What ingredients are your quick and convenient go-to ingredients when you're cooking? Doesn't matter if you list 5. Just list what you can think of.

Here are mine:

1. Amore tomato paste in a tube. When you live alone, you don't always have the need for a whole can of tomato paste, and even if you put the rest in the fridge, it will nearly always go bad before I need it again, so tomato paste in a tube is a brilliant solution for me!

2. Gourmet Garden herbs in a tube (I use the cilantro and the chili pepper the most). I don't use fresh herbs much for the same reason I don't use canned tomato paste--there's too much for me to use up w/o waste--so these herbs and spices in a tube still impart fresh taste in those cases where you don't want to use dried herbs and spices.

3. Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb blend. When you're hypertensive, you need to watch your salt intake, and Mrs. Dash is fantastic in its many varieties to help add flavor without sodium.

4. Swanson reduced sodium chicken broth. Use it a lot in all kinds of things.

5. Kraft Fat Free Zesty Italian dressing. I use it more as a marinade or a preparation before breading chicken cutlets than I do as a salad dressing. It imparts great flavor without adding fat and because it's fat free, you don't get flare-ups on the grill like you would using a regular salad dressing as a marinade.

I'm going to repeat several things:

1. Swanson reduced sodium chicken broth

2. Bags of salad and other precut veggies.

3. Trader Joe's frozen brown rice. It it pricey, but only takes 3 minutes in the microwave and it turns out better than brown rice I make on my own.

4. Frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts.

5. Good jarred tomato/marinara/spaghetti sauces.

Sheri, I do love tomato paste in a tube too, but I don't use it enough to make it a top 5.

Dawn

1. whole wheat pasta
2. frozen raspberries
3. good chx broth
4. oats- I eat then breakfast, grind them into flour and use them all over the place
5. prepacked organic baby lettuce

1. almond butter: i use it on pancakes, muffins, etc. almost daily. (okay, I don't cook with it per se, but it's convenient, and a favorite)

2. prepackaged, washed salad mix (I live on it)

3. frozen meatballs, frozen pesto cubes, and frozen precooked pasta (3,2,1 + 2 min. microwave = dinner)

4. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

5. organic colby cheese (I eat lots of grilled cheese)

6. Kitchen Basics no salt added chicken & beef stocks (which are also conveniently gluten free)

1. Chicken or vegetable broth
2. Tomato sauce or paste
3. mushrooms
4. Chicken breasts
5. garlic

1. Swanson fat-free/low-sodium chicken broth. I really find I use a lot of this stuff.

2. Fresh herbs that come in a plastic box-similar I believe to the herbs in a tube that Sheri mentioned. Always have cilantro, rosemary, and parsley on hand.

3. Frozen meatballs

4. Dreamfields pasta-love this stuff and if I'm in a "what to cook" quandary, you can always find something to make with pasta.

5. Fresh garlic bulbs-I buy them in a sleeve of I think 4 or 5 bulbs. I use garlic in just about everything-well not desserts, lol.

Jill

Sheri, have you been looking in my kitchen? I use all of those things you listed but I also use the garlic in a tube.

We also use the Chicken of the Sea Tuna or Salmon Cups.

Ramen Noodles (throw out the spice pack)

SteamFresh Brocolli florets (side dish in 7 minutes while doing something else)

It is not a single ingredient but I make sure I always have some of KD's Sunday BBQ Burger in the freezer. We make them with buffalo meat rather than beef (sometimes I also use chicken or turkey). They only take 30 minutes to thaw on my thawing board.

1. Frozen Shrimp

2. Our local organic market's beet dressing

3. prepackaged, ready to eat, triple washed baby lettuce (my sil would be mortified if she knew that I didn't wash it again at home but I don't)

4. Frozen Trident Salmon Burgers (one burger with a salad is one of my favorite quick meals)

5. Imagine Organic Soups (my favoties are the Chipolte Corn Bisque and the Roasted Red Pepper Tomato).