Okay, this is intimate. I am going to show you our refrigerator. I mean, I guess I just did. But now, up close. I was inspired by something I read somewhere about people’s refrigerators and how they are like peeking into one’s soul. Or something like that. And no, it wasn’t MTV Cribs.
No, this is more to promote a discussion about food and health and how your refrigerator reflects how you eat.
Admittedly, I took pictures right after having gone grocery shopping, which I do at least two times per week. We eat (and drink) a lot of fresh produce and fish (well, we don’t drink fish), so stocking up on these items and trying to make it through the entire week without going back to the store leaves us with wilted, sick-looking veggies and well, rotten meat. So instead, we stock up for the next 3 or 4 days, then go back for more half-way through the week when our veggie and fruit drawers are all but empty and our milk is gone and our eggs are down to one or two (we eat a lot of eggs).
We store some of our grains in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. From left to right: ground flaxseed (which we use in baked goods as well as sprinkled on cereal or in energy bites), whole flaxseed, ground chia powder, and brown rice (an absolute staple in our house).
Those are portabella mushrooms on the left on top of the corn, which we are going to try grilled with this recipe. Our egg crate is from Anthropologie (and also comes in sky blue!) and I swear it makes life so much easier- no more taking the entire egg container out of the fridge to open it then get an egg then close it and put it back, just grab what you need and go. Perfect for when you are holding a baby on one hip and only have one free hand.
Our cheese drawer always contains grated Parmesan, some kind of sharp cheddar, and a soft goat cheese. Also, salami for Oliver’s meat demands. Below the cheese drawer, leftovers (brown rice and lentil soup), hummus, bags of spinach for juicing, and my current obsession: beets pickled in balsamic vinegar, honey, and ginger. They are amazing and I love them and they are called Love Beets. So eat them.
The staples: Veggie drawer almost always contains: kale, beets, cucumbers, carrots, ginger, and spinach. Fruit (or temperature controlled meats?) drawer must have apples, lemons, and limes, and occasionally has oranges and/or grapes. We eat kale and apples like they are going out of style.
We don’t go through as much milk as one might think with three boys under the age of 5. I probably drink more than they do just on cereal or in tea. We get the good stuff- 100% grass fed. Also, we always have pure maple syrup for pancakes, french toast, sauces, and sweetening things like muffins or breads. Oh, and I like a dash in my coffee sometimes as well. Trying out the Siggi’s drinkable yogurt, though I kind of prefer just plain. Oh! And apple juice for Milo-the-apple-juice-addict. And beer, well, that is not one of our staples, but since the weather has been so nice, I couldn’t resist! Also, fresh buttermilk is great for cornbread and pancakes and it keeps a long time!
We have a ridiculous amount of vinegars and liquid amino acids and different oils. We use them. Oh, and that fig balsamic vinegar is one of my new favorite things to drizzle on top of a plain avocado with some sea salt for a healthy afternoon snack. So good!
Well, there it is! I spared you some of the condiment ramblings, but we do have regular ketsup and mustard and stuff like that too of course. And there is ice cream in our freezer. Always.
So I’m curious… what does your refrigerator say about you? What are your top 5 essentials that are always, always in your fridge?
You have such a yummy and full fridge! What it makes me realize is how different grocery shopping is for a family vs. just two! (Well, that, and how awesome it is to eat at your house…)
Our fridge is usually near empty and contains just a few veggies, yogurt, and lots of spicy condiments and tahini–partly out of laziness and partly because we travel and go out last minute and things tend to rot. Our pantry, however, is always full of quinoa, rices, bulgar, dried beans, homemade museli, etc. so that I can at least pull together something last minute! I remember my mom always made a full meal for the family: meat/protein, 2 veggie sides, plus salad. Every night! And when I’ve eaten with you all, it has been the same. So impressive! It makes me wonder how when we have a family I’ll move from very simple, off the cuff meals (i.e. last night’s red rice and a few stirfried veggies with an avocado on the side), to a real meal, which I usually only cook when we have friends over!
Cat, we do “breakfast for dinner” once a week, go out to dinner once a week, and have beans and rice once a week… but I do enjoy cooking for more than two people on the other days! Oliver now eats an adult-sized portion of salmon whenever we cook that! I have no idea what we’re going to do when all three boys are teenagers!
