What's in your pantry?

I was grocery shopping the other day (something that I do about three times a week!) and, without thinking about it too much, stocked up on my essentials. I went home and it was until I unpacked the bags and went to store things away in my pantry and refrigerator that I started thinking - these are my kitchen essentials, and this is what I think is normal, but is it really?

So here is what is always in my kitchen:

• Butter - there are always at the very least 2 blocks of unsalted butter in the fridge for when baking inspiration strikes. 
• Spare packs of self raising flour, plain flour, caster sugar, brown sugar and icing sugar... doesn't matter if the canisters are full, there are always spares lying around, just in case. 
• Same as above for cocoa...
• And same as above for oats and dessicated coconut...
• Eggs - always the dozen in the egg thing in the fridge, but with a spare dozen in the shelf below... cos that's how I roll.
• Chocolate - dark, milk and white... there are currently six blocks of chocolate in the pantry. For baking as well as eating!
• Moving away from the sweet and the baking related, there is always Tabasco. A huge bottle from Costco that we never thought we'd finish, but we're close! 
• Tuna - tins of the stuff. Our favourite is the John West chilli variety. Usually eaten stirred through pasta with some vegies for a quick meal. 
• Tinned tomatoes - but I like to think that this is normal.
• Stock powder - beef, vegetable and chicken. Easiest way to make quick soups and to add flavour to meatballs... too lazy to make my own fresh stock... who works a corporate career and has time to do that?!
• Green tea - the Japanese variety with the roasted brown rice. Love love love this and drink it every day. On the weekends, I make a huge pot of this and keep on refilling throughout the day.

I'm not the kind of person that always has some kind of meat or protein in the freezer. I'm lucky enough to walk past the shopping mall every day on my way home, so I usually pick up my fish or meat fresh as I need it. Nor am I the kind of person that cooks things in advance and then freezes them for later - I don't know if it's because I'm not organised, or because the idea of defrosting things just makes me think it's so much easier and faster to just whip something up.

So it's clear I'm not a planner... I don't plan meals in advance for the week, I don't pack my lunches every day and when I do, I find that I'm not interested in it anyway and then eat something else. I try to keep my kitchen stocked up enough that I can always make something to eat... and if all else fails, I can bake a cake because it's clear I'll never run out of eggs, butter, sugar and flour!

After writing this post, I'm beginning to think that I need to balance out my kitchen... less baking items and more savoury foodstuffs. Some planning may be required!

So is my kitchen normal? What weird and wonderful things can be found in yours?

thesuzchef x