10 Things In My Fridge | Eat 2 Gather
Do you all know Sheila?? I have never met Sheila in real life but I am determined to one day. Every time I read her posts I always think – I wish we lived closer, like in the same parts of town closer. I want to be part of her book club, I want to drink wine and chat with her and I want to hang out at the beach with her and her family. Sheila is FUN, down to earth, and real…my kind of people. And not to mention, she sure knows how to feed people well considering she has a good sized family (4 kiddos!) herself. I’m so happy she’s here today, I’ve been really looking forward to snooping inside her fridge! Thanks for showing us inside Sheila!
Get to know Sheila better on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
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Well Hello! And welcome to my fridge! Thanks Aggie for having me. This is such a fun series. I think we all have a little bit of snoop in us. Especially “us foodies”, we like to see what other foodies have in their refrigerators. Just like I’m sure you fashion forward sistah’s (which I am not!) like to see what others have in their closets. Am I right? I do not particularly like to see what others have in their closets, it only makes mine look more dismal! But bring on the fridgidaire perusing! I am all over it….and obviously you are too or you wouldn’t be here! HA!
Here are 10 things (that are always) in my fridge!
1.) Butter, butter, and more butter. A day without butter is like a pool with out water. Empty and useless. OK maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but hey we like butter. I love to bake and although I will admit the best pie crust, in my opinion, is made with shortening, butter is still essential to my baking. If you stop by my house you will often find cookies, muffins, or some sort of quick bread baking. I have three hungry teens, and one tween so nothing last long in this house! What doesn’t get eaten, goes in lunches or gets frozen for a non baking day.
2.) Spices: Somewhere I read that red spices keep longer and stay fresher if kept in the refrigerator, I’m not sure where I read that, or if it’s even true, but I keep my paprika’s, curry’s, cumin, coriander, chili powders, turmeric and saffron in the fridge. Yes I said paprika’S! I love smoked paprika it gives amazing flavor to stews, and soups. It’s also amazing used in rubs and marinades. Sweet Hungarian paprika is lovely in chicken paprikash, as well as goulash and any number of other dishes! For the love of curry! I always have a few different curry blends in my fridge. Garam Marsala is one of our favorite spices, I use it in marinades, sauces, as well as soups and stews. Then there’s the chili powders, cumin, and coriander for the love of Mexican food! I could not imagine a world with out colorful spices. Did I say red pepper flakes? I told you we love spicy food!
What is your favorite and most used spice or herb?
3.) Condiments and Sauces: Worcestershire sauce is perfect in marinades and salad dressings. Soy sauce, hoisin, red curry paste, mole, and Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce all condiments that I could not live without. We also love some good old fashioned ketchup, and mustard. I prefer making salad dressing or vinaigrette from scratch, but my kids like to take salads in their lunches and they prefer store bought Ranch and Italian dressing. We also have somewhat of a salsa addiction, just saying. I spy three different salsas, can you find more? Not to mention Sanders hot fudge and caramel sauces, the best stuff on the planet!
{Pssst…yes that is duct tape holding the bottom left hand storage unit of our fridge together. Can I mention I need a new fridge (for many reasons)? Why don’t appliances last forever anymore?}
4.) Milk: Milk for drinking, the Johnson’s drink a minimum of 6 gallons of milk per week. White milk, chocolate milk, warm milk, cold milk, milk in smoothies, milk on cereal, and granola. Milk for ice cream shakes and malteds! Thankfully we have an extra fridge in the basement that I keep 2-4 extra gallons of milk in so I’m not running to the store everyday for milk!
5.) Jelly and Jams: Another obsession of ours. I would have to say strawberry is our favorite, with grape, and peach coming in a close second. But then there’s cherry, apple butter, blackberry, and raspberry. In my opinion one can never have too many jams on hand. I love to use jam and jelly in marinades , salad dressings, and in baking. I have to say peanut butter and fruit jam are definitely bff’s in this household.
6.) Vegetables & Fruit: Living in Michigan it’s hard to find local produce year around, so quite a bit of our vegetable intake is canned or frozen. I always try to keep Earthbound Farms Spinach and Mixed Greens on hand for smoothies and salads as well as a few other snacking veggies. Now if it were summer fresh vegetables from the local farmers markets would be falling out of my crisper drawer!
We always have apples, mandarin oranges on hand, as well as grapes and lemons. I love using mangos in salads, smoothies, and even in curries so if I can find nice mangos I always buy them!
7.) Leftovers: I spy spaghetti noodles, marinara sauce, and leftover white rice. We always have spaghetti noodles and rice on hand for a quick stir fry. My kids also love a big carb filled plate of Pasta Carbonara. We are not great at eating up leftovers, but they do come in handy when the week gets busy, or Ken works a late shift it’s easy for him to warm up something to eat.
8.) Dips: Hummus, guacamole, dip for vegetables are always front and center in our fridge. I often will put fresh veggies out with pretzel crisps or pita bread and dip for the kids so when they walk in the door from school they can grab a fresh healthy snack.
