These are our top picks for what ingredients we keep in our kitchens at all times so we don’t starve. Your list is probably different! But we thought you might be inspired by seeing our faves.

• Frozen vegetables. Frozen veg are vastly underrated. They’ve got the same nutritional content as fresh, they’re pre-chopped, and they don’t go bad in the fridge when you neglect them for weeks. You do pay more for quality. But there’s nothing wrong with store-brand mixes, and they’re cheaper than fresh too. We recommend keeping in the freezer three different kinds— spinach , corn , and a vegetable mix. But play around with different types. This is a choice with no bad options.

• Ramen. Or, if you’re Irish, instant noodles.

• Spices. Spices exist for a reason, and that’s to make sad food taste better and bad food last longer. We highly recommend curry powder , which is lots of spices mixed together to save you time. Italian seasoning is also a great mix. And seasoning salt —then you don’t even need to add salt. Pepper is a classic. Despite what the label says, most spices don’t go off. If you can separate them and they smell good, they are probably fine to use.

• Garlic. We are listing this separately from other spices because it’s the best one. It comes in many different forms, from powdered (lasts forever), to tube (easy and mess free), to bottled minced, to fro- zen (also lasts forever), to fresh (most flavourful but you have to chop or press it). You can buy peeled garlic and save yourself some time. It also keeps vampires away, though only the bloodsucking kind and not the emotion- al kind.

• Onions. You can also get pre-chopped onions either fresh or frozen. It’s more money, but less cutting and less crying.

If you are a
werewolf with a
vampire girlfriend
like Jane and Lilith
from Night Beats,
omit garlic.

Counterpoint, cutting
onions is a great way to
cry without anyone judging
you.

• Salt. Salt exists to make food less bland. Salt is a gift you give yourself.

• Soy sauce. Salt with flavour.

• Couscous. Or instant rice. Or instant oatmeal. Maybe all of these. You need a carb you can cook with nothing more complicated than a kettle, a bowl, and a spoon. Bowl and spoon optional. Any watertight container and stirring implement will do. Empty yogurt tub and plastic knife, your moment has arrived.

• Some sort of cooking oil or spray. We recommend the cheapest kind you can find. A basic olive oil makes a nice sauce, but if you’re only buying one type of oil, canola oil is often cheapest and it fries things very well. As does a nice generic “vegetable oil.” Butter or margarine also work here.

• Nut, seeds, & dried fruit. Nuts and seeds are tiny stores of healthy oils and protein. Plus they taste great. And they can go in basically anything, or you can eat them on their own, on your couch, as you read Cascade. A nut mix will have lots of them together, or buy your favourites separate- ly. Peanut , sunflower seeds , and raisins are usually the cheapest.

• Pasta sauce. Whatever kind you like best. Salsa makes a remarkably good pasta sauce. Lots of types of canned soup also make good pasta sauces. Bonus, canned soup is also great for making soup!

• Pasta. Whatever shape you like best.

• Cheddar cheese. Yes it goes bad, eventually. No, it’s not vegan. We’re bad at following rules, even ones we make ourselves.

• Bread and bread-like substances. Did you know you can freeze bread? The texture can be wrong afterwards but, if so, you can fix it by toasting it. Defrost it by toasting it twice. Or defrost it on the counter and toast it once. We recommend bread , and/or bagels.

• Something to spread on bread. And to use with other things! Consider: margarine , butter , mayonnaise , sandwich spread , jam , hummus. Or others! The world is yours. At least the spreads aisle is yours.

• Peanut butter. The spread is so useful we listed it separately. We per- sonally prefer the “peanuts only, crunchy” type. But unless you have a nut allergy, there are no bad options among the nut butters.

Get your
wheat
and
wheat
by-
products.

• Canned beans. Dried beans are cheaper than canned, but they take a lot more prep. Like, hours more. Canned beans are already plenty cheap. A bean medley will let you make bean salad, lentils make great soup, and chickpeas will enhance basically any dish. And other types are great too. If you’re prone to gas, the bean liquid can make you bloated, which feels like bad period cramps. Pour the liquid away and rinse the beans in the can. Rinsing them in a colander is more effective, but it makes another dish dirty. Conversely, if this isn’t a problem for you, you can keep the liquid for aquafaba, which is a great vegan egg substitute.