Real Food Pantry Makeover

It can be overwhelming to trade out your old favorites for new healthy choices! It's easier than you think to get rid of the food that no longer serves you and replace it with options that will create health and vitality!

It's actually fun! So, where do you start?

Step 1 Kick the Processed Foods to the Curb!

Replace all of your bagged, boxed, processed, tempting food! Donate it to your local food bank if you can. Get it out of your house so when the craving demons come out, it's not there to call your name! If the food is not helping you reach your goals, get rid of it. And remember, the devil lives in boxes and bags of tempting food and will relentlessly call your name and since you are not the Christ, you don't need to be tested! It will NOT help this process, trust me on this one, get the devil out of your house!!

Step 2 Restock

Oils and Fats

You'll want to have good oils on hand for cooking and making dressings, sauces, etc... Get rid of any processed vegetable oils such as Canola, Vegetable oil, Crisco, etc... They are damaging to your heart cells!For more information on this, see my article, Healthy Fat, What's That? The oils to have on hand are cold pressed organic oils such as flax and olive oil. A great brand to use is Omega Nutrition. They make olive oil, flax oil, coconut oil and a few others. They do not ever expose their oils to heat, light or oxygen, so they stay fresh for a long time. You'll want to have some ghee to cook with as well as butter. I also get grass fed lard at my farmer's market. It's great for frying. I prefer to use Kerrygold or Strauss brand butters as they are from grass-fed cows. You can also find Organic Valley butter at Costco usually.

Condiments & Spices

A pantry will be most useful it is stocked with foods to please your palate as this is THE necessary ingredient for your success! Start with spices. You want some good Celtic, Himalayan or Real Salt. Get a pepper grinder and some peppercorns. Fresh pepper has many health benefits as does good salt and other spices. For spices, Trader Joe's, Frontier, Simply Orgnanic and The Spice Hunter are some of my favorite brands. Some good spices to get you started are cinnamon, nutmeg, oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, garlic salt, onion powder, cumin, marjoram, ginger, cayenne, Italian seasonings, ground mustard seed, garlic powder, all-spice, coriander, curry, cream of tartar, dill, paprika, sage and any others that suit your fancy. Other things to keep handy are canned, organic, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Apple cider vinegar and raw wine vinegar. Mustard and Dijon mustard. Gluten free soy sauce or coconut aminos. I always, always have fresh onions and garlic on hand too.

Natural Sweeteners

There are so many delicious recipes you can make to satisfy your sweet tooth! Some of my favorite sites for healthy recipes are www.elanaspantry.com www.marksdailyapple.com and www.beyonddiet.com . Don't forget to check out my sweet recipes too! My favorite healthy sweeteners and the ones you will find in the recipes on these sites are: pure birch xylitol, rapadura, coconut palm sugar, raw honey and stevia.

Flour

In many of the baking recipes, you'll see them call for almond flour, coconut flour, sometimes buckwheat, tapioca or quinoa flour. Have some of these on hand or plan your baking ahead! I always have almond and coconut flour on hand. You can easily make a grain flour by grinding grain in your high power blender. You might want to do a little experimenting with my flourless pancakes or cupcakes to get the idea of how delicious food can taste without all the processed carbs!

Canned Goods

In addition to canned tomatoes, I like to have some jarred spaghetti sauce on hand just in case I get in a pinch. I look for an organic brand made with olive oil. I also keep canned beans, artichoke hearts, pesto, nut butters, Amy's organic soups, canned pumpkin, coconut cream and pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just plain old pumpkin). If you like hummus, it's good to keep garbanzo beans and tahini handy. I also like to have organic chicken and beef broth on hand for when I don't have time to make my own stock.

Nuts and Seeds

You'll need something to grab and go to snack on. Nuts are the perfect thing! I like to make my own trail mix with nuts, seeds, unsweetened dried fruits (make sure fruit is the only ingredient!) such as goji berries and coconut flakes with dark chocolate.

You can also make your own flavored nuts, Here are some recipes.

Herbal Teas

Teas can greatly benefit your health and are a great way to stave off the desire to eat. My favorite teas are white tea and I also love Slique Tea by Young Living. If you want to curb your cravings, calm your anxiety and slow your desire to eat when you're not hungry, Slique is a great tea! You can order it at www.youngliving.com To order, you'll need to note my member number which is 1802065. For more questions about Slique Weight Loss products please email me at maria@mariarippo.com.

Healthy Grains

The ones I eat regularly are gluten free oatmeal, quinoa, millet and rice. I also like to keep some brown rice pasta on hand and you can also try the ones made from quinoa, millet, etc...to find the ones you like. Other good pasta alternatives are kelp noodles and spaghetti squash. Shredded zucchini also makes a great pasta.

Step 3 Recipes!

A well stocked kitchen will do no good on it's own. Start finding recipes for simple food you can make.
Find a few snacks you really enjoy. Here are two posts I wrote on what we eat for snacks. Consider finding a week's worth of go-to recipes you enjoy for you main meals as well. If you are stuck and would like help, consider setting up a complimentary coaching appointment with me for some pointers!.