So, what sort of stuff do you pretty much ALWAYS have on hand in your kitchen/pantry that you use all the time in meal preparation? Obviously, people will buy and use other stuff occasionally, but I am talking about the stuff that you use so regularly that when you go grocery shopping, you have to replenish it on a regular basis, if not weekly.

Here are mine:

PROTEINS:

Whole Chicken
Various Steak Cuts
Frozen Chicken Breasts and Thighs
Pork Chops
Ground Beef
Ground Turkey
Various Fish filets
Pork Ribs
Eggs
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Sour Cream
Milk
Half n' Half
Various Cheeses

With proteins, other than dairy products, I usually buy in bulk from Costco and break down the packages and put them in freezer bags. Throughout the week, I will usually have 2 or so proteins thawing in the refrigerator, 1-2 proteins that have already been thawed and 1-2 previously cooked leftover proteins in tupperware. Costco is a great deal. My pregnant wife (who is eating for two) and I (who also eats for 2 -- :) ) spend less than $150 dollars on protein at Costco and it lasts around 5+ weeks or so. With dairy, I usually get those as part of normal weekly grocery shopping. I tend to do a lot BBQ'ing on the weekends, so my grill is usually going and I'll cook up a whole chicken and a couple racks of ribs. I almost always cook more of whatever we are having than my wife and I will eat at one sitting, and the remainder is used for lunches, snacks, and quick dinners (and occasionally added to breakfasts too) as needed.

FRUIT & VEGGIES:

Kale
Spinach
Mixed Greens
Snap Peas
Carrots
Red, Yellow, Orange Peppers
Yellow Onions
Tomatoes
Cauliflower
Brocoli
Zucchini
Sweet Potatoes
Celery
Seasonal Fresh Berries
Frozen Berries
Apples
Oranges or Clementines
Grapes
Bananas
Lemons
Limes
Raisons
Various Fresh Herbs
Garlic
Ginger

We tend to eat a TON of kale and spinach -- pretty much every day, I have at least 1-2 meals (and sometimes as many as 3 meals) that contain either (or both) spinach or kale. I do a lot mixes that involve cooking the kale or spinach in olive oil and garlic and adding in various other veggies (and often some nuts or seeds). I also tend to make a lot of salads, often combining some leftover chicken, steak or fish into a salad. Another favorite of mine is to add a sliced tomato to cottage cheese along with some nuts. A great way to use your veggies in a delicious way is to prepare things like fajitas or stir fry. Basically every meal I eat contains fruit, veggies, or (preferably) both.

CARBOHYDRATES

Steel-Cut Oatmeal
Quinoa
Jasmine Rice
Harvest Grains
Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Pitas
Corn Tortillas
Whole Wheat Pasta

I really don't eat a ton of pasta or bread, but my wife loves them, however, a little cooked pasta saved in tupperware is nice to throw in to an omelette or a salad. Having some tortillas on hand goes well with fajitas and I also tend to regularly make some tex-mex scrambles for breakfast that are delicious. I am a big fan of quinoa. First it is has complete protein, second it is wonderful to add to salads, kale/spinach mixtures or on its own. I do like having my sandwiches on pita bread, and pita is great to have as a side, toasted, with some EVOO, garlic and toasted sesame seeds on it. Jasmine rice is just a staple for me, and goes really well with regularly-made stir-fry.

FATS & ACIDS

Coconut Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter
Red Wine Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
White Wine Vinegar
Rice Wine Vinegar

I've thought about branching out and using other type of oils, and occasionally I do, but these are just the staple of my cooking that I used pretty much every day. I am a HUGE fan of Coconut Oil, particularly for high-heat cooking. I love using vinegar and since I love BBQ'ing ribs, and tend to be partial to the mustard-based vinegar sauces of the Carolinas as opposed to the more commonly found sweet, tomato-based sauces, I make a ton of sauces with vinegar and tend to add a splash of it here or there in my cooking.

