Frugal Filled Fridge

I figured that since I showed you my frugalfied, pared down fridge, I'd show you it stocked up with frugal friendly foods too. It's taken me a year of healthy cooking, but I've come up with what I think is a good stock list. We'll start with the fridge, move to the pantry, and then check out my spice rack. Today, let's look at the fridge. There are a number of things I try to always have. They include:

• Milk and Soymilk
• Eggs
• Juice or Herbal Tea
• Cheese-Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan, Feta
• Tempeh or Tofu
• Earth Balance Spread
• Butter for Baking
• Yogurt-Plain and Flavored
• Vegetable Broth
• Cooked Beans
• Prepared Steel Cut Oats (Cooked+Fruit)
• Oodles of Fresh Produce
• Nuts and Grains
• Peanut Butter
• Tahini
• Jam
• Raisins
• Condiments Galore

The must-have produce items I keep on hand are carrots (full-size for cooking, baby for snacking), onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green, garlic, and mushrooms. I usually have celery and an easy side veggie like broccoli, cauliflower, or beets. I try to have a good stock of fruit to choose from-usually apples and citrus is the only thing we can get organic and US grown these days. Our nuts and grains drawer usually has steel cut oats, barley or millet (or another filler-type grain), almonds, walnuts, flax seeds and meal, and homemade bread crumbs. We also have various specialty flours and grains like wheat berries for Beo's breadmaking. Condiments include peanut butter, jam, salad dressing (a creamy one for dipping and a homemade vinaigrette), salsa, asian marinades/tamari, Bragg's, lemon and lime juices, ketchup, and mustard. Of course there's always a variety of leftovers as well, and beer and white wine-when it's too cold to keep it in the garage! Each week I try to plan at least 2 or 3 recipes outside of our standards, and make sure I have the necessary ingredients for those in addition to our basics. With these things in my fridge, I'm able to prepare a healthy frugal meal at the drop of a hat.