Feed the girl...

Nothing sucks more than going to grab a drink out of the fridge of whomever you are hanging out with and finding a half empty bottle of beer, some weird looking tupperware way in the back on the bottom shelf, and half a lime.I may be a fairly creative cook, and I'm really not a picky eater, but seriously, how do you expect me to eat any of that? And what are you living on? It's really not a difficult to stock your cupboard with enough food that you don't have to run to taco bell every time you need sustenance, and it also doesn't have to require alot of effort in the long run, and really it will end up being cheaper.

Start by making a grocery list. Go through your cupboards, fridge and freezer. If you have nothing, not even ice, well starting from scratch costs a little more, but it's not any more difficult. You just have to figure out what your basics are. In your kitchen you need to keep enough for you to eat, and basic supplies in case a visitor, like a girl or you mom, should want to cook. You should also have enough things that you can sustain yourself without having to cook if you don't really want to. Many people can't cook a thing if it requires you to do anything more complicated than boil water, so keep that in mind. Things that can be cooked in the microwave, or just slid into the oven are often the most necessary. For instance, frozen pizzas, burritos, chicken nuggets, rice bowls, and easy mac are all fairly cheap foods that don't make much of a mess.

Assuming a biweekly paycheck you need to get enough food for you to eat over the next two weeks, but not so much that anything spoils. That means you buy less of perishable foods, like milk, vegetables and fruit than say, a family of five might. However, you can stock up on things that 'keep'. Like spaghetti noodles, frozen foods, soup, anything canned, dry goods like cereal.

The basics for cooking are easy to keep around because they don't really spoil. Sugar for instance, only goes bad if it gets wet. Flour just needs basil leaves added to keep boll weevles out and a tightly sealed container in a cool dry place to get it to keep for eight months. Olive oil is good for six months when properly stored. Baking soda has multiple purposes and actually lasts indefinitely, so long as it's stored properly.

Next, consider the meals you enjoy eating. What does it take to make those meals? Chicken burritos for instance, require cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, frozen chicken, totillas, seasoning for the chicken, oil to cook it in and olives. So you'll want to make sure you have all of that on hand so that you can make those when in the mood. Choose six or seven different meals, and try to make sure that you can use each ingredient in at least one other recipe to give more variety for your buck, and to ensure that you use all you buy.

Also consider what you like for snacks...be it fruit, chips and salsa, apple sauce, or yogurt, and make sure you have a couple of those lying around as well. These can be used as side dishes to compliment something else you may be eating, and are always nice to offer to guests.

This actually requires enough writing that I'm going to do a series of posts, and I'll be adding the links here as I complete them.

Part Two-Shopping like a bachelor
Part Three-The Fridge List
Part Four-The Freezer List