Staple Ingredients
I have a fairly wide range of cooking ingredients, including condiments and spices, on hand at all times. My kitchen is relatively small, but has well planned storage space plus an indoor pantry off the kitchen. We have an upright freezer in the garage, a large hall closet and two roomy pieces of furniture to store infrequently used dishes and serving pieces outside the kitchen area.
Be Pennywise and Dollar Smart
If you do not have much storage space, purchase ingredients in sizes that are convenient for you to store. If you rarely use sugar, you may want to purchase sugar in 1 pound boxes rather than in 5 or 10 pound sacks and buy a larger package only around holiday time when you will be making large batches of cookies and goodies.
This is especially true for herbs and spices.
Herbs
You can purchase a 5.5 ounce container of dried basil for a relative low cost per ounce at a warehouse store, with limited shelf life after the container is opened. Fortunately, we can now purchase herbs and spices in small containers that may be more cost-effective than bulk sizes that loose flavor after long storage times. I have read that "red" spices should be stored in the refrigerator. These include: paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper and Chinese 5 spice.
You can also grow your own herbs from starter plants purchased at your local nursery on your patio or in your garden; or, if you have a green thumb, start herbs from seed. Otherwise purchase bunches of fresh herbs from your local supermarket or farmers' market to enjoy the best flavors.
What to Purchase
If you have never stocked a kitchen before, there is not a lot of advise I can give you that would not be influenced by my own cooking habits. Best advise: Take a long serious tour of your parent's kitchen, refrigerator, pantry and freezer with notepad in hand. Write down everything you like. Important! If you really like a dish, asked for the recipe. Ask your partner to do the same. Build you own family cookbook
Purchase as you go. Select recipes and make a shopping list of the ingredients then go shopping.
If Your Partner Prepares Something You Don't Enjoy
Every serious, and casual, cook gets tired of preparing the same thing over an over. Any good cook will experiment with new dishes. Your duty as the partner/diner is to taste the dish and eat it (period). The cook has earned that honor from you. Based upon my personal experience, if you do not enjoy a certain dish, you may want to say something like this, "I appreciate your efforts, but I really don't care for this dish." Don't belittle the cooks intensions, but, on the other hand, do not tell the cook how very, very much you enjoyed the dish or you're are going to see this dish on your plate repeatedly.
Aside
I recently heard that you can prevent mold from forming on cheese once you have opened the package by avoiding touching it with your hands, even if they are just washed. The good news is that I tried this and it appears to work. I keep cheese in plactic bags and hold the cheese through the plastic when slicing or grating. Voila, less or no mold until the whole brick of cheese is consumed!
