DEAR ACCIDENTAL CHEF:

Whenever I cook dinner, it seems that I always have to go to the grocery store and buy something in order to finish the recipe. My pantry is half empty all the time. I'd like to be able to stock it better, so I won't have to make so many repeated trips to the store for the basics, but I am not sure where to begin. Any ideas? - Empty Cabinets in Petersburg

DEAR EMPTY: I completely understand your dilemma since, until the invention of Sam's Club, I, too, was making extra trips to the grocery store to purchase items I should have already had on hand. However, even wholesale stores don't work every time.

While Costcos and Sam's Clubs may offer good bargains, purchasing so much in bulk can often be overkill for the home cook. A 4-pound can of tuna, while easily serving a family of eight, might get tossed in the trash well before it's polished off by a family of four, and the same applies to baking. What's the average home cook going to do with 25 pounds of sugar when a 5-pound bag will suffice?

Like many of you, I have found myself wandering the aisles of my local grocer more than once a week, looking for another bottle of horseradish or some other nonperishable that is imperative to that evening's dinner. Certainly, at times, it is unavoidable, especially when a recipe calls for a less-than-standard ingredient such as truffle oil or curry paste.

However, you can make your cooking life less laborious by keeping a handful of key ingredients on hand. The question is, what do we keep at arm's reach on a regular basis? That all depends on the type food you prefer.

First, ask yourself, what meals do I tend to make at home regularly? Is it spaghetti with marinara sauce or a similar pasta dish? If so, then stockpiling dried spaghetti noodles (especially when they are on sale) along with canned tomatoes (or jarred sauce), dried Italian herbs, and maybe even some canned capers or dried exotic mushrooms to jazz things up makes sense. For meat sauce, especially when ground beef is on sale, buy a couple of pounds and freeze it. Same goes for Italian sausages. Frozen meats should keep up to three months at proper temperature.

If your cooking tends to lean toward the exotic, stocking up during your next visit to the Asian grocery might be in order. Items such as hoisin sauce, coconut milk, teriyaki sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil, as well as rice, seaweed (as in nori for sushi) and noodles should be kept on hand. Store fresh ginger in the freezer (it will keep about six months) until ready to use.

If Mexican night seems to be a regular at your family's dinner table, then by all means keep plenty of canned beans, dried beans, jarred salsa, flour tortillas (which make excellent last-minute Mexican pizzas), tortilla chips (for nachos), taco seasoning and canned chiles in your cupboard.

For general everyday staples, I always recommend plenty of oils (olive, canola and cooking spray), at least one decent quality vinegar (either balsamic or red wine), Dijon mustard (which is incredibly versatile and superior to the yellow stuff), chicken and beef broths, soy sauce, tomato paste, sherry, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, plenty of dried herbs and spices, and evaporated milk (which is great in a pinch), to name a few.

For baking, along with sugar and all-purpose flour, keep baking soda, baking powder, chocolate chips, cocoa, nuts, dried fruits, biscuit mix, vanilla extract and honey.

Of course, these are merely a few suggestions to get you started. The most important thing to remember is to purchase wisely for your personal cooking needs. Avoid spending money on ingredients that you barely use or will use infrequently, and only buy in bulk those items that you will use regularly.

Also, learning to make substitutions with what you have on hand can save an extra trip to the store. Got a recipe that needs shallots, but don't have any? Use a small onion instead. Out of corn syrup? Try honey instead. No more nutmeg? Substitute allspice or cinnamon.

The bottom line is, what you fill your pantry with is up to you. Examine your cooking and eating trends, and stock up on key items that are required to make those meals. That way, you'll be able to spend more time in the kitchen and less time in the grocery aisle.

Kendra Bailey Morris is a Richmond-based food writer, culinary instructor and author of "White Trash Gatherings: From-Scratch Cooking for Down-Home Entertaining" (Ten Speed Press). Send ideas, tips or culinary questions to info@theaccidentalchef.net or visit www.theaccidentalchef.net.