Vegetarian Frugal Housewife

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”
~Henry David Thoreau

So you’ve all had the chance to stock up on your dry goods and on your spices & flavourings, now we get to delve into my favorite place…the fridge. This is where most folks keep all of their fresh fruits & veggies, which you should be indulging in at every meal if you’re being a healthy vegetarian.

I love to go to the local market and savor the organic produce as well as other people’s homemade jellies and preserves. And I always buy organic, wherever possible, because modern large-scale farming douses our foods in chemicals, strips the soil of most of the nutrients and therefore produces a substandard, nutritionally deficient crop.

Local farmers markets and small whole foods shops always carry a variety of whatever is in season as well as some responsibly grown imports. Plus you can often get more information in the form of pamphlets, or actual conversation, from the people who grow your food.

When it comes to the freezer, the vegetarian kitchen doesn’t always require a whole lot of freezer space. But a few staples are good to keep around.

As much of what you keep in the fridge is fresh and perishable, I am not suggesting that you keep ALL of what is listed below in your fridge at all ties. Instead just considered some of the suggestions that I make, experiment for yourself and keep those things that you use most regularly. They say that if you have all of the colors of the rainbow in a dish, such as salad or stir-fry, then that is the most healthy way to eat your fruits & veg. (This means, for veggies, Red-Green-Orange-Yellow-White.)

As for the lists below, these are just the frequent residents of our fridge/freezer, what you keep around may be different. Our selections vary according to season. We love to have fresh berries in summer, corn-on-the-cob in the autumn and Papa prefers sauerkraut in the winter. My fridge also has lots of condiments in it, I guess those could also have been listed with the flavourings post, but I’ve put them here because that is where they are stored.

Have fun and let me know if you have a favorite item that you don’t see on the list. :)

The Vegetarian Fridge/Freezer

Preserves:

Apple Sauce
Strawberry Jam
Grape Jelly
Marmalade
Salsa
Pickles
Sauerkraut (Papa loves this stuff.)

Condiments:

Ketchup
Mustard
Relish
Chutney (I like Mango Chutney.)
Sweet Chili Sauce
Nama Shoyu- Soy Sauce
Rice Wine
Cooking Sherry
Homemade Salad Dressings

Vegetables:

Romaine Lettuce
Tomatoes
Large Onions
Green Onions (Spring Onion)
Red Bell Pepper
Green Bell Pepper
Mushrooms (Assorted)
Celery
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Broccoli
Carrots
Potatoes
Cauliflower
Green Chillis
Corn-on-the-Cob
Butternut Squash
Avocado
Snap Peas
Green Beans
Bean Sprouts

Fruits:

Oranges
Grapes
Kiwis
Pears
Apples
Cherries
Bananas
Strawberries
Blueberries
Plums
Apricots
Nectarines

Liquids:

Soy Milk (Regular)
Soy Milk (Vanilla)
Rice Milk
Apple Juice
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Spring Water
Homemade Iced Tea

Other Fridge Items:

Tofu (silken)
Tofu (firm)
Peanut Butter
Cashew Butter
Eggs (if you eat them)
Garlic cloves
Ginger Root
Soy Yogurt

Freezer Items:

Ice Cubes
Vegetarian Sausages
Vegetarian Hot Dogs
Veggie Burgers (a selection of them)
Frozen Veggie Mince (faux ground beef)
Frozen Veggie Pot Pies
Frozen French Fries
Vegan Ice Cream (chocolate or vanilla)
Italian Ice (I like strawberry flavour.)