Last week I did a Pantry ‘Makeover’ for a friend/client and it was so fun!
First we went through her pantry and discussed what she uses and how and why. It was a great way to understand our motives for eating certain foods. “it is good to eat protein after a workout.” “I need to eat fast in the morning because I have meetings.” or “I have to have chocolate.” “I eat that and then I am hungry 10 min later.” Any of these sound familiar?
Then we put sticky notes on many of the items with alternative nourishing items. For example – replace extruded cereal in a box with whole or scottish oats to make oatmeal OR replace canola oil with cold pressed olive oil and/or coconut oil. We also went through her fridge and did the same thing. I gave her brand names, sources and recipes for all the items we discussed.
We didn’t throw anything out – she is going to finish most of the items she has (so as not to waste) and then slowly transition to eat new thing so as not to overwhelm. This is good advice – transforming your kitchen does not happen overnight. It isn’t like buying a whole new wardrobe for your closet – you have to re-learn how to cook in most cases and get adept at meal planning ahead as nourishing recipes can take time (not active time, mind you – but sometimes you need to soak things overnight or defrost something for example).
It is a good idea to try out new items and see if you like them before buying anything in bulk which in the long term can save a lot of money.
Eating real food doesn’t have to be hard on you or your schedule or your wallet. You just have to base what you decide to change on what you eat and like now and build from there. There are many things about eating this way that actually make cooking meals faster for me. I prepare things in larger batches and so mostly it is available when I need it. Making soups from stock I have in the freezer takes 20 min tops (5 min active time). Making chicken salad is a snap too because the chicken is already cut up and ready to go from making stock and the mayo is already made as well. It takes time to build up your store of go to items but once you have them they become staples and have regular rotations in your meal plans. The rest is just building off of these staples.
If you want to know all my real food resources and meal planning secrets and need a pantry ‘makeover’ – please let me know!
