Monday, July 11, 2011

top 5 tuesday: refrigerator must-haves

I spent yesterday doing some purging and cleaning around my house. One of the tasks my sister and I set to accomplish was to purge the refrigerator. You see, I kind of have a bad habit of not throwing stuff away when it expires or gets old or if I don't want it anymore. It got to the point yesterday that there were 3 containers of milk in there and only one was drinkable. Yeesh. Another reason my fridge gets crowded is because I really don't eat leftovers so much. I'll do one day after the initial serving/preparation and then after that I won't eat it. I'm not sure why, but I'm weird about that. So, when I cook there is almost always leftover food that goes in the fridge...then I let it sit in there for awhile. [cough...stuffed peppers...cough...]

But as I went through everything deciding whether I wanted to keep it or toss it (and upon my subsequent trip to Super Target to re-stock the expired stuff) I realized that there are a few things that I absolutely MUST have in my fridge.

So, today I'm posting my Top 5 refrigerator must-haves. Because I'm random. So boom!

1. Cheese. I use cheese all the time. Sharp cheddar, american, mozzarella, parmesan, mexican queso, colby jack, you name it and I've got it. It must be penchant for cooking cheesy ethnic foods like Mexican, Italian and um...American??

2. Smuckers Simply Fruit spread in SEEDLESS Strawberry. Unlike the cheese one, I'm a brand snob when it comes to this stuff. I eat this instead of normal jam/jelly and it's AMAZING. It's sweetened with pectin and fruit juices instead of straight-up sugar so it's better for you too. It's tastes just like my Memaw Pat's strawberry jam. I've even converted the B to liking it.

3. Duke's [Light] Mayonnaise. I'm from the South and we do Duke's. End of story. My sister tried to put some Helman's mess in the buggy (note: if you're from the North, a buggy is a shopping cart) at Target today and I promptly walked right back to the aisle and returned it. Whereupon I realized that Target does NOT CARRY DUKE'S mayonnaise. That is sinful. A trip to the Teeter will remedy that soon.

4. Soy Sauce. I don't eat Asian food really at all, but I love my soy sauce. I almost always use it in my chicken/pork marinades. Mmmmm.

5. Buttery stuff. I only use real butter when I'm baking. My "table" butter is always something that is labeled "buttery spread" or "butter-like" or "tastes like real butter". I know, I know, my idol Paula Deen would be ashamed, but I'm trying to keep it healthy, you know? The last few times I've bought some of this stuff I've purchased Smart Balance buttery spread. I really like the kind that has a Omega-3 oils added to it because those are good for your heart!

What are some of your fridge staples? Perhaps milk and eggs should have made the list, but they aren't always in my fridge. Or, in today's case they aren't always edible and in my fridge, but I digress.


2 comments:

  1. fun post. I'm totally like you with the milk. i think i may have 4 quarts in my fridge right now. I just buy a new one, and don't throw the old one out. And then throw them all out at once!

    but milk, eggs, and butter are my must haves. for baking.

    i use the butter-like goodness for regular stuff like toast. TJ's carries one (it might be a smart balance brand) with sea salt. perfect for toast. yum.

    never heard of dukes. and helman's on the west coast is actually Best Foods (its like the Dreyers/Edy's thing.

    :)

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  2. I clean my fridge out once a week and we have leftovers for dinner every Wednesday night. My kids love leftover night because they get to pick what they have for dinner:)

    Also, I am an avid baker. There is a place for margarine in baking. For instance, I find that using 1 stick of butter and 1 stick of margarine in chocolate chip cookies works best. All butter makes for crisper cookies, whereas half and half give you a perfectly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside cookie. Thank you, Alton Brown:)

    My fridge staples are skim milk, soy milk (my little girl is allergic to dairy), OJ, V8 Fusion juice (gotta get the kids veggies in), and cheese. Milk never expires in my house. I'm more likely to run out of it!

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