How to build a ‘lazy pantry’ and avoid expensive going out or last-minute fast food
I'm sharing my go-to lazy pantry items and basic mix & match ideas for easy meals in under 30 minutes
There were many days I resorted to costly dining out or food delivery when I lived in New York City, because I was either busy and exhausted, or both.
A lot of my time in New York was also spent with an equally busy partner and his teenage son, so if we weren’t cooking then we’d try to eat somewhere local, and on the early side.
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Too often we’d whip out Seamless or Doordash and pick from our favorite Middle Eastern, Chinese, or Greek restaurants.
But it wasn’t until after Covid really, that we changed our eating habits and lifestyle for the better.
This was mostly due to two reasons:
We started prioritizing physical fitness by cycling, working out, and being outdoors, especially because we relocated to Miami and the beach was at our doorstep and,
My partner began training for more marathons and the Ironman triathlon
Now, if you’ve lived with any kind of competitive athlete(s), then you can commiserate; their schedule first trickles into, and inevitably can take over the family dynamic.
Everything sort of revolves around them for a bit, especially when it comes to lifestyle, bio-rhythms like sleep schedules, and diets.
This isn’t good or bad, it’s just what happens.
Let’s not go into the reasons why anyone would want to pursue an Ironman competition at all.
But as a spectator, I observed the overall contingent as white, male, bald/balding, bearded, tattooed, and very full of main character energy.
Why do they put themselves there, but for any other reason to test themselves to the brink of their own physical and mental strength, with a tinge of masochism.
My ex even said, “We’re all a little mad.”
And that’s okay, if that’s what you’re passionate about.
I didn’t cook a lot during my time with him.
Though we both grew up in restaurants (him Italian, me Chinese) and loved cooking and many diverse cuisines, he took the lead in the kitchen, often with me or his boys as sous chefs.
Our meals leaned Eurocentric, with primary components like olive oil, Mediterranean seasonings, tomatoes, olives, peppers, capers, and garlic.
It’s not that I wasn’t “allowed” to cook, but given that I spent a lot of time at his house, the kitchen was naturally his domain for main meals. He was mostly a great chef, so I was happy to let him cook.
Kitchen size was also a factor; you literally can’t have too many cooks in the kitchen, and ours was a pretty big one even for New York standards.
This was why I took “down” time to get into baking during Covid.
By then his boys and I were locked in together, so I used this time for me when no one else was in the kitchen.
And now that I have more of my own kitchen space, I’ve been rediscovering my joy of cooking.
Kind of like when you’ve got a few home gym components and gear right at home, you’re more likely to get a quick workout in, rather than go to a gym.
If you’ve got just a few components right at your fingertips, then just a little creativity will save you from ordering takeout, which is expensive and quickly adds up, after taxes and tips and especially if you’re ordering from food delivery apps that tack on service fees.
Too often, when you’re desperate, you tend to settle on unhealthy fast food and last-resort dining out that is mediocre, salt-loaded, full of bad oils, and questionable meat sources.
I read a Substack recently (wish I could link it here, but cannot locate where Substack keeps my saved articles and I’m tech savvy lol) that reminded me to keep a lazy pantry.
Mainly, on how to keep basic, key ingredients in the fridge or pantry, along with simple kitchen tools, so when I’m feeling lazy, tired, or crunched for time I can still put together a fairly healthy meal in under 30 minutes.
So here’s what I generally rely on in my kitchen, pantry or fridge:
Basic equipment
Rice cooker. I use this small Zojirushi rice cooker that can cook up fluffy rice in ~20 minutes. It’s the one that plays a cute song when you start
Egg cooker: I use a very basic egg cooker like this to hard boil eggs in ~5 minutes.
