What's in your pantry?
tammietifanie
Posts: 1,496 Member
This weekend i'm going through my pantry and stocking up on Paleo foods, I'm still very new to this lifestyle and i'm having a hard time figuring out what I need to buy when I go shopping and what should I have on hand.. I wanted to ask everyone what are your "must haves" when you go shopping what do you have to buy or keep in the house at all times. I'm trying to break the habit of grabbing a yogurt for a snack or cottage cheese as a snack.. What snacks do you keep on hand? I'm still trying to figure out meals. I'm the only one in my house that is eating Paleo so i'm having a hard time cooking for my family but making sure it's okay for me to eat also...
0
Replies
-
This weekend i'm going through my pantry and stocking up on Paleo foods, I'm still very new to this lifestyle and i'm having a hard time figuring out what I need to buy when I go shopping and what should I have on hand.. I wanted to ask everyone what are your "must haves" when you go shopping what do you have to buy or keep in the house at all times. I'm trying to break the habit of grabbing a yogurt for a snack or cottage cheese as a snack.. What snacks do you keep on hand? I'm still trying to figure out meals. I'm the only one in my house that is eating Paleo so i'm having a hard time cooking for my family but making sure it's okay for me to eat also...
I just bought a package of sushi wraps (used to love California rolls) to wrap egg salad or tuna salad in. Looking forward to lunch.
Other must haves for me:
Canned salmon, tuna, sardines
Onions, celery, carrots, jicama, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or Brussels sprouts
Kosher dill pickles, assorted olives
Coconut oil, evoo, butter or ghee
Ground beef and chicken in the freezer
Medium shred dried coconut for the times I need coconut milk in a recipe -- I haven't found a brand of canned coconut milk I like yet. They all taste like evaporated milk used to taste to me.
85% dark chocolate
Raw honey
Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar; home-brewed kombucha
Maybe a little fruit, or sweet potato, or winter squash. Not much, though. Occasional treat.
(I don't snack, really. I did buy a box of organic hard boiled eggs at Costco this week. They come in packages of two already peeled eggs and have a sell by date two weeks from now. Great to grab when I am going out the door and not sure if I'll be gone over a mealtime. Since I usually don't eat breakfast, I start getting peckish around 1 or 2 but some days I leave the house at 11 and don't get back until 6 or 7. If I'm organized or not interrupted and run ragged by frantic teens, I'll stir up some bacon or other meat and veggies and bring it with me to eat when I get hungry while waiting for kids in classes or appointments.)
(Hope this makes sense! Loud, animated conversation going on around me.)0 -
I am sure to keep many cans of whole organic coconut milk on hand at all times. I also buy my favorite nuts and make a mix of them to reach for when I'm feeling snacky. Coconut oil, coconut butter, and almond butter all have their places in my pantry.
This one sounds a little weird, but I also make sure to keep sardines in olive oil on hand. I like the spicy ones the best. They're full of great fats, calcium, and other awesome nutrients. I like to mash them up with a fork and pour the whole lot, oil and all, over a salad... that way I don't think of it when I'm eating identifiable fish parts.
Other canned seafood, too--tuna, salmon, crab, oysters. These are great for throwing together a quick meal on the fly. I also like to keep organic canned pumpkin around.0 -
-coconut milk ( though I need a cleaner brand)
-Nuts
-tomato sauce
-homemade beef jerky & dried fruit
-olives
-canned tuna
-dried kelp & bonito flakes for dashi0 -
-coconut milk ( though I need a cleaner brand)
-Nuts
-tomato sauce
-homemade beef jerky & dried fruit
-olives
-canned tuna
-dried kelp & bonito flakes for dashi
I love dashi! But doesn't bonito have a lot of preservatives?0 -
Staples for us are:
- Beef jerky
- coconut oil
- almonds
- walnuts
- we microwave bacon and keep it in the fridge....great for when you have a craving for something crunchy and salty.
- hard boiled eggs
- mini cucumbers
- smoked salmon
- pork/turkey/beef taco meat...I know that the seasoning isn't the best, but we use the meat a lot! On salad with avocado, with scrambled eggs, etc. I do a big batch and put it in a container in the fridge.
