Photo source unknown, seen on myjuicebar.blogspot.com
It’s been over 2 years since I posted pix of what’s in my cupboards and fridge, and I wasn’t even a vegetarian then, so I’m doing an update! I’ll do the contents of the fridge and freezer today.
We’ve been vegetarians at home for 2 years now:
- Technically we are flexitarians
- We are vegetarian for environmental and health reasons
- We don’t cook or eat meat at home
- We don’t order meat at restaurants, but have been known to order fish and chips about once a year…
- We eat meat when it is served to us at others’ homes, and we don’t request a vegetarian meal or leave meat on our plates. How is it helping the environment if we refuse food that has already been prepared? That being said, we don’t eat at other people’s homes very often, and we know a good number of vegetarians!
- In the second year, we reduced dairy products and eggs, and we now eat a lot of vegan meals
- All this adds up to eating vegetarian over 95% of the time
We buy a bigger grocery order about once a month (sometimes with a Costco trip) and top up with fresh stuff weekly. Right now our stock is low but I’m sure we could eat for 3 or 4 weeks on the existing supplies if we were a bit creative!
Here’s what we have:
Freezer Contents
Freezer, Top Shelf L to R:
- Raspberries, pureed pumpkin, spaghetti sauce in a bag, chick peas, prepared ravioli from Costco, whole wheat bread, rye bread, 4 lbs chopped rhubarb, 2 pkgs crumpets, whole wheat burger buns, Luscious Lemon Pudding Cakes (!), local blueberries, spanakopita (feta and spinach phyllo pies)
Freezer, Bottom Shelf L to R:
- Peas, corn, green beans, Brussels sprouts, Lima beans, 2 frozen yogurt, Freezies
- Not shown: oven fries, sweet potato fries, bananas for banana bread, 1 packaged dinner with meat in case nephew rebelled against veggie fare (he didn’t!)
Usually also have:
- Prepared pizza crusts, ciabatta bread for panini
Fridge Contents, sorry for photo quality
Fridge, Top Shelf:
- Yogurt, Mandarin oranges, mushrooms, hummus, packaged flax and whole grain corn meal
Fridge, 2nd Shelf:
- Eggs, celery, natural peanut butter, somebody’s margarine
Fridge, Small Drawer:
- Cheddar cheese, soft goat cheese
Fridge, 3rd Shelf:
- Pickles x 4, salsa, spaghetti sauce, jam, vegetable cocktail, 2 pop, lime cordial, grapes, leftover Tomato Quinoa Stew
Fridge, Lower Bins:
- Oranges (full crate!), apples, carrots, onions, broccoli
Usually also have:
- Romaine or spinach for salads, tomatoes, bell peppers, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, pita bread, marmalade
Fridge Door
Fridge Door, Top Shelf:
- Poppy seed bagels, whole wheat rolls, English muffins, butter, lemon juice
Fridge Door, 2nd (Left) Shelf:
- 3 kinds of mustard, 2 kinds of olives, pepper jelly
Fridge Door, 3rd (Left) Shelf:
- Plum sauce, pesto, mango chutney, jalapeño peppers, salsa, capers
Fridge Door, 3rd (Right) Shelf:
- Skim milk (for cereal), 2% milk (for coffee), 2 wine
Fridge Door, Bottom Shelf:
- Soy milk, HP sauce, ketchup, 6 salad dressings, chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce
Usually also have: curry paste
We generally don’t buy fake meat products; prefer to eat soup, chili, curry, stew, casseroles, or stir fries rather than mimicking a “meat and two veg” meal.
I’ve noticed that we don’t use ketchup, mustard, pickles, HP or Worcestershire sauce very much because they are really accompaniments to meat, but sometimes we have them with lentil loaf or nut loaf!
Everything in the fridge and freezer right now is typical except the frozen lemon cakes and spanakopita which were purchased as treats and won’t be replaced until the next treat comes along…maybe spring rolls! We switch up frozen yogurt, ice cream and ice cream bars (such as ice cream sandwiches or Fudge Sicles).
Is there anything in your fridge or freezer that is a must for you, and you don’t see here?
I’ll be back tomorrow with a pantry inventory!
An Exacting Life 
I nearly always have broccolini. Better to stir fry and sweeter than broccoli.
And we always several half used jars of different Patak’s curry paste – tandoori, Rogan Josh and Korma are in there now.
I am piqued by 6 salad dressings. All store bought? Or do you make your own?
I’ve never had broccolini! Yes, the salad dressings are all store-bought – the fact that I have 6 of them means I never finish them so if I were to make my own, I am afraid they would spoil! Three I use regularly and replace when they run out; the others I bought for visiting relatives who prefer completely different ones than I do!
