Things you'll want to have on hand.....

OK, so I'm not really a vegetarian. I am known as the FLEXITARIAN!!!!..... yeah.... there's no such thing. Some lady asked me if I was a vegetarian at this Morning Star free sample-thing and when I informed her that no, I'm just cutting down on red meat to lower my cholesterol the non-Honey Nut Cheerios way (I'll tell you why I don't want to go that route, but that's a different story), she just smiled and said "Oh, so you're a Flexitarian." People just need something fancy to call other people, I guess.

So I only use a little bit of meat in some of my recipes. If you're a vegetarian, that's fine, these recipes are TOTALLY do-able if you want to substitute with soy crumbles, tofu, veggie fake meat products, or just leave it out completely. I would suggest that you have some sort of other protein as a side or something.... anemia's not fun!

These are the things that will ensure that you will never ever starve should you pick them up at the store in the style of Rachel Ray:

In the pantry:

A can of black beans- come on, guys, they're like 89 cents a can.

A can of garbanzo beans

A can of kidney beans (for good measure)

A can of white beans

A can of mild diced green chiles

rice

lentils

vegetable broth boullion- so I guess if you want to be all fancy-pantsy, you could go to Whole Foods or some gourmet grocery store and get yourself some organic vegetable broth. This way's just a little cheaper.

A can of artichoke hearts

In the fridge:

A rotesserie chicken- I learned this little trick from Sam the Cooking Guy in my San Diego days. If you're a chicken eater, pick one of these little dudes up because it's the best and easiest way to get shredded chicken. They're moist, flavorful, and already cooked.

celery

an onion

a carrot

In the freezer:

Dorot brand chopped garlic, basil, and cilantro*

Spices:

Paprika

Thyme

Coriander

Caraway seeds

Cumin

Curry powder

Bay leaves

This is all a good start and many different meals can come out of this. If you have all your vegetables, you're more likely to use them, especially if you chop them and put them in a plastic bag as soon as you get home from the store. This way, you can throw a meal in the pot before you go out to work or school. This list is good too because if you constantly have this stuff, you only get to get a few things at the grocery store before you go home at night and you don't have to remember to write down a shopping list and then forget it and say "Aw, damn.... what was I supposed to get again?!?!"

*This is available at Trader Joe's in the frozen section. This product is great because each cube of garlic = one clove and each cube of basil or cilantro = 1 tablespoon or something like that. If you're not sure if there's a Trader Joe's by you, look it up. He'll be your best friend.