OTHER STUFF

Peanut Butter
Almond Butter
Almonds
Cashews
Sunflower Seeds
Real Mayonaise
Dijon Mustard
Spicy Brown Mustard
Various Olives
Brown Sugar
Sea Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Cumin
Cinnamon
Various Chili Powders
Powdered Garlic
Roasted Peppers in Oil
Rosemary
Thyme

Not to say that I don't use a lot of other spices, I do, but I tend to run through the spices mentioned at an alarming rate. I also love using nuts and seeds (and various butters) in a lot of cooking. Peanut and Almond butter are particularly good for adding sweetness to foods without the addition of sugar. That said, I still do use brown sugar -- let's not get crazy here... food still needs to taste good! (Like I said, I do a lot of BBQ'ing and brown sugar is a staple ingredient in BBQ rubs, mops, and sauces).

What is interesting is that a vegan friend of my wife came out to visit my wife recently. They were friends in college and she wanted to visit us before the baby is born. The friend is a medical doctor, health nut, and is authoring a cook book for vegans. She wanted to cook for us and was looking through our kitchen and was amazed to find that my kitchen was very much like hers except that we had a freezer full of animal proteins and milk products and eggs. She cooked us a delicious vegan meal (which I made better by having a side of grilled chicken for mine, lol).

Anyway, I was wonder what your kitchen staples are?

I am not just asking out of curiosity. I have ulterior motives! I am always looking for good ingredients to add to my cooking and to spark some new ideas (I do 90% of the cooking in my house -- although my wife is an excellent cook, I have pretty much assumed all cooking duties during her pregnancy). So let's hear it!

Off the top of my head:

Salmon
Frozen seafood blend (scallops, calamari and shrimp)
Shrimp
Smoked wild salmon
Low fat chicken sausage
Trader Joe's vegetarian breakfast sausage
Eggs (I discard yolks)
Deli-style turkey (no nitrates/nitrites)
Deli-style lean rosemary ham
Zone protein powder
Zone cookies,
Zone bars
Fat free Greek yogurt
Fat free yogurt
Smoked wild salmon
Infrequently, chicken breast
Infrequently, grassfed ground beef (for a burger)
Varied trader Joe's low fat cheeses( quite good, but for my husband, I rarely eat cheese)
GratedParmesan

Blackberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pears

Organic and fresh:
Tomatoes numerous varieties
Red, green, yellow, orange bell peppers
Baby bell peppers
Celery
Green beans
Baby Bella mushrooms
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Sweet onions
Lettuce (mostly romain and butter variety)
Baby spinach

Extra virgin olive oil
Light olive oil (for heating)
Avocados guacamole
Cashews
Almonds
Peanuts
Almond butter
Peanut butter
Light cream cheese
Cabot's light whipped cream (in spray cannister)
Organic salted butter
Dill pickles
Trader Joe's low calorie Lemonade(make spritzed with sparkling water)
Kalamata olives
Garlic
Tarragon
Bourbon vanilla
Onion powder
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Himalayan pink sea salt
Blue agave syrup
Celtic sea salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Basil
Rosemary
Raw cacao powder
Chicken broth
Balsamic vinegar
Red wine vinegar
White balsamic vinegar
White wine vinegar
Trader Joe's bruschetta (tomato topping in jar, no bread)
Scallions
Ginger tea
Hummus
Flavored sparkling water (no sweeteners)
Dried tart cherries
85% cocoa chocolate bars
Bragg's liquid aminos (an unfremented type of soy sauce)
Garlic powder
Fruit juice sweetened preserve or jam (cherry or apricot)
Trader Joe's Arabiata pasta sauce
Trader Joe's Puttanesca sauce (love this!)
Turmeric

I have a stash of Zone breads in my freezer, and Zone granolas and Zone pastas, which are unavailable at the moment. They provide half or more of our daily food intake.

Sue, you are making me hungry!

I love fish and seafood, but we cut way down on the amount of it we regularly eat during my wife's pregnancy. Once she gives birth (and day now), we will probably eat a lot more fish and seafood.

There are also a few things on my list I forgot to write, but saw on your list: Balsamic vinegar, onion powder, hummus, and chicken broth. All of those are also staples in our kitchen. My wife also loves PB&J sandwiches so, I guess I should add jelly to the list, but I cannot remember the last time had a jam or preserve so I always forget about it. I also forgot that we regularly get apple juice, orange juice, and Trader Joe's "Green" juice.

Most of the non-dairy proteins we get from Costco.

We try to get as much produce as we can from the local farmer's market.

