I recently read a post by Emily Schuman of Cupcakes & Cashmere that chronicled what she and her husband keep in their fridge. I found the post to be oddly fascinating. Then again, I tend to love things like this that provide glimpses into the everydayness of other people’s lives. It’s interesting, right? The things that become so routine for you and your family often differ pretty significantly from others’ routines.
So, in the event that some of you lovely readers are equally interested in this sort of thing, I wanted to share what Kevin and I typically have on hand in our refrigerator (in no particular order):
- Spinach for days. We go through lots of spinach at our house. I mean a LOT. So much that Kevin sometimes buys the huge, dog food-sized bags of spinach from Costco for us. We use them almost daily in green smoothies for breakfast and salads for lunch. They’re also a great add-in for dishes like stir fry, and make for a tasty side dish when sautéed.
- Assorted salad toppings. I love salads. Let me revise that: I love kitchen sink salads. You know, the kind of salad that’s jam-packed with delicious veggie toppings. To fuel this love of salads (which I love to take to work for lunch), I try to always have a plethora of toppings on hand. My top picks include cucumbers, sprouts, zucchini, beets (I buy the pre-steamed and peeled versions to make things easy), radishes, and mushrooms. (My favorite salad dressing? Flaxseed oil. Yum!)
- Almond milk and regular milk. Smoothies, baking, coffee — there are so many things almond milk makes better! (I’m alone in my almond milk love at our house. Kevin’s a regular milk kind of guy. For him, we tend to buy Fairlife milk. It’s so good! And their chocolate milk is INCREDIBLE.)
- Prepared chicken. I find it so convenient to bake (or grill — thanks, Kevin!) a whole bunch of chicken breasts at once to have on hand for days to come. They are perfect to add delicious protein to salads and other meals! When I bake them, I usually add fresh rosemary, dried oregano, and dried thyme to some olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, and rub the chicken breasts in that mixture before baking. SO good. (We sometimes pick up a rotisserie chicken from the store, which also works really well for quick protein additions to meals.)
- Nut butter. I have a borderline addiction to nut butters (I’m especially fond of almond butter and peanut butter), so having them on hand in the fridge can sometimes lead to overindulgence. But usually I can keep things under control, and I love having these spreads to enjoy with an apple, as a smoothie ingredient, with celery or carrots, etc. (Kevin: I’m sorry for eating more than my share of the peanut butter.) Our favorite nut butters include this one and this one.
- Hemp seeds. I pick these up from TJ’s. They’re wonderful to add to smoothies for some extra protein, and I love their flavor, too.
- Red grapes. a.k.a. my favorite food in the world. (But seriously.)
- Coconut water. I keep this electrolyte-packed drink on hand to add to smoothies on days when I want to mix things up and skip the almond milk.
- Eggs and butter. These are musts for baking! I get so very sad when I find a new recipe I want to try and am out of either of these ingredients.
- Soup of some kind. It’s so easy to make a huge batch of vegetable soup or this amazing white turkey chili to then enjoy allllllll week. Leftovers don’t bother me a bit. Quite the opposite, in fact. I love having a meal all ready to go!
- Kombucha. It’s amazing, and so great to have some stocked up and ready to be enjoyed.
- Sparking water. Topo Chico is the preferred brand for us. It’s delicious on its own (with a wedge of lime — yum!) and also is an awesome addition to a cocktail, thanks to its bubbles.
- Champagne. This is a must at the Keller house. We always have a chilled bottle of champagne or prosecco ready for any celebration. You know, like Tuesdays.
- Beer. Because have you met Kevin Keller? He’s quite the beer connoisseur. (A big benefit for me, because he buys the good stuff and I get to enjoy it.) We love supporting Stella Brew, the beer and wine store just down the street.
What’s in your fridge?