I have lots of cool cooking toys... er, I mean appliances. I know a variety of cooking techniques and can successfully produce a number of tasty meals
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One of my FAVORITE things about the new Ikea kitchen I put in last year was my "staples drawer". It's a 30" wide deep drawer that is filled with canisters that hold all of my grains/beans staples. That drawer contains (at this point all organic, I think):
flour - whole wheat and unbleached all purpose
rice - long grain brown rice, short grain brown sweet rice (great for sushi), Basmati, sushi rice, Arborio/risotto
dried beans: black beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, red lentils, garbanzos
I try as much as possible to start with something from that drawer when I make a meal.
Other non/less-perishable staples:
onions, garlic, shallots, potatoes, masa harina, organic/unbleached sugar (the white stuff isn't vegetarian), fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies, "no-chicken" broth, dried fruit and nuts (particularly fond of dried cherries and raw almonds), coconut water (usually mango flavored), Luna bars for fast/healthy snacks on the run
perishable staples:
organic/local eggs, organic skim or 1% milk, Kefir (I use this instead of buttermilk), baby spinach, lemons/limes, organic mayo, yellow mustard, organic butter
Pretty much everything else is variable based on what recipes I've decided to make that week. I used to be REALLY bad about finding recipes and heading off to get the supplies. Now I'm trying really hard to look around, see what I have, and start with recipes that I'm already well stocked for. I was so excited the other night when I got a scone recipe from a friend and realized I had EVERYTHING for it. I love finding recipes that sit squarely in my staples. :)
Also trying to get back to more meals that, as my yoga teacher described, are based on the grains/beans/greens formula. More simple soups and stews. More simple, whole foods bowls of healthy goodness. I'm getting back there, and I'm loving it.
I have a 5 foot long kitchen space which currently has decrepit rolling carts under a countertop. I have been thinking of your kitchen re-do and how nice a set of Ikea cabinets would be in that space.
How large are the individual containers in your staples drawer? Will the flour container hold an entire bag of flour?
I decided to provide you with some visuals. :) Here is the drawer, before I started filling it:
The larger canisters are 4.5 quarts. Those are the 2 I use for white and wheat flour. I think you could drop a 5 pound bag in one of them, but I'm not 100% sure since I generally buy in bulk, or sometimes buy smaller bags to top off. The medium canisters are 2.5 quarts, and easily fit a couple of pounds of grain or beans. The small ones are 1.25 quart canisters for oat bran and cornmeal, 2 things I don't generally buy in large volume. (Though I may switch out the cornmeal to a medium canister because I tend to use more now than when I bought it.) The drawer fits 2 large, 13 medium, and 2 small with a LEEDLE bit of wiggle room.
Here is the wall of cabinets that drawer is a part of:
24" wide pantry cabinet, 30" wide drawers, and 18" wide tool drawer with pull-out recycling bins. So with a 5 foot wall, you could easily do something REALLY handy in your space. That wall space had a metal utility shelf set on it before, and this is a whole new universe for me. I love love love it SO much. And every time I pull out that staples drawer, or my pull-out recycling bins, I still get a little thrill. And it's been almost a year. :)
In case some other ideas would be helpful, I've still got the photos from the project over here.
I try as much as possible to start with something from that drawer when I make a meal.
Other non/less-perishable staples:
onions, garlic, shallots, potatoes, masa harina, organic/unbleached sugar (the white stuff isn't vegetarian), fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies, "no-chicken" broth, dried fruit and nuts (particularly fond of dried cherries and raw almonds), coconut water (usually mango flavored), Luna bars for fast/healthy snacks on the run
perishable staples:
organic/local eggs, organic skim or 1% milk, Kefir (I use this instead of buttermilk), baby spinach, lemons/limes, organic mayo, yellow mustard, organic butter
Pretty much everything else is variable based on what recipes I've decided to make that week. I used to be REALLY bad about finding recipes and heading off to get the supplies. Now I'm trying really hard to look around, see what I have, and start with recipes that I'm already well stocked for. I was so excited the other night when I got a scone recipe from a friend and realized I had EVERYTHING for it. I love finding recipes that sit squarely in my staples. :)
Also trying to get back to more meals that, as my yoga teacher described, are based on the grains/beans/greens formula. More simple soups and stews. More simple, whole foods bowls of healthy goodness. I'm getting back there, and I'm loving it.
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How large are the individual containers in your staples drawer? Will the flour container hold an entire bag of flour?
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The larger canisters are 4.5 quarts. Those are the 2 I use for white and wheat flour. I think you could drop a 5 pound bag in one of them, but I'm not 100% sure since I generally buy in bulk, or sometimes buy smaller bags to top off. The medium canisters are 2.5 quarts, and easily fit a couple of pounds of grain or beans. The small ones are 1.25 quart canisters for oat bran and cornmeal, 2 things I don't generally buy in large volume. (Though I may switch out the cornmeal to a medium canister because I tend to use more now than when I bought it.) The drawer fits 2 large, 13 medium, and 2 small with a LEEDLE bit of wiggle room.
Here is the wall of cabinets that drawer is a part of:
24" wide pantry cabinet, 30" wide drawers, and 18" wide tool drawer with pull-out recycling bins. So with a 5 foot wall, you could easily do something REALLY handy in your space. That wall space had a metal utility shelf set on it before, and this is a whole new universe for me. I love love love it SO much. And every time I pull out that staples drawer, or my pull-out recycling bins, I still get a little thrill. And it's been almost a year. :)
In case some other ideas would be helpful, I've still got the photos from the project over here.
Reply
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