Until recently, I've shunned the idea of keeping a well-stocked kitchen. I've always gone for more of a "just in time" approach to ingredient acquisition so I know I'm using fresh vegetables, fruits and/or meats in my dishes. Plus, for some odd reason, I sort of enjoy grocery shopping. In the last town I lived in, it was relatively easy to do this: I lived 5 minutes away from a grocery store.

Since I've moved, the nearest safe grocery store is 20+ minutes away by car. I usually end up trying to time my shopping runs with other errands or part of my commute returning from work. This does not make it easy to continue cooking under the previous philosophy.

So...I've now taken to buying stuff that can keep indefinitely or for a good number of weeks - chicken broth, pasta, pie crusts, heavy cream, butter and eggs among others. It's already started to pay off, saving me the trouble of making a run to get broth for braised shanks later this week.

PS I'm sure the more common sense minded of you reading this are probably going "DUH". No arguments here.