Protip: Put boiled eggs in an ice bath immediately after boiling, not just for easier peeling, but more importantly so the shell won’t stick and you’ll have perfect enough looking eggs for devilling if you want
My lazy pantry
I’ve obviously got a lot more stuff than what’s listed below, but we’re talking about the bare minimum to get a good meal in:
Canned tuna like these from Tonnino
Pasta (gluten free or not) or rice
Olive oil
Balsamic, white or red wine vinegar
Salt, pepper, spice jar of pre-mixed Italian or French herb seasonings
Canned olive tapenade, red peppers, sun dried tomatoes
Japanese seaweed flakes like these from Nori Komi Furikake that you can get from a Japanese or Asian food store
Chili oil, like this S&B la-yu brand that I love
What I have lying around
Lemon
Tomato
In my fridge
Leafy salad greens like various butter/red/green lettuces and/or arugula
Turkey or chicken cold cuts
Packaged pickled Japanese mustard greens (a lot cheaper at a local Asian grocery than ordering from Amazon)
Canned bamboo shoots in chili oil
Canned olive tapenade, red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, capers
Sa Cha Sauce
Cucumber
Eggs
Bone broth
Tomato paste
At any moment in time, I can mix & match any of these ingredients to make a quick snack or meal:
Basic salad
Greens + protein (tuna or turkey or boiled egg) + chopped cucumber + sliced or chopped tomato + squeezed lemon/olive oil + pepper + herbs
Basic soup & salad
Basic salad from #1 + bone broth
Basic rice bowl
Cooked rice + boiled egg (optional) + Japanese seaweed flakes + mustard greens + bamboo shoots + Sa Cha sauce to enhance rice flavor
Basic pasta
Cooked pasta + olive oil + a squeeze of tomato paste + olives + (regular or sun dried) tomatoes + capers + peppers, add protein on side if desired
Basic fried rice
Cooked rice + egg (add oil to cooked rice in a fry pan, crack the egg on top, swirl and sauté until cooked) + mustard greens
From these 5 basic recipes, you can also mix and match and iterate to get multiple combos out of these ingredients.
You can even sub the carbs above for bread if you want.
You can also add more or less of any sauce or spice to achieve the flavor desired, because I know my palate is salt-sensitive.
But all in all, I guarantee you will save time, money, energy and decision fatigue with keeping just an assortment of ready-to-go, mostly shelf-stable items like these around.
What about you? What are your go-to, fast at-home meals? I’d love to know!
Reply or comment below! Or like this with a ❤️ at the top or bottom of this letter!
More from the Shindy-verse
📺 I’m watching:
Together, directed by Michael Shanks, with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. I’d recommend going into this film knowing as little as possible about it. Expect some gore here, a few scary moments there…is it sci-fi or occult? I’ll let you figure that out. Fun!
But also, it may be a blatant ripoff of multiple previous works as cited here and hereInsomniac, with Dave Attell: Does anyone remember this show? It’s like a rapid-fire, nocturnal Bourdain-esque show with a lot of booze, and lots of characters in cities around the US and world. Luckily I saw some archived episodes and was reminded of how wacky it was, and that for the most part, nothing good happens after 2 a.m.
The Great British Bake Off: Oh boy, here we go again with the 16th season of Bake Off. I’m ready … I have no idea who I’m rooting for yet but I do think this cast is one of the show’s most diverse yet
📚 I’m reading:
I was able to finally visit the iconic Sweet Pickle Books in New York’s Lower East Side recently, where you can trade used books for a jar of pickles. Can’t think of a better trade. I picked up a couple of used books including a 1991 first edition paperback of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, and this:
My Body, by Emily Ratajkowski
As is the case with most memoirs and autobiographies, I read them in earnest and out of curiosity to learn, not judge, about their background and why the subjects have become “public figures.”
This is a fast read (I’m halfway thru) and I appreciate her candor on modeling and using her body for fame and capitalism.
But also, I think most women can relate to her stories about the first times they felt it necessary to compete with other women on looks, or dealing with aggressive and unwanted male attention or suitors, and earliest sexual experiences, whether wanted and/or unwanted. Absorbing!
✍️ I’m writing:
My latest piece for the Charlotte Observer is about Chinese food, more importantly about where to go and what to eat, as someone who grew up in a Chinese restaurant in south Charlotte. I also made a reel about it, which kinda blew up:
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Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok
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