Ina Garten's 10 Best-Kept Kitchen Secrets

Prior to hitting the grocery store or market, make a list to avoid excess purchases. But don’t punish yourself for occasional impulse buys—even Garten sometimes splurges on sweet treats (and hence why she has Lidey handle most of her ingredient shopping). Her favorites are Tate's chocolate chip cookies and vanilla Häagen-Dazs.

Everyone loves pancakes and French toast but both require multiple ingredients to make. (Not to mention the mess!) Garten keeps it simple and eats the same breakfast every. Single. Day. For the last decade, she’s had a cup of coffee and McCann's Quick-Cooking Oatmeal. No lie.

That Eeyore-inspired breakfast Queen Ina eats every morning? Garten adds a heavy shaking of salt so her oatmeal doesn’t “taste like wallpaper paste.”

Even the Barefoot Contessa has days when she doesn’t feel like cooking. “I always have soup in the freezer that's hearty enough to be a meal, like Tuscan white bean, split pea, cauliflower, or Loaves & Fishes' tortellini en brodo,” she says. Simply come home, zap it in the microwave and voilà!

Garten adds coffee to chocolate to “give it a depth of flavor.” Bonus: The delectable pairing satisfies chocolate cravings and caffeine fixes.

Garten says she always keeps the following items in her kitchen: Lemons (always in a bowl on the counter), butter, eggs, Parmesan cheese and chocolate.

Season your meal throughout the cooking process—not just at the end.

Cooking is a science, and one bad move can ruin the entire dish. Garten admits she measures everything, exactly.

If starting from scratch isn’t your thing...don’t start from scratch. Garten’s mantra: Unless you can make something that's better than what you'd buy, there's no point in spending the time! Less time cooking equals more time eating, ladies.

OK…food does take priority, but no Garten meal is complete without a beautiful bouquet of flowers to brighten the table.