Grandma Pat’s Kitchen Pantry Staples

I sat down with my grandma and asked her to tell me what she would buy if she walked into an empty kitchen and needed to fill it with her favorite staple items. “For how long?” I thought, “Well, I don’t know,” I hadn’t planned this far ahead in the question, “I guess just everything you would need to supplement 2 weeks of cooking”. Grandma Pat’s jaw dropped, she was perplexed, “Rem, I could never do that. That would be far more than 20 items”. I was beginning to see now that I may have posed this question all wrong.

Something you need to understand about my grandmother is that cooking, and entertaining is her passion. From sunrise to far past sunset Grandma Pat can be found in the kitchen cooking and meal planning and prepping. Asking Grandma Pat for her top 10 staple items is a difficult task because inside Grandma’s head, she is planning and trying piece together recipes. We had to discuss and decide if Pantry and Fridge items should be on separate lists and whether or not sauce pan had a place on the staple list.

After 30 minutes of brainstorming and negotiating, Grandma and I were able to compromise on a list that I felt fit the definition of “Staple Items” and she felt could create delicious and logical meals for the day.

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Grandma Pat's Kitchen Pantry Staples

1. Butter

2. Bread

3. Oil

Either Vegetable oil or Olive oil,

(For nutritional purposes, I highly suggest Olive oil or coconut oil as it contains super healthy fatty acid chains!)

4. Salt + Pepper + Chili Powder + Cumin

Spices are small. So they count as one, says Pat.

5. Canned Chili Beans

Surprisingly useful little food, perfect for soups!

6. Ground Beef

7. A Whole Chicken (breasts for meat, bones for broth)

8. Canned Italian Tomatoes

9. Fresh Tomato

10. Lettuce

11. Lemon

12. Onion

13. Garlic

14. Dry Pasta

15. Mayonnaise

16. Mustard (she would pick yellow if she could only have one)

17. Wedge of parmesan cheese

18. Capers

19. Eggs, color does not matter. Any egg will do!

20. Peanut Butter (This one made me giggle)

21. Flour

22. Cream

23. Coffee

24. Boullion Cubes - Chicken flavored

25. Wine - Pat says "White wine is a staple for drinking and sauces, but then there is red and that is important as well so, just say all. All is good." Cheers!