Let's see. Right now I have two or three kinds of onions, potatoes, garlic, broccoli, carrots, celery, lettuces, scallions. These are almost always in my kitchen.

Apples, grapes, bananas, oranges, avocados, seasonal fruits don't last long, so I buy and we eat 'em. I just found seven old apples in the bottom of the crisper and have an SOS out for suggestions!

Sherry

My "staples" are potatoes, onions, garlic, assorted salad greens, celery, carrots, sweet potatoes. I keep grapes, apples, bananas (for Ashley, I won't touch the things!), I'm not much of a fruit eater but I'll cave in and eat some every now and then and I usually buy them weekly.

I always have spinach in my freezer, some kind of canned greens in the cupboard and chickpeas and tahini for hummus.
I also tend to keep those boxes of frozen vegetables in my freezer, they're supposed to be 3 or 4 servings but they are more often my lunch. Favorites are peas, corn, brussels sprouts and one that's a mixture of black beans, snap peas, onions and carrots.

I eat a LOT of vegetables, whether fresh, frozen or canned, I just really like them.

Annie

Fresh? Onions, greens, (lettuce, spinach, frizee...mesculun mix,) potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, carrots, celery....and usually one other veggie like green beans carrots, asparagus broccoli, cauliflower or zuchinni.
Seasonally I will add yellow winter squash and summer squash and tomatoes! Lots of tomatoes.
Fruits...always lemons and limes, often an orange or 2 and at least 1 apple. In season berries, melons, peaches, pears, plums and eventually lots of apples.
Linda C

On the average, fresh might be one or two apples, onions, a potato or two, shallots, carrots, a bit of melon, bananas, some seasonal fruit such as an orange, some lemons,tangerines or peaches and maybe a salad mix or a head of lettuce.
Frozen are peas (good frozen for fixing boo boos), spinach and perhaps Stouffers spinach souffle or a frozen potato dish for rushed work nights.
When I know that I'm going to cook a bit during a week (this week I'm batting zero!) I'll buy veggies like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and haricot vert (french string beans).

Fresh vegetables I keep on hand are potatoes (and sweet), onions, shallots, garlic, carrots, celery, spinach, green beans, lettuces, cucmbers, leeks and parsnips. For fruits: lemons, apples, oranges, tomatoes, avocados and whatever is in season. Freezer: peas, Brussels sprouts and corn. I usually have a bunch of parsley on hand, too. Any other herbs, I just step outside and snip them.

I always keep fresh potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, scallions, bell peppers, cabbage, and cucumbers. Other fresh vegetables depending on the season. Frozen corn, peas, green beans and broccoli. Home canned tomatoes, dried beans, canned corn, canned green beans, butter beans, kidney beans, black beans are all in my pantry. Probably a few others, I didn't go and actually look.

Fresh fruit...whatever is in season but I always keep lemons handy. Frozen, I have blueberries, cherries and black raspberries. Home canned peaches, pears, applesauce are in the pantry along with crushed pineapple.

Nancy

Along with most of the common fruits and vegetables mentioned, a staple in our home are sprouts made from a variety of seeds and beans (alfalfa, broccoli, wheat, almonds, mung beans, red clover, fenugreek, etc.).

Sprouts are wonderful, especially in the winter when "fresh" food really isn't fresh. Made-at-home sprouts fill a great nutritional benefit when REAL fresh foods aren't readily available. Sprouts are easy and cheap to make and work well as a replacement for lettuce as a sandwich/wrap topper. Sprouted grains are easy to add to breads.

-Grainlady

My vegetable drawers are always stuffed to the max, but as far as staples are concerned, I suppose those would be the ones that I would be really annoyed to realize I was out of and couldn't get to the store for a couple of days...things I use all the time.

Hmmm. Onions for sure and garlic. Celery, Carrots, Cabbage & tomatoes (canned/fresh). Other things I could cook without, but I'd miss variety.

I almost always have salad stuff on hand, generally a few root veggies like turnips & beets. Zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms are other things I almost always have. Then of course there are the things I buy seasonally like corn or green beans or buy for use within a day or two like greens or bean sprouts.

Of course, I almost always have a bag or so each of frozen corn & peas and often some frozen spinach or chard as well. I don't usually buy canned vegetables as I don't really like them, except for tomatoes. But I do keep several cans of potatoes for emergencies & many kinds of canned beans for fast meals and to add to soups when I haven't planned ahead enough to soak & cook dried.

As for fruit, It's pretty rare that the basket on my counter doesn't have at least a couple of apples, bananas, oranges and grapefruits for snacks & salads as well as lemons and limes. I almost always have a lot of frozen fruit for use in smoothies or desserts or waiting to be turned into jams or chutneys. I dry fruit as well to have on hand for snacking, like apples, mangoes, strawberries, cherries, pineapple & stone fruits.

But, I don't really think of any particular fruit as a staple, unless maybe my lemons and limes would qualify because I use them so much.

I do keep certain canned fruits for those times I manage to run out of fresh or in those winter months when we get a bit tired of apples and pears. Canned mandarin oranges, pineapple, lychee. I generally can my own peaches, apple & pear sauces, so I usually have those as well.

We always have onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots and peppers. I seem to always be able to whip up something if I have those on hand. From week to week the crisper drawer changes, but there is usually at least one of broccoli, cauliflower, rapini, or zucchini.

We eat a lot of fruit. DH and DS take a bunch in their lunch every day. Apples and bananas are always in the fruitbowl. When we can get a deal on mangos, I buy them by the crate. DS will take one or two in his lunch every day if he can. Pears and grapes make appearances as well. We don't eat a lot of citrus though, except for the lemons and limes I keep on hand for cooking and cocktails.

Staples here are always, Onions, Celery, Garlic , Shallots, carrots, potatoes and fresh herbs - parsley, thyme, rosemary and sage. Can't wait until I can start using my own herbs out of our new herb garden. I always have lemons and limes on hand too. And at the moment I have zucchini, yellow and purple cauliflower and a small squash on hand. I tend to buy fresh vegetables on a daily basis, such as asparagus, broccoli, rapini, spinach, bok choy, etc....

Moe likes fruit so there is usually bananas and oranges around too.

Potatoes, onions, carrots, and lettuce are all most always in my fridge. Others appear if I have a craving or they looked really good at the store.

Apples are my only regular fresh fruit item. Canned pineapple the only regular pantry fruit.

Big difference between "staple" items and seasonal items for me. I have a garden and many berries that grow wild on my property so I get plenty of variety in the course of the year.

: )
lyra

I always have red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, carrots, onions. Also in regular rotation are celery, salad greens, potatoes, cucumbers and whatever looks good at the farmers' market.

I prefer veggies to fruit, but I usually have "an apple a day" and my DH has a banana for breakfast every morning. Oranges and grapes are also in the rotation.

Tons of frozen berries and frozen veggies, too. I do the same thing Annie does and I eat a bag of frozen veggies for lunch. Sometimes I'll get the Green Giant veggies in the microwavable pouch with seasoned butter. Really satisfying alone or over pasta!

~Amanda

I always have mushrooms, red bell pepper, celery, onion, garlic, shallots, lettuce, jalapeños, Serranos, and bananas. I have fruit trees in my yard, and so I always have oranges, limes, and lemons, although occasionally, the lemon tree is not producing, but I freeze some of the lemons for use at those times. The lime tree almost always has limes, but I freeze a few for emergencies. The orange tree never goes dormant.

For me potatoes are not a staple, but I generally do have a parsnip in the vegetable bin for when I make chicken stock. I almost always have spinach also and cook it quite frequently.

Lars