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Imagine it is 3 in the morning, and your stomach is craving that sandwich you had last week at a restaurant with your friends. What would you do? Foodpanda is closed, and then your refrigerator becomes your dearest yearning. As random relatives call and tell you they are visiting your home without a prior plan, readymade ingredients will be your go-to.
In our busy lives, readymade food elements stored in the refrigerator save us from wasting a lot of time and energy. A well-maintained stack of food ingredients can also save you from the sudden urge to order food.
Here are some basic ideas of what you can store in your fridge for a late-night craving or a lazy breakfast. If you have at least some of these food items at home, you can mix and match them to create flavorish snack combinations any time!
Let us start with bread items. Bread can be used to make a variety of items in both sweet and spicy flavours. Buy bread according to your taste, be it plain bread, milk bread, or brown bread. You can also buy burger buns to make homemade burgers whenever you like. Honeycomb and butter buns are also delicious breakfast items. One can also make spicy toast and sandwiches with eggs and chills to serve as afternoon snacks or as tiffin for children.
With bread, you need jam and jelly. Pick your favourite strawberry, orange, or mixed fruit jelly at the department store. If you are a chocolate person, keep a jar of Nutella at home and use it as a spread for breakfast. Apply butter to your bread for a better combination.
Add dry fruits, nuts, and chanachur to your cart for a light afternoon snack with your cup of tea. Honey nuts have become viral on social media as many people prefer the taste of mixed fruit soaked in honey. If you are not a fruit lover but want to eat healthy, keep only some fresh fruits to your liking.
To force yourself to eat healthy, the best thing to do is to chop vegetables and stack them on the fridge for later use. If you're not into vegetables either, just pick a few that you find most edible and stick with them. Properly refrigerated vegetables usually do not go to waste for a week. You can stack capsicum, carrot, and tomato and freeze them. When you feel snacky, bring them out of the fridge and make yourself a healthy salad.
One essential food item to make your salad or lunch bowl more interesting is to have shredded or chopped boiled chicken. Chicken enriches the standard of any dish and makes it more presentable in front of the guests.
To bring variety to your cooking, use frozen food and instant items. Instant paratha can be used to make many snack items especially. Besides having paratha in your breakfast, you can use instant paratha to make many snacks. Put mayonnaise, ketchup, and cheese with leftover chicken or vegetables and then form it into shingara or samosa. Sausages, nuggets, meatballs, and other frozen items can be very useful when you are desperate for snacks.
Cup noodles and instant soup are saviours for all late-night people. Small chicken cube packs and spice mini packs are available in local grocery stores. Put them into your noodles or leftover polar, bringing out your desired taste. But remember, instant noodles are not so good for your health and digestion.
Canned items such as mushrooms, beans, and corn can make your handmade dishes more flavorful. Keep ketchup, mustard, and BBQ sauce to bring different flavours to your food.
With food, you will need some great drinks. Buy a jar of foster clerks or tang for drinks. You can try Horlicks or other chocolate powders with milk. You can also make lemonade with fresh lemons at home.
If you keep most of these food essentials in your fridge, you will not have to worry the next time you feel hungry. Cooking will become easier, and thus, you will have more time for yourself.