FROM THE SCRAMBLE LIBRARY
THE WELL STOCKED KITCHEN
THE SCRAMBLE STAPLES LIST
The following Scramble pantry list should help you in the following ways:- You can take advantage of local store specials or bulk purchases on these commonly used items.
- Frozen fish, chicken and vegetables often have the same nutritional value as fresh but are less expensive and can be stored longer with less waste. I have included these items in the event you have extra freezer space.
- Because Scramble recipes emphasize healthy ingredients you can eventually “crowd out” unhealthy pantry items with these nutritious basics.
- Your grocery trips each week should be even faster. You should be able to cross off many of the items from your Scramble shopping list and focus only on fresh produce, meats and dairy.
Depending on the size of your kitchen and pantry you can stock up on one or several of the following items. Those items marked with an asterisk (*) are used especially frequently in Scramble recipes and are great candidates for bulk purchase.
Pantry Staples:
- Oils: olive oil*, vegetable or canola oil*, peanut oil, sesame oil, nonstick cooking spray*
- Vinegars: Worcestershire sauce, rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar*
- Vinaigrette salad dressing
- Dijon mustard
- Minced garlic*
- Ketchup and barbeque sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Asian sauces: Soy sauce*, hoisin sauce
- Wines: Rice wine, white cooking wine, red cooking wine, dry sherry
- Capers
- Pitted black and green olives
- Flour: bread crumbs, cornmeal, flour
- Sweeteners: white and brown sugar, honey, maple syrup
- Grains: white or brown rice*, quinoa, couscous, wild rice
- Pasta (regular or whole grain)*
- Cans of low-salt chicken or vegetable broth*
- 26 oz. jars of red pasta sauce*
- 15 oz. cans tomato sauce*
- 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz. cans whole tomatoes
- 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes*
- Unsweetened cans corn kernels
- Canned beans: black*, kidney* and/or pinto* beans
- Salsa*
- Tortilla chips
- Natural peanut butter
- Nuts: pine nuts, walnuts*, slivered almonds (keep in freezer)
- basil
- bay leaves
- black pepper*
- chili powder*
- cinnamon
- cumin
- curry powder
- dry mustard powder
- kosher salt
- oregano
- pepper
- rosemary
- salt*
- thyme
- fresh ginger (may be kept in freezer)
- frozen chopped broccoli
- frozen chopped spinach
- frozen peas
- frozen edamame (with or without shells)
- frozen corn
- salmon (preferably wild caught) divided into 1-1 ½ pound packages
- firm white fish fillets such as tilapia, cod, flounder, orange roughy divided into 1-1 ½ pound packages
- boneless chicken (white or dark meat) divided in 1 pound packages