst one for you, but luckily I don't like goopy food so this is used in moderation.

Basic Spices

Sea salt - Yup

Table salt - It's the same thing. I don't keep salt on the table - there is a shaker in the cupboard if a guest ever wants it, but otherwise we don't add salt past cooking to our food.

Black peppercorns - We only use fresh ground pepper - none of that stale preground stuff. Yuck.

Dried chiles - I have red pepper flakes, and I decided that counts. I don't like spicy food.

Nutmeg - I have this in dried form. I think next time I buy it I will get whole ones and just grind it fresh like the pepper.

Ground cinnamon - Always.

Dried oregano - Also always.

Bay leaves - Yup.

Fennel seeds - I have yet to make a recipe calling for these.

Coriander seeds - Same here.

Cumin seeds - And again. But I do have ground cumin.

Chili powder - Yup.

Five spice powder - Yup, but it's kind of old. I should probably replace it.

Garam masala - No, but see above comment about the curry paste.

Curry powder - Yup.

Smoked Paprika - Yup.

Basic Frozen Stuff

Peas - Someone pointed out to me today that I use these a lot. I didn't think I did, but if they're showing up in my food photos (I started an album on Facebook) I guess maybe I do. The boy likes them and they're one of the few green things he'll eat. I also like how they add a little bit of color to dishes and, as a friend pointed out, that green really makes them pop. It's funny because I grew up hating peas. Turns out it was only because my mom bought canned peas and I never had a fresh or frozen pea until I was an adult. They're completely different.

Fava beans - I can't even bring myself to try them. They're ugly and then there's the whole Hannibal Lecter thing. I know. I suck.

Green beans - I prefer fresh beans to canned or frozen ones.

Sweet corn - There is usually a bag of frozen corn in my freezer.

Fruits - I try to keep a bag of fruit in there for the baby.

Shrimp - Almost always. I looooove shrimp. I buy the easy peel raw ones.

Ready made pie crust - I prefer to make my own, but there just so happens to be one of these in there right now.

Filo pastry - I've never used it.

Puff pastry - I always thought puff pastry was the same as filo/phyllo. Huh. Either way, no.

So there you have it. What's in your pantry?