9.) Eggs: We love eggs. They are versatile, tasty, and super healthy. Eggs are the perfect food for our busy family. All of my kiddos know how to make themselves eggs and toast. When life gets busy with sports, music, and various academics it’s helpful that they know how to make themselves something to eat, because this mom can’t always be there when their hunger hits. Did I mention that my in-laws have chickens? Did I mention that my luverly sister-n-law delivers farm fresh eggs to my door? I’m spoiled rotten!!
10.) Dairy: Did you notice some dairy in my fridge? It’s actually a little bit insane. We always have three or four types of yogurt because everyone has their favorite, not to mention we love yoghurt smoothies. Sour cream is essential to life. Buttermilk for baking (pancakes, muffins, bread, biscuits). Whole milk also for baking and sauces. Half and half for Kens coffee, and Cece’s tea. I also spy coffee creamer hiding in the back for guests. CHEESE glorious cheese! At the moment there are ten different cheeses, this is a low number. I usually like to keep goat and blue cheese (my favorites) on hand for salads. We love cheese!
What do you spy in my fridge that I didn’t mention? Do our fridges have similarities? I try to be real, as you can see our fridge is kind of messy. I actually cleaned it up a bit, made some rows. Tried to clean up my act for my visitors, it’s still sort of wonky and messy! Oh well! I’m thankful and blessed that my fridge runneth over!
Aggie, Thanks again for having me in your space! I can’t wait to see who’s next. XO Sheila
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It is always interesting to see what others have in their fridge. Mine looks a lot less full, but very similar in a lot of ways (although I live alone). I did not know about spices though…..not sure I have room with all my condiments. I love almond milk, so I have that in there, and a liquid multivitamin I use as an elite athlete. Thanks for sharing, I wanna come live at your house 🙂
Come on over Tina! We can eat some cheese together 😉 Sheila
I love cheese so that works for me! I lived in MI for 5 years, and I am coming back for the summer this year. Michigan has so much good produce 🙂
What a fun peek inside of your fridge. Lots of “yum” packed in there!
Aggie, Thanks for all your kind words friend. If only we could be everyday friends…..sigh. Thanks again for having me! XO Sheila
Sheila, sometimes I think we are twins separated at birth!! My fridge mirrors yours! Except spices, I never knew that the were better in the fridge. I think I need a bigger fridge 😉 We ourselves have chickens. Did you know that fresh eggs that haven’t been washed don’t need to be refrigerated? More fridge space! Thanks for the peek!!
I did not know that!! I will have to ask my sister-n-law about that. Thanks for the tip.
Sheila,
My first thought was… did you clean your fridge for this appearance? heehee Thanks for your honesty. Mine looks great on grocery shopping day since that’s the day I re-organize. The rest of the time a mess. No one can seem to follow my pattern.
2nd thought…Are we fridge friends, now that I’ve seen your fridge? haha! Great post! Didn’t know about the spices either. hugs!
I’m just loving this series and not just because I get to snoop inside everyone’s fridge1 It’s been a great way to find some new, fun blogs like Sheila’s 🙂 I’m huge on smoked paprika too but have never thought to store my spices in the fridge…makes sense. I have 4 boys (grown) but I can remember the amazing amount of milk that we consumed in this house when they were teenagers!
Sheila – you think your refrig is messy??? Mine is so small, things are packed in on top of each other. I’d love to have yours – I could actually make a valid grocery list just taking a peak inside your frig. In mine, I have to move everything sideways, back and forth to even find what I need for a meal!!!
I also didn’t know about keeping spices in my fridge. Makes sense, tho, especially for the sones I don’t use very often. Thanks for the peak!!
That fridge looks awfully tidy for a house with busy teenagers and a mother who cooks and writes for a living. Then I spied where she tidied it up for us. That made me feel better. I went and opened my fridge and thought, Sheila could fix this mess. 🙂
My fridge has a lot of eggs, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, fruits and veggies also. And always lots of butter. The other day, I took a big whole hunk of beef out of the freezer, intending to throw it in the crock pot 1/2 thawed. I didn’t get to it until a day or two later, when it was fully thawed. Unfortunately I did not heed my food service training and I had placed it on the middle shelf. So last night, I was cleaning blood-sicles from the bottom of my fridge. Disgusting for anyone, but especially so for a vegetarian. (I cook it, but don’t eat it.) And that’s what WAS in my fridge!
Sheila, I have a lot of similar things in my fridge, including Sanders hot fudge! Sanders is the best!
Fun to take a peek! My fridge looks VERY similar including the strawberry rhubarb noosa yogurt. That stuff is amazing! Also, the 2% Meijer milk. I’m from west Michigan as well. Rember the show on Foodnetwork called “Door Knock Dinners”? Cooking out of your fridge would have been perfect for that show. Thanks for sharing. 🙂