Your fridge is so well organized! Mine is jumbled and embarrassing which might reveal something about my general tidyness… We always have lots of sauces and oils and nuts, veggies galore, cheese, and yogurt. My pantry usually looks better than my fridge as well. I’ve never seen that brand of milk before but it looks good (and fancy)- I’ll have to keep my eye out for it.
oh my gosh! i hope my soul doesn’t look like the inside of my refrigerator! that would mean it looked like some long forgotten left overs or a withered, dried up lime! hahaha just kidding… kinda 😀
this was fun! some things we always have are- spinach/kale/lettuce for smoothies and salads, apples, butter, and milk. we don’t drink milk, it’s just for coffee and baking and stuff. i guess my fridge isn’t that exciting. lots of fruit and veggies and then meat for dinners. i could go on about food for ages but i have to go make lunches 😀
Ahh, your fridge is so organized! We always have an astounding amount of cheeses, a bunch of different types of flour, yogurt, eggs, milk, juice… and a fair amount of leftovers! I always feel like our fridge looks best right after we get back from the farmers market on Saturday mornings – plenty of greens! There’s no fruit in there right now, but I’m sure that will change with the weather. (And the pantry is always overflowing with bananas for some reason… we manage to eat a few every day and still have so many that are ripe that we have to freeze them for smoothies or use them in recipes!)
Oh, how I loved this!! I really do enjoy looking in other people’s fridges and cabinets, because I like seeing what they eat. Way more interesting to me than what’s in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Are you vegetarian/pescatarian?
I’d have to say that our top five would include: organic apples, greek yogurt, avocados, quinoa or brown rice, and almond milk. There are tons of others that are regular staples, so now I feel like it would only make sense for me to copycat you and post a picture of my fridge contents. I’ll get on it soon.
I have mini photos of Little Andrew dressed like a mini prof glued to all the condiments in my fridge…………… Probably why I’m so overweight, I just can’t get enough.
Hey Lauren. I found you through the other Lauren at still + life. Your header is so funny! Brilliant photos. And your house is lovely.
How come you don’t have an About me page or can I just not find it? Love to know more about you! x
We’re fridge twins. Seriously. Kale, apples, Bragg’s, that exact same fig vinegar, the Love Beets, spinach, parmesan, hummus. I tried Siggi’s but couldn’t get into it. The skyrr I had in Iceland was just SO much better, I can’t even describe it. (And that just sounded so incredibly pretentious…feel free to punch me. But seriously, SO much better.)
OMG Love Beets…..tell me where you get THOSE??????
Now for my real comment. Taking a deep breath to recover from the idea of Love Beets. First, I’m cracking up because what do you think I do with my fig balsamic vinegar? You guessed it…drizzle on my avocado with sea salt for lunch. I’m getting creeped out now!
This was really inspiring to read. I’ve been reading and re-reading Kathleen Flinn’s Kitchen Counter Cooking School and she advocates both shopping 2x a week AND being able to see the back of your fridge. She posts a picture in the back to remind her to cook from her fridge rather than eating out, or boxed & processed foods, blah, blah, blah. Anyhoo. I found your fridge really inspiring. I just did a big pantry clean out this weekend and the fridge is next. I love the grains in the fridge idea, but a lot of what we do is similar. Eerily so…
The value of the food in your fridge is greater than the fridge itself. Way to go!
Lilly- our fridge is well-organized, but our pantry is a complete wreck! I guess that’s why I showed you the former!
Allison- no, we are not vegetarian or pescatarian, but we try to limit the amount of meat we eat, especially in the warmer months. And I would LOVE to see a post of your fridge! Get on it!
“Susan,” or shall I call you by your real name, “Anna,” you are cracking me up with your comments. Keep ’em coming!
Annie- I will keep an “About Me” page in mind as we continue to update the blog. Thanks for the interest! Though I will definitely disappoint you as I am not very interesting at all!
Andrea- this whole post is completely pretentious, so YOU feel free to punch ME in the face! Also, I love that we are refrigerator twins, though it doesn’t surprise me at all.
Lauren- I found Love Beets in Whole Foods, in the prepared produce section (they were right next to the prepared salads at our Whole Foods).
And Jon- very funny. But yes, we probably spend more on food than we should. But I think it is worth every penny if it keeps our family healthy!
I’m sure you could have guessed how much I would love this post, especially with all of these healthy AND tasty staples!! Now I really want to see your pantry and the inside of your medicine cabinet! HA (half joking – I would love to see both if you ever had the urge) Some of our staples are definitely liquid aminos, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, olives, hot peppers, unhomogenized or grassfed organic whole milk, grapefruit juice, organic butter, spelt bread, eggs…I’ll make myself stop there, but honestly it’s rare that our fridge is ever filled enough to make an interesting post like this. We end up going to Trader Joe’s/WF like 4 times per week because we can only get as much as we (Dylan) can carry! 🙂