Best basic kitchen food "staples" ?!
Answers: I'm learning to cook from scratch, mostly because my family does not do very well with pre-packaged foods (due to sensitivities to dyes, preservatives, food allergies). What are the best kitchen basic "staples" that I need to cook stuff from scratch? e.g. salt, corn starch, flour, etc. I've just got introduced to yellow corn meal and fell in love. There has to be more out there! Thanks.
Here's what I try to keep:
Canned and/or frozen:
Corn
Peas
Peaches
Tomaotes
Madarine oranges
Fresh:
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Celery
Carrots
Eggs
Milk
Varity of fruit juices
Grapes
Oranges
Mayonaise
Sour cream
Tortilla shells
Cream cheese
Butter
Jelly
Grated parmesean cheese
Shredded cheese of different kinds ( I usally uy these when they are on sale and keep them in the freezer)
And block of cheese
B-b-q sauce
sandwich meats
hot dogs
Lots of different salad dressings (vinagareets make great marinades for beef, chicken, pork basically you name it.)
Ranch
Itiallian-different flavors of ranch i.e. Zesty, Roasted Red pepper, parmesean cheese, etc...
Balsmaic vinnagarett
Raspberry vinn
Pomegranite vin
Dry goods/spices:
Salt
Pepper
Seasoned salt
Dried parsley
Dried chives
Onion powder
Granulated garlic
dehydrated onion pieces
" garlic pieces
" celery flakes
Celery salt
White pepper
chili powder
cumin
itallian seasoning
ground sage (great with poutlry)
poultry seasoning
brown sugar
plain oatmeal
flour
sugar
honey
baking powder and baking soda
chicken bullion cubes
beef bullion cubes
sea salt
cinnimon
vanilla
jasmin rice
wild rice
pinto beans
kidney beans
garbozo beans (chicke peas)
white beans etc..
lentils
split peas
Cupboard items:
Random cake mixes
bread
crackers
peanut butter
corn syrup
pancake syrup
instant pancake mix
panko (japanese bread crumbs)
corn meal...it is great isn't it.
I think it's basically most of it.
Top ramen, tuna and rice are my kicthen food staples!
olive oil instead of veg. oil,
it is more flavorfull and so great for your body
herbs and spices for flavor. :)
wheat flour, dried buttermilk, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder. Pepper, bread crumbs, dried potatoes. to name just a few in my kitchen. Oh yeah, cocoa.
Cinnamon is a great spice that is really good for you.
Wheat flour is also a good one to add.
Splenda instead of sugar...more healthy, as well.
flour, rice, oatmeal, pasta, lentils, spices, apple juice, eggs, milk, sunflower seeds, sugar
milk, eggs, bacon, butter, onions, lettuce, tomato, hamburger, diff breads, fish & spinach, mayo, salad dressings, apples, oranges, carrots, celery, chicken (to make soup), italian sausage & pasta sauce, keep plenty of diff kinds of pasta
on hand (pasta is cheap & easy to be creative with), always
have peanut butter & jelly...
You can do a lot with the following...
Baking powder
baking soda
Flour
Salt & Pepper
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Rosemary
Sage
Cinnamon
Sugar
Milk, eggs & butter
There's plenty more you can stock. But these are very basic staples that are very versatile.
Rices, dried beans (more sodium in canned), spices, fresh veggies, broth bases, pasta, cheeses (not like Velveeta), good meats like ground sirloin, chicken breasts, seafood, lean pork loin. Canned green chiles and black olives. Frozen veggies. Whole wheat breads. Soy sauce, horseradish, olive oil, good butter, lemons, vinegars, and yes, cornmeal is awesome.
Panko (Japanese breading crumbs) ... lemon & lime juice in bottles ... almond & vanilla extract (pure) ... unsweetened bars of chocolate (Baker's) ... cocoa powder (unsweetened) ... KNORR bouillion cubes .... regular rice AND Minute Rice ... cans of water-packed tuna ... cans of creamed soup (mushroom, celery, chicken)
You should always have some garlic powder and onion powder in the house. Also, keep a jar of minced or chopped garlic in your fridge. It goes well in LOTS of recipes, and it's very healthy for you.
I also keep a jar of fresh salsa in the fridge. It's good for you and goes well on a lot of foods as well!
First off you should find out what is in the food before you start using it you can check out this site if you want to . . . http://www.foodb.com/
- - If you have a gluten allergy, you shouldnt be using cornstarch. Not becuase of what it is made out of, but from mostly from where its made at. It is made in factories that make other products that have gluten in them.
If you have a gluten allergy, the best thing to use would be Arrow root.
There are many other things that you could possible run into a problem like that.
These are basic pantry staples:
http://www.ehow.com/how_13803_stock-basi...