Things you should always have on hand

Once school starts back, I'm going to commit to cooking at least once or twice a week to save up my meal plan and also to have something to write about. I'll post my grocery list for the week if you want to follow along. I like to get things in larger sizes because the unit price is usually cheaper which means I'll be making things that have the same ingredients so they don't go to waste. Hopefully that makes sense...

That being said, there are a few things you should always have at your disposal, because you'll probably be using them a lot. 

• sugar
• butter (I prefer margarine)
• flour
• vanilla extract, or the cheap stuff (I haven't noticed a difference in the two)
• your favorite cereal(Peter likes Fruity Pebbles)
• vegetable oil
• a colander 
• mixing bowls
• a cake pan
• cookie sheet/baking pan
• at least two pots (one larger, one smaller)
• at least two frying pans (same as pots)
• cooking utensils (spatula, stirring spoons, a whisk if you're into to that sort of thing, etc.)
• microwave (most dorms have these available)
• POT HOLDERS
• a kitchen!

I only say this because it's amazing how you never realize that you don't have something until you really need it. My freshman year I was trying to mix cake batter in one of my pots because I didn't have any bowls. To make it worse, we were using folded paper towels as pot holders. I don't recommend it.