Staples in the Kitchen

Things I Hate: recipes that call for one specific ingredient that you never use again and recipes that leave my kitchen looking like a disaster area.

So most of these recipes will be relatively simple and use oils/spices/condiments that you can keep on hand and use repeatedly.

Staples in my Kitchen:
Diced Garlic in a Jar (I buy the large sized jars because I use it so often)
Chopped Ginger in a Jar (check the Asian foods section or better yet, an Asian Market)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I'm not a purist on olive oil. Whatever $5-ish brand is on sale works for me... )
Peanut Oil (I am enough of a purist to differentiate between Peanut, Canola & Olive Oils)
Canola Oil
Sesame Oil (see Ginger in a Jar. Note: It has a very strong taste. Use as a flavoring not a cooking oil.)
Soy Sauce
Curry
Lime Juice
Lemon Juice
Dijon Mustard (with the amounts of this I use, I just buy the generic brand, not Grey Poupon)
NonStick Cooking Spray: Garlic, Olive Oil and Butter flavors

My most recent discovery as a cooking staple has been Thai Chili Garlic paste. Its about $2 a jar at an Asian market and has no sugar & no carbs at all in it. It smells absolutely wonderful & tastes even better.