Stocked For Health
Be It A pantry or A cupboard, get it stocked
A pantry sounds very grandiose but it can be whatever you want it to be - cupboard, room, open shelving or anywhere you keep your dried foods and basic staples. Having key items on hand makes it more likely that you will cook healthy meals at home. Bulk buying dried goods saves you money in the long term as well as time at the supermarket. You are also more likely to experiment in the kitchen if you have key ingredients readily to hand.
For me having the kitchen well-stocked with basic dried goods, condiments and spices has been a life saver when it comes to meal planning, putting meals together and sticking to a budget. Having dry ingredients stored in glass jars means that I can easily see what stock of everything I have and what foods I can base meals around.
The Ingredients for success
Pasta – For pasta that serves up a healthy portion of protein and fibre and does not cause blood sugar spikes I like to use red lentil, chickpea or buckwheat pastas. These are readily available in supermarkets as well as health food stores. Whatever type you chose it is always helpful to have a longer type like spaghetti and a shorter chunkier type like rigatoni.
Rice – I would recommend long-grain as an all-rounder and Arborio rice for making risottos or baked rice dishes with vegetables that need to be used up.
A whole grain such as quinoa (GF), buckwheat (GF), farro or cous cous for use as a nutrient rich alternative to rice and potatoes – great for using as a base for salads, for bulking up soups and stews, or as the meal accompaniment.
Oats – for porridge, making granola, overnight oat pots, for grinding up into flour for biscuits, or making your own oat milk.
Lentils – for soups, curries, vegetarian Bolognese or shepherd’s pie, nourishing dahl or to add to salads. Red and puy lentils are my favourites to have on hand. Soaking them for 12 hours before cooking can make them easier to digest, and make the minerals more easily absorbed by your body.
Sunflower and pumpkin seeds – for sprinkling on porridge, salads, eggs, toasting with spices for a tasty snack, adding to homemade granola or grabbing by the handful when you need some energy.
Ground Flaxseed - flaxseeds are full of protein and fibre and when ground are easier for your body to digest. Sprinkle a teaspoon over your morning oats or you lunchtime salad, add to smoothies or mix with ground almonds to create an alternative to breadcrumbs when making goujons. They are also great for making home-made crackers.
Variety of nuts – If for no other reason than eating nuts every day is supposed to make you live longer! But also great for toasting and having on top of yoghurt, adding to granola, salads and desserts. Coat mixed nuts with melted dark chocolate and sea salt for a snack that is full of healthy fats and will satisfy that crunch craving.
Tins of coconut milk – coconut milk is a source of healthy fat and can contribute to an increase in healthy cholesterol (yes, there is such a thing as healthy cholesterol!) and so makes an excellent choice for adding to soups and curries to make them nice and creamy, to your morning smoothie, or as a vegan alternative to cream in desserts. If you have never cooked your rice in coconut milk – you don’t know what you are missing!!
Honey (Local if possible) – perfect for drizzling on top of your yoghurt and nuts, or porridge, for putting in tea instead of sugar, adding to home-made granola, mixing with soy sauce / tamari to make marinades. Eating local honey is great for helping to keep allergies at bay during the summer months.
Salt, pepper and spices – key ones would be curry spice mix, paprika, cayenne, dried chilli, garlic powder, dried basil and oregano, ginger, cinnamon.
Stock Cubes – In a perfect world we would all make our own stocks but realistically few of us have time to do that so having good quality stock cubes on hand is a must for adding flavour to soups, stews, broths, curries etc etc.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – for drizzling on salads, making dressings, marinating raw vegetables.
Oil for cooking with at high temperatures such as Rapeseed oil, coconut oil, avocado oil or hemp seed oil (these oils have a higher smoke point and are therefore healthier for cooking with and are all sources of good fats.
Sesame Oil for Asian recipes
Canned tomatoes / passata and tomato paste – nothing left in the house except eggs? Use these to make a tasty Huevos Rancheros that will satisfy you for breakfast lunch or dinner. Use as a base for soups, stews, Bolognese, homemade baked beans or to make a simple pasta sauce (let it simmer for a long time to reduce the acidity and make the sauce really rich).
