10 fridge and freezer essentials for home cooking

Being ready for anything is helpful when you want to make your family homemade meals.

Sometimes it's an unexpected work meeting, or a late soccer game or a snow day or a sick kid (or a sick mama) and sometimes it's just life getting away from you and it's suddenly 7:00 and you're tired and want to eat something delicious.

And you shall. Keep your fridge and freezer stocked with these essentials - and your pantry stocked with these - and you can make any number of fast, easy delicious meals for one of "those" nights.

Note: I prefer frozen vegetables over canned vegetables for on-hand cooking. Frozen vegetables are picked at their peak ripeness and un-fooled around with. Canned vegetables can be mushy, watered down and come with the risk of BPA-lined cans.

Of course, any vegetable is better than no vegetable, but I prefer to stock my freezer rather than my pantry with veggie extras.

With these basics on hand, you can breathe, chop, cook, sip wine, repeat.

Fridge and freezer essentials:

1. Frozen veggies: peas, broccoli, corn, mixed (such as stir fry mixes or California mixes)
2. One or multiple versatile fresh veggies: Bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, green onions, broccoli, green beans
3. Cheese (cheddar, Parmesan, goat)
4. Spinach
5. Eggs
6. Cooked chicken, cooked turkey, frozen cooked shrimp
7. Garlic (I buy jarred chopped garlic. I know, shame on me. It's just too easy!)
8. Condiments: mustard, mayo, soy sauce, salsa, BBQ sauce
9. Fancy condiments: pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers
10. Back-ups: I try to keep some English muffins, wraps, burger buns, etc. in the freezer to have on hand. And if I'm feeling on top of things, I usually have some cooked rice or barley or quinoa in the fridge or freezer that I can pull out to have ready for a meal.

Bonus fridge essentials:
11. Fresh herbs. I admit, I don't always have these on hand (unless it's summer and I've got them in my garden) if I don't think I'll use them with my weekly or monthly menu, but I usually wish I did to add some freshness and brightness to a dish. Parsley, basil, cilantro and mint are my favorites. Oh, and thyme. Oh, and rosemary.
12. Fridge fruits: lemons, limes, oranges and apples. I like having lemons, limes and oranges on hand for cooking. They are great for dressings, marinades and to add a little zest and zip to recipes. They keep for a long time, too. Apples, well, I don't cook with them often, but I eat an apple every day so that's an easy one for me.