Shopping and stocking up on enough well-rounded, plant-based foods is the most essential component of being a healthy human on ANY diet - hands. down. If you're not careful about the "hunting and gathering" you do at the grocery store, you will most likely be nutrient deficient AND a few bucks poorer.
In an effort to help make kitchens everywhere more plant-friendly, below you will find a detailed look at my kitchen. I took these photos in January 2012 after a particularly large trip to Your Dekalb Farmer's Market (which totaled a whopping $106 - please note my sarcasm ;-). This is a pretty good "snapshot" of what you can find in my kitchen any typical day.
One important thing to remember about me: though I do have my diet staples to ensure I meet my nutritional requirements, my true culinary passion is experimenting. I often buy weird ingredients that I've never heard of, but look cool, without a recipe or plan... I just get home and google until I find something good. If you're more of a recipe & list-oriented person, I promise to post more detailed information to explain how I use these ingredients. You can also ASK WENDY and I will be more than happy to answer any of your kitchen/culinary questions!
Also, my hubs is not vegan all the time, so the non-vegan foods you see belong to him.
With that in mind... here is.... (drum roll)... My kitchen... :-)
Stocking my pantry typically happens about once a month. Most of these items you can buy at a regular grocery store, a natural food store, or your local farmer's market. These items don't change as much from season to season as my fresh produce. Here is some shelf-by-shelf detail...
I don't have a close-up photo of the highest shelf, but it's basically full of baking goods (sugar, flour, etc). I'm not much of a baker, but I do enjoy the occasional sweet treat.
The second-highest shelf has mostly paper/plastic/foil-type goods, and a few little treats. We used to keep chips and pretzels here, but we're trying to cut back on the snacky-processed foods. These are Garden of Eatin baked blue corn chips... we saw them at the market and decided to give them a try! (They're pretty decent for a baked chip.) This is also where my hubs stashes his non-vegan treats. These are mostly holiday remnants... :-)
The third shelf hold cereals, crackers, and jarred goods/sauces. I don't eat cereal often, but when I do it's usually Nature's Path or Bear Naked Granola. We also have some plain oatmeal for chilly mornings and a box of Back to Nature stone ground wheat thins. On the right you can find vinegars (apple cider, umeboshi, balsamic, red wine, and white), oils (sesame, coconut, and olive), syrups (brown rice, agave nectar, maple syrup), and nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, and Sunbutter). I also keep some pasta sauce and other random pantry items on this shelf.
This next shelf has some of my true diet staples: brown & white rice, nutritional yeast, extra almond milk (other milks when we have them: rice, hemp, and sometimes soy), pastas (usually brown rice, quinoa, or whole wheat), canned soups, canned beans, raw nuts (almonds, peanuts, and cashews), and dried fruits. I also have some tubs of curry powder that wouldn't fit on our spice shelf.
The bottom shelf of our pantry is the most nutrient-dense... The plastic tubs on the left are all bulk dry goods from the farmer's market. We have oats, millet, quinoa, couscous, red and brown lentils, corn meal, and beans of all kinds. I also have ground flax seeds and hemp protein powder for my morning smoothies, Larabars for long days out of the house, supplements for long runs, and lots of herbal tea.
On to the fridge/freezer...
Frozen veggies are key for weeks when you run out of fresh produce or don't have a chance to hit the store. They're sometimes cheaper than fresh veggies and stay good for much longer. We also keep bread in our freezer so it doesn't go stale or moldy before we eat it (right now we have Ezekiel, but we like to buy fresh whole grain bread from the farmer's market when we can). I have frozen fruits for my morning smoothies (usually peaches and berries), and a bunch of Amy's stuff. (You can read about my obsession with Amy's here).
More Amy's... love. (Also some Captain... for special occasions ;-)
Now, you might expect my refrigerator to be overflowing with fresh produce, but it's not. Here's why: fresh produce only stays fresh for so long. If you buy too much, you'll end up wasting it. On the top shelf you'll see some cooked beans (I try to always have some available), lots of pickled veggies (great on salads in place of dressing), and there's some tofu hiding in the back (both firm and silken). In the meats drawer we do keep some lunchmeat for my hubs, tempeh & other meat substitutes when we have them. On the main shelf we have a giant tub of lettuce (throw some in your morning smoothie for an extra dose of veggies!), cantaloupe (my hubs fav fruit), and rice & almond milk. On the bottom shelf we have some Le Croix sparkling water and mushrooms. In the bottom drawers we keep our fresh veggies. This week we have cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, okra, carrots, tomatoes, shallots, and onion.
In the door I have some staple substitutes that are good for transitioning to a vegan diet or for occasional use in recipes: Earth Balance for butter substitutes, Tofutti for cream cheese and sour cream, and Vegenaise or Nayonaise for mayo. I also have mustards & sauces, more pickled veggies, Muir Glen organic ketchup, and other random items.
Coming soon.... kitchen gadgets & seasonal produce.
Want more or have a question? ASK WENDY!
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