Pretty much everything else comes from Trader Joe's.

Mine looks similar SANS the Bananas, Raisins, Peanut Butter, Raisins, Mayonaise, Sugar, and breads.
The only pasta we eat, and very occassionally, is Dreamfields.
Otherwise similar to your list Matthew.
Add to our list organic and local farm apples.
And Brazil Nuts, 1 per day, only for Natural Selenium.
Mostly Organic as much as possible, esp. Fruits and vegetables.
And as much grassfed meat, pastured chickens as much as possible.
(As budget allows.)

Matthew, I get the majority of our food at Trader Joe's also. My best wishes to you and your wife!

Just to keep this to the point, this is my "short list" kind of thing, always have on hand...

Proteins:
chicken breast, salmon, extra lean ground beef, eggs, cottage cheese

Fats: almonds, olive oil, guacamole (the individual serving packs from Walmart are great to have on hand)

Carbs:
veggies-peppers (green most of the time, but reds and yellows when they go on sale), zucchini, mushrooms, onions, roma tomatoes, romaine lettuce
frozen-broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, strawberries, blueberries
fruits-apples, grapes

MIxed:
milk, yogurt

also forgot some of the condiments: balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, Mrs. Dash spice blends, peanut butter (natural)

Glad you mentioned mushrooms, cat. For whatever reason, it just doesn't occur to me to pick them up despite the fact that I love mushrooms.

Just added another item to my shopping list.

I've been meaning to get out to Korea town (I live in Los Angeles) to get various types of dried seaweed. I love seaweed and want to rehydrate them and make seaweed salads on a regular basis. However, because my wife is allergic to canola oil I cannot buy the Trader Joe's dried seaweed.

We don't have a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods Market around here (central WI), so my shopping occurs at an average grocery store. I was just there this afternoon to pick up some "staples" and wouldn't you know, neither the mushrooms nor the eggs ended up in my grocery cart! UGH! Also, walked right past the tomatoes thinking I had plenty at home. As I unpacked my bags, I saw that I only have one tom left. Double UGH!

But, at least most items were on sale, the plain yogurt was 2 for $4 which is a nice deal--I always stock up on that sale. The chix breasts were also on sale, about 1/2 of the usual price per pound.

Do they have Costco or PriceClub out where you are in WI? I love Costco for proteins. If you have the freezer space, it is very economical on a per week average and I find the quality to be as good or better than the grocery store, usually.

Nope, not around where I live.

We have a Piggly Wiggly in town, but kind of small and sometimes lacking in variety. About 15 miles away is a Pick-n-Save, they have a fairly good variety. About 35 miles away is a Festival Foods, which probably has the best variety and some better quality foods, but it is not practical for me to get over there on a regular basis. The WF and TG stores are about 80 miles away, so sometimes every other month we get over in that direction Then, I can find some of those specialty items.

We do have some local farmers who are selling grass-fed/free range meats. Prices are quite high for that out here.

Sorry to hear CranCat.
What about farms?
(Aside from the Stereo-Type of Wisconsin and dairy/cheese.)
We use Sam's Club and at times fresh, wild salmon is available a few times a year.

Trader Joe's, as well as other stores mentioned here, isn't close to me either. They're a 45-60 min drive, depending on traffic and time of day, but I consider it well worth it because their foods are of much better quality and you can't beat their prices. Sam's is only a short distance from me, but they don't carry much in the way of wild caught or organic foods.

I Would consider a 90 minute Drive to be a little difficult since i dont have other reasons to go in that direction. However, i regularly drive 45 minutes in a totally opposite direction, and if WF were there, i Would go more regularly.

Sue, do you have a Costco near you? I don't know if it is because I live in Los Angeles (which is a pretty health-conscious area of the country) or it is all Costco's, but there is a pretty good selection of organic proteins and produce (although I cannot get the produce at Costco unless I find someone to split with because it comes in such large quantities that I tend to lose a lot to spoilage... besides, I prefer to buy produce from the local Farmer's Market anyway).

Hey Matt,

There are Costcos here, but none close and all in opposite directions of where I travel to. But not a biggie, because all the local supermarkets carry plenty of organic veggies and fruit, just not at prices as low as TJ's, Costco, etc.