Help me make a list--pantry staples

[Grace and Granola]

I have a friend who has been through some extremely hard times over the past year. She is now a single mom of two boys ages 4 and 1. She works full time. She just signed a lease on a new apartment which will be so nice compared to her old house in the bad part of the city. She is moving in on May 1st, and I would like to help stock her pantry. She is a person who is really health conscious, but she doesn't have the budget to make all of the best choices. I'm sure you know what I mean. She probably chooses white sugar over sucanat because of the cost. Probably chooses white flour over ww because of the cost. SO, what I want to do is stock her pantry with some of those items that she would probably consider a "splurge" even though she would like to use them in her cooking. As far as her background, I'm not completely sure, but I know she is nutrition and natural health minded, but probably not so far as traditional foods.

Help me make a list!

ETA: does not have to be strictly pantry, I do think I'll buy her some meat for her freezer too!

[mamadelbosque]

WW flour, honey & maple syrup are three that pop into my head...

[dachshundqueen]

Oats, brown rice, and dry beans (especially lentils which cook quickly). If you teach her about soaking brown rice and oats, then she can cook them in a similar time frame to conventional processed.

Liz

[BetsyS]

A couple of kinds of vinegar--I like to have white, cider, red wine, and balsamic.

Olive oil.

Some spices--if you can find them in bulk, they are cheaper, but they really do make even the cheapest food taste better. Everyone's staples are different, but mine are salt, pepper, Montreal steak seasoning (can't help it--I love it), cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, Italian seasoning, and Tony Cachere's cajun seasoning. I have others (lots of others ), but these are the ones I reach for most.

Some condiments--worchestershire sauce (maybe an organic, HFCS free one?), ketchup (again with the organic, no HFCS), mustard, mayo (I'm partial to Duke's, no sugar, but whatever you like), maybe a nice jelly.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

WW Flour
Oats
Brown Rice
Quinoa
Cornmeal

Organic Dry Beans (Black, Pinto, Garbonzo, Lentils, Kidney)

Coconut Oil
Olive Oil

Vinegars (I use ACV and Balsamic most, followed by Red Wine)

My spice staples are: sea salt, whole pepper in a grinder, dry mustard (for salad dressings), paprika, basil, Emeril's (my cheater spice ), and chili powder.

Maple Syrup (grade B- for cooking and sweetening)
Raw Honey

Real nut butters might be nice- or just raw nuts if she has a food processor that would make butter.

I also like to have refridgerated minced garlic around. I know it's silly because how hard is it to mince garlic? I feel like it saves a lot of time though and it can be tossed into anything.

[cristeen]

It kinda depends on the type of food she likes to cook/eat...

I definitely agree with spices - they can add up SOOO fast! I buy a brand at the HFS that comes in boxes, because it's cheaper than buying them in jars, and since I have a spice rack there's no reason to pay for the jars. My staples - good sea salt, whole pepper (I have a grinder and a mortar/pestle), garlic powder, white pepper (ground), chili powder, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, mace (instead of nutmeg), cardamom and cumin. Quantity-wise, the 3 I buy in bulk are chili powder, cumin and cinnamon (and salt) - I just go through them really quickly.

Grade B maple syrup

And then the rest of my "pricey" staples would depend on what kind of food she cooks... coconut milk and curry paste (for curry); water-packed artichoke hearts, anchovies and capers (for pasta sauce); salsa verde, olives and green chiles (for enchiladas); jars or aseptic packages of tomato products; coconut oil, a good olive oil (I buy local), an all-purpose oil (we use sunflower); vinegars - ACV, I get a local white wine, balsamic, rice.

If you have one, a really great present might be a short-term subscription to a local CSA... the one I use you could just get 1-2 weeks if you wanted.

[Snowflower]

Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids (tastes like soy sauce but good for you)

Brilla Plus Pasta / Cous Cous

Frozen Peas, Edamame, Blueberries..

Maybe a recipe book?

That's super sweet of you to do for your friend

[Grace and Granola]

Thanks for all of the awesome suggestions! I am really excited about surprising my friend with this. She is the type that will sincerely appreciate it.