What’s on your list of grocery essentials?

This list from Spark People got me thinking about my kitchen and what I always have on hand. I think this is an interesting topic because people can have such different ideas of what foods are “essential”, based on how/where they grew up, taste preferences, culture, cooking habits, and so many other factors. My own list of essentials has certainly changed over the years, growing in variety and becoming healthier over time.

The items below are always either in stock in my kitchen or on the grocery list. They’re not the only things I eat, but rather the items my kitchen just doesn’t seem complete without:

PRODUCE

• Fruit – bananas, apples, and some of whatever’s in season
• Tomatoes
• Lettuce – the type changes depending on what looks good at the market
• Onions and garlic – I start to panic if we have less than a head of garlic in the house at any given time
• Zucchini – can be thrown in to bulk up the veggie content of almost any dish (stir-fries, pasta sauces, soups, omlettes, etc.)
• Bell peppers – great snacks
• Mushrooms

GRAINS

• Muesli – my husband’s preferred breakfast
• Whole-grain pasta
• Whole-grain rice

DAIRY AND SUBSTITUTES

• Soy and rice milk
• Parmesan cheese – Interestingly, I think this is the only food on my list that isn’t vegan.

PROTEINS

• Beans, canned and dry – I try to favor dried beans, but it’s nice to have canned beans on hand for quick meals, too. Black beans, chick peas, and lentils are the types we eat most often
• Tofu – no one standard kind. I like to mix it up and buy different types, but there’s always some on hand
• Nuts – almonds and walnuts are musts

EXTRAS

• Olive oil (one for cooking, one for eating raw) and another, neutral-tasting cooking oil such as canola
• Vinegar – usually it’s white balsamic these days
• Herbs and spices – My spice rack is packed, but the ones I use most often are pepper (black, chili, and red pepper flakes), curry powder, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, cumin, bay leaves, basil (fresh in season), and cardamom
• Nutritional yeast
• Dark chocolate
• Hot sauce
• Soy sauce
• Lemon and lime juice (either bottled or in the form of fresh lemons and limes)
• Flax seeds
• Tomato puree
• Coffee and tea (the type of tea varies)
• White wine – for cooking and drinking
• Salsa
• Vanilla extract – this is the one food item that I still have to bring back from my trips to the US, since it’s not readily available here
• Vegetable bullion cubes

FROZEN FOODS

• Spinach – I love spinach, and eat it almost every day in some form. Fresh spinach is great, but it can vary in quality, go bad quickly, and sometimes can be annoying to prepare, so I always have a back-up stash in the freezer.
• Berries – often cheaper than fresh berries, great in smoothies

What’s on your list of grocery essentials? Let us know in the comments section below, or post your list on your own blog and then leave a comment with the link to your post.