I never know what’s in my fridge, until the smell overpowers me.
I know, that’s terrible. So first, I should probably acquire a maid for my fridge.
For me, the first item on my essentials list, for the kitchen’s most essential item, is cleanliness. Then chilled water and fruits, all kinds.
Home Ec life lesson number one… every refrigerator should house a few necessary key ingredients that make the home and life function.
Our meals begin there and it’s how our nutrients stay fresh. So what makes the permanent cut for your cooler?
Redditor connnor4real was also wondering the same thing, they asked:
What is essential to have in your fridge at all times?
Stay High!
“Having just condiments is pretty sad, but not having condiments at all is a whole different level of low.” ~ 1SweetChuck
“The feeling of buying the ingredients to make something you really fancy.”
“It’s ready and you’re just about to eat so you open the fridge and realise at the last second that you don’t have that one specific condiment you like with it.” ~ Reddit
Life’s Most Hidden “Treasures.”
“A strange jar of something completely unlabelled and hidden toward the back. It stays there for years and keeps people guessing.” ~ turboyabby
“When we were renovating our stairs we found a few jars of asparagus from the 1930s.”
“We also threw a lot of old food away after my grandpa passed, but unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the dates on it.”
“Old houses and old people are always interested in this regard.” ~ Jidaque
I have nothing to shake!
“I’ll never forget the time I was invited to eat at my aunt’s boyfriend’s house (why, I have no clue). I had to have been around 11 or so.”
“The man had no salt. No salt-like product. How do you not own salt?”
“If you choose not to eat salt for whatever reason, how do you not own salt for people you invite over? It’s like the one basic seasoning.”
“I’m 41 and whenever that comes to mind I still get annoyed at the idea of it.” ~ manderly808
Don’t be without your shot!
“If you’re a type 1 diabetic, a nicely chilled stockpile of insulin.” ~ DarthContinent
“It has to be in the butter compartment though, amirite? We call it the insulin penthouse.”
“Edit: lots of people mentioning the butter compartment is a bad spot to store insulin.”
“This is very fridge design dependant. Our insulin penthouse stays a pretty consistent 5-6°C. Most insulin should be stored between 2-8°C.” ~ xisonc
“I’ve had bottles fly out of butter compartments when I open the door quick. So now I put my insulin and juice in the crisper drawer and call it the diabetes drawer.”
“Any veggies I would keep in there were are gonna go bad before I eat them anyway.” ~ Clynnhof
Keep the Spices Close!!
“Some kinda hot sauce, I go for cholula and sriracha.”
“Yo I’m very aware you don’t need them in the fridge to stay good. Also thanks for the recommendations everyone!” ~ BewareTheLobster
“We keep El Yucateco, Cholula, Louisiana, Tabasco, Huichol, Valentina, and Tapatío.”
“Also often keep a more home style jalapeño and tomatillo or chile de árbol salsa.”
“Once in awhile the molcajéte will show up with various salsas in it, or whatever was left over from the last trip to the taqueria.”
“I could go for some chile morita salsa. And carnitas.” ~ CoherentLogic
All that is Left Behind…
“Leftovers that I will never actually eat.” ~ wehosh
“Leftovers go through 3 phases…”
“1) I can still eat this because I just cooked it yesterday but I won’t.”
“2) It’s been 2-3 days, I should really eat that now before it goes bad.”
“3) Why did I even save that, now it’s been 4 days and it’s definitely bad but I don’t want to throw it out and let it sit in my garbage can so might as well wait until garbage day.”
“Edit: Yes I get it. You can eat leftovers after 4 days. That’s great.”
“Personally I have leftover fish in my fridge from Thursday and it’s in phase 3. But if you want to eat food a week after it’s been cooked be my guest.” ~ Blaine_The_Mono_
Just in case Bugs Bunny swings by…
“Carrots… just because.” ~ ejsfsc07
“If they need to be in the fridge, why do they not live in the fridge section of the supermarket?”
“I guess it depends how long you plan to keep them before eating them, I never had a problem having them in my room.” ~ KorhakaFor carrots?
“For carrots? In the south US at least, the whole carrots are always in the cooled off veggie section (no doors, lower temps, sprayed with water throughout the day).”
“And the cut and shredded bags are definitely in the refrigerated veggie section (even lower temps along with lettuce and salad bags, sometimes with doors depending on store).” ~ unboundartist
Spreading for the carbs
“Anything that can be used on bread. Cheese, pâté, any kind of savoury spread.”
“I lost all pleasure to cook when my partner died, and bread+spreadables is my usual go-to. Oh, and eggs.” ~ LadyOfSighs
Whenever I Need it… I Need it!!
“Shredded cheese and tortillas. Gotta be able to make a quesadilla at the drop of a hat.”
We get the 50 pack at Costco. They sell it next to the bread, out in the open. It comes in two bags of 25, so one goes in the fridge and one in the freezer.”
“Yeah, they last a lot longer. If you’re getting a smaller quantity and getting through the bag before they grow fuzz, you’re probably ok.” ~ NoSoul2335
Gotta give the box life…
“Electricity.” ~ DavosLostFingers
“As someone who lives in one of the areas that have recently been flooded, this is definitely the most importing thing.”
“A lot of the things in the fridge were gone, but the worst part was that we weren’t able to conserve any of these.” ~ Jeff_the_Officer
I Can’t See!
“Working light bulb.” ~ SnooPears3006</
“Yes! Mine blew a few weeks ago and that’s never happened to me before. I had no idea what to do.
“I ended up finding a light bulb at the store easily enough the next day but until then, trying to find something in the fridge was so hard!!”
“We take advantage of that little thing!” ~ Smil3yAngel
Well I now I have to go shopping.
My fridge is a sad, desolate place. I do have butter though, it’s a start.
Oh, and corn. I love corn.
Maybe we all need to start thinking in survival mode when we stock up and not just for our refrigerators, our cabinets too.
If Covid taught us anything, it’s that everything you may want or need, may be gone quickly, so always make sure the essentials are there.
Did anyone else’s shopping list just grow exponentially?