Canned goods are great items to stock up on because they have a long shelf life. You should always stock tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato puree, and diced tomatoes. You can use them for making a sauce, stew, soup or even a main dish item when added to a meatball or a sausage. Canned beans are also great to stock up on. Beans are a good source of protein and can be added to just about anything. Plus, beans are available in such a wide variety, that you can pick and choose a number of different kinds. Another great thing about canned beans versus dried beans is that canned beans can be used as part of your emergency food supply. In the case of an emergency, it will become much more difficult to find and cook meat, leaving you without a good amount of protein unless you have canned cooked beans that you can eat. Canned meats are good to have on hand, but can be expensive so most people only stock one or two cans at a time. One last thing to remember about canned items is to make sure the cans you purchase have not expanded and have no dents. These specific damages could actually be signs of bacterial contamination.

Have several types of oils (i.e. olive oil, canola oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard) on hand. Most recipes call for at least one of the above-mentioned ingredients. Most every recipe will also call for a spice of some type. The most common ones that you should always have on hand are salt, pepper, bay leaves, herbs, and chili powder. You should keep your herbs and spices stored in a dark dry place so that they retain as much of their flavor and aroma as possible. Rice and pasta are other pantry items to stock up on.

If you like to bake, make sure that you have plenty of flour on hand. Most bakers like to keep their flour in a resealable container. If you have problems storing larger amounts of flour because of mealy bugs, add a piece of peppermint to the container. It will keep the bugs away and it will not flavor the flour. Granulated sugar and brown sugar are also good to have on hand and to store in resealable containers. You can add a piece of bread or apple to your brown sugar bag to soften it if it has hardened. To round out the baker's list of must-have pantry items, make sure that you have cornmeal, flavored breadcrumbs, cornstarch, powdered sugar, baking soda, and chocolate chips as well.

In your refrigerator, you should always have parmesan cheese, garlic cloves, potatoes, lemons, and butter. Many times, it is best to minimize the number of perishable items you stay stocked up on simply because these items will go bad more quickly. There are also some alternatives to cooking with perishable items. For example, evaporated milk can be used in many recipes as a substitute for milk. Evaporated milk has a much longer shelf life and takes up a lot less space than a gallon of milk.