Do you have the right foods in your pantry to support your healthy lifestyle? In a prior post I discussed stocking your pantry in times of crisis read it here. Now I’m going to tell you how I stock a healthy kitchen to support clean eating.
Eating healthy isn’t always the easiest thing to do. There are so many diet options available. Each one claiming that they are the end all to be all for diets. I am not into the trend of the week diets. I need a diet that supports my blood levels for cholesterol and glucose.
If you are like me you probably have researched diets, started and stopped plans and bought many books. I did find great recipes to try though. But the plans never seemed to work fully and certain food allergies made it difficult to follow a plan as intended.
In researching all these different diet approaches the one common thread is having the right food in the house is important for healthy eating.
By having healthy choices in your house helps with preparing meals and avoiding snacking on junk food.
Depending on your dietary needs your food list may vary some. Below you will find food items I keep in my pantry.
What’s in the refrigerator?
Fruits* Vegetables
| Apples | Broccoli |
| Berries | Celery |
| Grapes | Dark Leafy greens |
| Oranges | Squash |
| Melons | Tomato |
| Strawberries | Cucumber |
| Peaches | Zucchini |
| Pears | Garlic |
*Watch the sugar on some fruits
Your vegetable drawer may also include peppers, onions, cauliflower, eggplant, etc. I can’t eat these due to allergies
Dairy Meat
| Low-fat Milk, buttermilk, creamers | Lean Beef |
| Reduced fat cheese | Chicken and turkey skinless breast and tenders |
| Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese | Ground turkey |
| Sour Cream | Fish (I’m not much into fish, but my doctor said to look for Omega-3 rich fish) |
| Yogurt | Pork tenderloin (fat removed) |
| Eggs | |
| Soy or Almond milk | |
When choosing non-fat or Low-fat products make sure to look at the sugar content.
Some additional choices for meat substitute are tofu and tempeh. There are probably many more I’m missing.
Freezer
I have many frozen fruits and vegetables in my freezer, as these are great alternatives for out of season produce
In the Pantry cabinet
I prepare most of my foods so I don’t have as many canned products in my cupboard. The cupboard full though:
*Beans: both bagged and canned. For canned beans I look for the low sodium options such as black bean, kidney, navy, cannellini, pinto, etc.
*Barley
*Reduced sodium bone broth (chicken, beef and vegetable) – I’m allergic to onions so I usually make my own if I can’t find an organic brand without onions.
*Whole grain cereals
*Cornmeal
*Flaxseed
* Flour (Whole-Wheat, Rice, almond)
*Couscous, Quinoa, oat bran,
*Rolled oats
*Low-fat or fat free tomato sauce
*Whole grain pasta – I avoid any enriched flour pasta
*Rice: Brown or wild
*Canned tomatoes and tomato paste – reduced sodium
*Non-fat or vegetarian refried beans
*Canned fruit – make sure to avoid any packed in syrup
Condiments
I avoid high sodium products and shop for low-sodium options
*Ketchup
*BBQ Sauce
*Mayonnaise
*Mustard
*Soy Sauce
*Vinegars
*Pickles
Fats and cooking oils
This is the hardest area to know what is healthy and which are not; there are so many opinions on what is healthy. Here are some that I use in my kitchen
*Trans fat-free margarine (I prefer a yogurt based spread that has no trans-fat)
*Nonfat cooking sprays
*Olive or canola oils, I also use non-GMO vegetable oils
*Applesauce or yogurt instead of using oils for baking
*Reduced fat salad dressings
Snacks
*Nuts (almond, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)
*Whole grain breads (tortilla, pita, English muffins)
*Whole grain, trans-fat free crackers
*Popcorn or brown rice crackers
*Whole grain pretzels, baked tortilla chips
*Dark chocolate
Spices/Herbs
I use just about every spice but I avoid salt and of course onion based spices.
When I can I use fresh herbs
If you have a green thumb you can grow your own herbs or buy fresh herbs at the farmer’s market. I will be doing a series on growing your own herbs soon so keep an eye out.
Sweeteners
Avoiding sugars is always preferred but if you have a sweet tooth like me there are some other options. I also avoid any sugar substitutes that are mostly chemical derived.
Brown rice syrup for baking
Honey (in moderation there is a lot of natural sugar in honey)
Pure maple syrup
I avoid processed food as much as possible and read labels closely. Look for items with five or fewer ingredients. The ingredients must all be real foods.
Share some of your pantry staples below. I always like to hear what other people find useful.