Cans of pulses (chickpeas, black, pinto, kidney, cannellini, butter beans etc) – for the homemade beans mentioned above! Plus of course for adding to stews, curries, soups and salads or for making dips. Chickpeas can be tossed in oils and spices and baked to produce a crunchy and delicious snack.
Canned pumpkin – stay with me on this one. I swear by canned pumpkin for the quickest easiest and tastiest dinners – throw a can of pumpkin and a can of coconut milk into a pot, add veggies / tofu / meat / prawns – whatever you fancy – in with it, grate in some fresh ginger and add some curry paste – in about ten minutes you have a tasty hassle free curry! Or use it as a base for soup, adding lots of warming spices and a stock cube, a pasta sauce, stir it into your morning porridge and add cinnamon and nutmeg for a warming autumn breakfast, or to make a pumpkin and honey bread – banana bread is so 2020! Oh, and yes of course you can use it as the American’s intended and make a pumpkin pie with it.
Tinned tuna - great to have on hand to make a quick and simple meal when there is little else in the cupboards - curry tuna lettuce boats, tuna pasta, tuna fried rice, tuna burgers, sushi bowls, all manor of tuna salads….you get the gist
Finally, the item that I make sure I never run out of is eggs – if you are not opposed to eating eggs the possibilities are ENDLESS – scrambled eggs (or if you want to be a little more adventurous try curried scramble: eggs, tomato paste, onion, curry spices with leftover veggies or leafy greens cooked through it), egg fried rice, quiche, Spanish omelette, French toast, egg muffins (whisk a couple of eggs together and divide mixture into a pre-oiled muffin tin, add in some chopped veggies, top with cheese if that’s your thing, and bake in the oven – excellent breakfast for all the family), huevos rancheros, avocado and poached / boiled / fried egg on toast, egg sandwiches. Or add them on top of curries, noodle broth, rice bowls, savoury waffles and salads as a great source of protein and amino acids.
Pimp your Condiments
Condiments such as mustard, mayonnaise, sriracha, ketchup, salad dressings, vinegars etc are great for adding quick and easy flavour when you don’t have much time. They can be loaded with added sugars and inflammatory oils though so it is important to check the ingredients list to ensure you aren’t sabotaging your health goals without realising. Here are some of my families favourites:
Soy Sauce or its gluten free friend Tamari – use it to make stir-fries, to marinade fish or meat, add to soups and curries, or to make dressings.
Dr Will’s range of sauces - these are made using natural ingredients with only naturally occurring sugars. Our favourites are the ketchup, sriracha, and miso and tahini dressing (makes a great stir fry sauce). Available from large Tesco stores as well as online.
Eaten Alive Smoked Sriracha - Eaten Alive do a range of fermented hot sauces. I have only tried the sriracha and I love it and have no hesitation in recommending it as a store cupboard essential. Made using natural ingredients and also fermented so it is good for your gut! Perfect for spicing up a scrambled eggs on toast in my humble opinion.
Follow Your Heart Avocado oil vegenaise - I am not vegan and nor is anyone in my family, but we all much prefer this mayo to any other on the market. It tastes so light and creamy and we benefit from the healthy fats from the avocado oil base. It is marginally lower in saturated fats than market leader Hellmann’s, but it is all about the taste for me! The original version of this mayo is available from large Tesco and Sainsbury stores, and the avocado oil based one is available in select health food stores- in store or online.
Nut Butter- I love nut butters. Almond, cashew, peanut. I love them all. I am often found eating it straight from the jar (I know I’m not alone here) or dipping in strawberries, but I also love to add it to stirfries, and curries, or to make an African Peanut Stew as well as drizzling it over pretty much any breakfast food. Nut butter is so versatile and full of healthy fats and protein. For Almond and Cashew butters I love Pip and Nut (even more so since they moved to glass jars) or Meridian. Whichever you chose go for one that doesn’t have any added ingredients other than salt. A few years ago I discovered Manilife Peanut Butter and I have never bought another brand again. It is the most delicious, the creamiest, the most flavourful peanut butter I have ever had! Deep roast or original, chunky or smooth, you chose. Just do yourself a favour and buy the 1kg tub. Trust me.
As a health coach I’m passionate about helping women take back control of their lives and achieve their health and nutrition goals. If the tips above have sparked a desire for change but you don’t know where to start, click on the button below to organise a call to explore which RealWell Health Coaching programme would work for you.