Oh give broccolini a go. Nice microwaved a little. And you can eat the whole plant. The stems are more tender than broccoli. In fact I don’t really like broccoli now I’ve had broccolini and very rarely buy broccoli anymore.
Very similar to my fridge/freezer! The biggest difference is your fridge doors – we usually have soy sauce, jelly (apple or grape) nut butter (cashew or almond usually), ranch dressing, ketchup, and mustard. Sometimes salsa and sometimes one additional dressing if we’re having guests. You have way more variety!
I also like my fruit room temperature, so we put some apples, clementines, etc. in the fridge for Mr. G, and some stay out on the counter for me.
Oh, that’s funny, I have my fruit room temperature too, so I take some out each morning! Now you have got me craving almond butter on graham crackers! I keep soy sauce in the cupboard – I figure it doesn’t say “refrigerate after opening” on it – and it doesn’t spoil?
I just checked the bottle and my soy sauce says “refrigerate after opening for best quality”. Hmm? It’s probably a different brand than yours. (But honestly, it has enough salt in it that I’m not worried it would ever actually go bad.)
Our fridge is very similar (except with meat.) In our door we have a few more jars: tandoori paste, red and green curry paste.
I’ve never kept my apples, oranges or onions in the fridge. I’m now wondering if I should be!
I believe onions in the fridge cuts down on the crying. That being said, ours tend to live in the ‘fruit’ bowl!!
Fiona, I buy apples and oranges in 10 lb bags and I’m the only one who eats them, so they do last longer that way. I’ve been told that onions shouldn’t go in the fridge, but we use them up so slowly, even buying 2 lb bags, that they always sprout when they are left out!
I think the only things I use that aren’t shown are frozen broccoli, cauliflower, soybeans, spinach – all which I tend to use in bakes and curries.
I seem to buy the same frozen veg all the time; I should mix it up! I do buy fresh broccoli and cauliflower now though, because I’ve been making chopped salads that use half a cauliflower and a head of broccoli (it lasts me a week!)
Jam and marmalade is a fridge must, and I try to keep a bag of frozen peppers in the freezer as I often forget to buy fresh peppers for burritos etc.
We have very few condiments in our fridge as I’m trying to reduce everything, but I have the usual at all times. Ketchup, Frenchies Mustard and Mayo. I chucked our HP away as it now contains GFS here in the UK 😦
Love seeing your fridge photos! We’re buying a new fridge freezer when we move (the new buyers are having ours), and it’s the thing I’m most excited to get – I need to get out more lol!!
Yep, our HP also has HFCS, as we call it. Try to avoid it but since we cook most foods from scratch, will let it slip in occasionally. Also very hypocritical of me since I eat so much candy!
I can definitely see why people like to replace their appliances – it is a good feeling! Does your apt come with the other appliances?
Love this post. I’m also a flexitarian of sorts. I still eat non-factory farmed meat (like venison or lake fish) and i’ll also eat meat if I have the opportunity to try something I’ve never had before. Do you think you’ll ever phase out some kinds of dairy? I try to eat vegan as much as possible, but I really love cheese. We’ve started buying almond milk about half the time.
Hi SSB, I have access to non-factory farmed meat – my dad raises trout in a pond, and my brother hunts, and relatives have raised chickens and turkeys. So I don’t balk at eating meat at their homes.
I no longer rely on dairy for protein as much as I used to. My spouse Rom uses soy milk and I use cow’s. But I do like the taste of soy or almond. We both have cow’s milk yogurt and cheese every day, though. I would miss them if I had to give them up, and would want to buy vegan substitutes. Where I live, they are SO expensive, easily twice the cost of dairy. I also hesitate to buy too many soy products because so much of it is GMO and they’re such heavily processed products. Sigh!
I’m envious of how many jars you can fit on your fridge door shelves! I can only squeeze 3-4 jars onto mine because of the way they are shaped. It is a new full fridge though – no top freezer – which I am loving, except for the mentioned door shelf issue.
Additions in my fridge are mostly baking items: whole wheat flour, yeast, oat bran, wheat germ, flax seed, pecan pieces, almonds, raisins, etc. These items are supposed to keep better in the fridge, but I know a lot of people may keep them in the pantry.
We have only one salad dressing in our fridge that I make. It is all that is offered to guests too – not very accommodating am I?! I seem to get quite a few compliments on it, so hopefully I haven’t tortured too many people 😉 When I first went this route, I thought I would get sick of only one type of dressing, but it has been years now and we still love it.
