The Essential Shopping List
Source of Recipe
http://www.desperationdinners.com
List of Ingredients
The bottom line is you can't cook if you don't have any food in the house. So at some point, preferably when you're not desperate, make one initial extended shopping trip to get your groceries up to par. The following list is a combination of pantry basics and Desperation Convenience items. Many of these "convenience" items may be more expensive than their "regular" counterparts. But when you consider time and effort vs. extra expense on the Desperation scale, these handy helpers make all the difference.
From the canned vegetable aisle:
*Stewed tomatoes (Mexican-style, Italian-style, and Cajun-style): Del Monte
*Diced, herb-flavored tomatoes ("Recipe Ready" pasta-style and salsa-style): Del Monte
*Beans (black, kidney, and others of your choice)
*Tomatoes (regular stewed and diced)
From the ethnic foods/pasta aisle:
*Canned chopped green chilies: Old El Paso Salsa of heat-level choice
*Pasta of different shapes and flavors
*Quick-cooking rice (5- and 10-minute varieties)
From the bread aisle:
*Bread crumbs, plain and Italian-style: Progresso
*Focaccia bread/pizza crusts: Boboli (sometimes stored near the refrigerated pizza dough)
From the dried herbs and spices aisle:
*Dried Italian seasoning blend
*Assorted oils and vinegars
*General herbs and spices (chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, thyme, curry, oregano, salt, cayenne pepper, hot pepper flakes, and black pepper)
From the soup/canned meat aisle:
*Low-sodium chicken bouillon crystals: Wylers
*Fish-flavored bouillon cubes: Knorr
*Vegetable-flavored bouillon cubes: Knorr
*Cans of tuna and white-meat-only chicken
*Broths (chicken, beef, and vegetable)
From the frozen foods aisle:
*Frozen concentrated lemon juice: Minute Maid (found in the freezer section, but store at home in the refrigerator)
*Frozen chopped onions (in plastic bags for easy measuring)
*Frozen filled pastas: cheese-filled tortellini, cheese-filled ravioli, meat-filled ravioli
*Frozen red, yellow, and green bell pepper stir-fry mix: Birds Eye
*Frozen meatballs
*Frozen already-peeled shrimp (raw or cooked)
*Individually quick-frozen chicken breast halves or portions (sold in plastic bags, sometimes found near the frozen turkeys)
*Assorted frozen vegetables (green peas and corn in bags, etc.)
From the dairy and refrigerated aisle:
*Already-shredded cheeses--especially bags of finely shredded sharp Cheddar (finely shredded melts faster), Montery Jack, Mexican blend, taco-style, grated and shredded Parmesan (freeze to prolong freshness)
*Commercial pesto: Contadina (located near the fresh pastas; can be frozen for longer shelf life)
*Refrigerated biscuit and breadstick dough: Pillsbury
*Refrigerated prepared potatoes: Simply Potatoes
From the produce department:
*Already-peeled baby carrots
*Already-shredded cabbage coleslaw mix
*Already-shredded broccoli slaw mix
*Bags of prewashed and torn salad greens (blends of romaine, iceberg, green and red leaf, or spinach)
*Already-sliced fresh mushrooms
*Bottled minced garlic
*Bottled chopped ginger
*Refrigerated fresh fruit such as mango strips and orange segments, in jars: SunFresh Recipe
|
|
member logon