I do keep flour, nuts, raisins etc in the cupboards, on the assumption I go through them fast enough not to worry. I do check the ww flour and if I get a large amt I put it in the fridge.
I could probably make do with two salad dressings – raspberry vinaigrette (or some other fruit) and Greek! What’s yours like? I have never had any luck making salad dressings. I tried making Greek style, and used the usual ingredients, and it was terrible! Found the flavours would just not infuse and intensify?
My standard one is a balsamic vinaigrette. Very easy and tasty – I can send you the recipe if you wish. Another one I make is a feta dill creamy dressing, but it has to be eaten in a couple of days and I only make a small batch every once in a while.
It would be good to have a standard dressing you are known for!
Most of the things I have which are different from your stash are all things my husband eats but I do not, such as chicken, maple syrup, frozen waffles and soy/almond yogurts. My fridge only has goat or sheep cheese as we don’t consume any cow dairy. I think I have more jars of stuff than you do as we have several different kinds of mustard, etc. And I usually have a big bag of fresh spinach in the fridge and a tub or two of leaf lettuce. Otherwise, not too different. Oh, I forgot to mention wine. We generally have white wine in the fridge. I used to have a wine chiller fridge but it bit the dust and I decided not to replace it.
Not too different! I have been trying to use up our condiments. At one time we had over 50 bottles! Rom always has crumpets, English muffins, cottage cheese and tomatoes that are his alone. The apples, oranges, salad greens, and wine are mine!
All of sudden, I am hungry. I think I need to check out what’s in the fridge.
Like most people, I always check what’s there, hoping nicer things have appeared when I wasn’t looking 🙂
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Hmmm… well, what I notice is a dearth of leftovers… unless you just left them out of the inventory. Especially this time of year when things are so busy, I tend to cook in giant batches and then I freeze things in meal sized portions, or just have a big pot full of something in the fridge and eat it every day until it’s gone. Even if I don’t pre-make full meals, I tend to boil up a big batch of rice or potatoes, roast a few pounds of chicken (it was tofu back when I was a vegetarian), and make salads that keep like coleslaw, or just store pre-chopped salad veggies (everything except tomatoes and avocados which tend to go mushy) so that all I have to do at meal time is grab, mix, match and eat!
I also tend to rely heavily on frozen veggie mixes this time of year because I just never seem to have time to chop. I don’t buy anything with sauces – and many of the combos are off the table for me because they contain celery, but I can eat some of them, and they’re the same price per pound as buying plain frozen veggies, and it makes life sooo much easier when all I have to do to create a meal is turn on the skillet, dump a bag of veggies in it, toss in some chicken & rice (or whatever my protein & carb du jour happen to be) add whatever spices or flavors I’m in the mood for, saute for a few minutes, and voila, dinner is served!
It’s the same here, making up a big pot of something and having it for several days. I wish I had extra home cooked meals in the freezer as well, but everything always gets eaten before that can happen – must make double batches. I have a surplus of chopping time now that I get home from work more than an hour before Rom does.
I love the flexitarian thing! I always ask guests if they have allergies/strong preferences and am happy to oblige; we have a good friend who is veg and not flexible, but is fine with side dishes. We love veg food, so not usually an issue.
Maple syrup, dijon mustard, garlic from the garden. I make dressings, but mostly I dress salad with olive oil and vinegar, coarse salt and fresh pepper. Heavy cream and a little wine vinegar makes a lovely dressing. MLane has “half and half” in his coffee, a kind of very light cream; mine is black. I don’t keep coffee beans in the fridge even though you are supposed to as I can’t tell the difference. Always a big bag of organic carrots.
Hi Lane, You are a very considerate dinner host! I don’t keep my coffee beans in the fridge either.
Do you like garlic scapes? I love them chopped in omelets and stir fries.
Yes, it will be garlic scape time soon; we’ve been adding green garlic to the veggies we saute with eggs for dinner. I meant to make some soup with it, but ran out of steam. Rosemary goes well with the scapes/eggs.
Yum!
I am really impressed with your approach. I always wonder how to handle it when you go to other people’s home to eat. Now I am curious to see what is lurking in my own fridge.
When I eat at other people’s homes I try to be gracious and eat what I’ve been served. Do you have a blog, Meghan? You could photograph your fridge, too.
Hmm, I think your fridge is tidier than mine, you’ve just reminded me to go and look for things that might be lurking down the back….
I think I did a cleanup before the photos…
Thanks for sharing – I love looking inside other people’s fridges. My fridge is a little unusual; I have the normal veggies, yogurt and cheese, but I also have heaps of fermented veggies and homemade condiments. Plus heaps of leftovers 🙂
I like your additions! I would like to do more canning and pickles.