- bananas0 -
My first thought was "pantry? what's that?" because the vast majority of my foods are fridge foods. That said, here's what I normally keep on hand:
non-fridge:
Canned coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen, usually, because they're one of the only brands I've found that doesn't have a bunch of additives, and they come in small cans, so I don't waste as much)
Onions (red, white, green, yellow)
Garlic
Herbs/Spices (get bold - curry, chili powder, paprika, etc., in addition to the usual faire)
Cocoa powder
Canned tuna
Chicken stock
Beef stock
Potatoes (sweet and regular; if you can do higher carb)
Tomato paste
Tomato sauce
Coconut oil
Vanilla extract
Nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds, etc)
Coconut flour/tapioca flour/almond flour (if you can handle the carbs and not be tempted to always paleoize SAD foods)
fridge:
Eggs
Snowville milk (we do milk; Snowville is a local creamery that uses primarily A2 cows and sells non-homogenized, low-heat pasteurized milk, which is as close to raw as I can get in my state without jumping through hoops and loopholes; if you do dairy, try to get raw milk if you can)
Bacon
Butter
As for snacks, I've found that I don't generally need snacks when I keep my carbs under 100g and keep my fat intake up (in fact, I have trouble eating enough food in general, because I'm not usually hungry), so your snack thing might just be a habit. That said, some good snack foods include:
If you do dairy:
cottage cheese (this actually isn't a bad choice, since it's high in protein and fat; try to get full-fat varieties if you can)
plain yogurt or kefir (probiotics! full fat, if you can)
ricotta cheese
Else:
kiwi and other "single-serve" type fruit (if you can spare the carbs)
carrot/celery sticks and almond butter
almond/nut butter by itself
water kefir/kombucha
jerky (watch the additives)
meat slices (cook your favorite cut of meat, then slice it up into sticks)
nuts
Just about anything works as a snack, really.0 -
I've never tried Coconut milk before, Do you cook with it our just drink it straight ?0
-
I've never tried Coconut milk before, Do you cook with it our just drink it straight ?
Yes.
More seriously, you can do both. Many people use coconut cream to replace dairy cream in their coffee. Others use coconut milk as a base for protein shakes (if they do that sort of thing) or smoothies or whatever. You can also use it instead of dairy milk in most recipes, and some dishes, like curry, are made with coconut milk in mind.0 -
Unrefrigerated:
Coconut oil
Vidalia onions
Sweet potatoes
Lindt 85% or 90% dark chocolate bars
Larabar Uber Sticky Bun (new favorite!)
raw unsalted almonds, pecans, walnuts, and brazils
unsweetened applesauce cups
honey
Fridge:
eggs
pre-cooked bacon
breakfast sausage
lettuce (romaine, spinach, green leaf, etc)
tomatoes
carrot shreds
low carb salad dressing
mushrooms
butter
Freezer:
asparagus, brussels sprouts, snow peas, green beans
ground beef
chicken
shrimp
salmon
I like having salad fixings available at all times, for lunch or dinner. I like to bake chicken on the weekend and then put it in the freezer so it's ready for a salad when I'm running late. Also good to keep hard boiled eggs around. Sometimes I bake up a whole pan of sweet potatoes and then put them in little freezer boxes with butter, honey, and cinnamon. These are good snacks, dessert, or grab and go part of lunch.
I don't enjoy cooking, so my meals are usually really basic. Baked or fried meat, and a frozen veggie with butter done in 2 minutes in the microwave. Salad with the chicken I already baked, or sometimes with ground beef and onions. When pork loin is on sale, I bake that up and put it in freezer boxes.0 -
I've never tried Coconut milk before, Do you cook with it our just drink it straight ?
Yes.
More seriously, you can do both. Many people use coconut cream to replace dairy cream in their coffee. Others use coconut milk as a base for protein shakes (if they do that sort of thing) or smoothies or whatever. You can also use it instead of dairy milk in most recipes, and some dishes, like curry, are made with coconut milk in mind.
Using it as coffee creamer sounds delish!! Will have to buy a few cans
0 -
-coconut milk ( though I need a cleaner brand)
-Nuts
-tomato sauce
-homemade beef jerky & dried fruit
-olives
-canned tuna
-dried kelp & bonito flakes for dashi
I love dashi! But doesn't bonito have a lot of preservatives?
Not that I was aware of, but I just read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuobushi apparently it's fermented but toxic fungus is often found in it
0 -
Snacks:
Hard boiled eggs
Mini baby bell cheese
almond butter
pork rinds dipped in full fat mayo mixed with any kind of tapenade or pesto
Pantry:
Crushed tomatoes
Canned artichokes
Salsa
Fridge/Freezer
Lunch meat
Full fat cheese slices
Full fat mayo
heavy cream or half and half
frozen broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, spinach
Bacon I have precooked
smoked sausage
Avocados
Eggs
Frozen meats of all kinds
All kinds of fresh veggies and salad
olives
blue cheese
feta0 -
must haves every grocery day!
- almond milk
- tuna
- eggs
- meat ...all kinds
- veggies - all kinds
- cans of tuna
- turkey bacon
- coffee
- nuts0 -
I went out and bought some Coconut milk, OMG ! where has this been my whole life..... I've had soy milk and almond milk before but never coconut .. WOW! I love how silky it is and my stomach hasn't had any issues with it so far...0
-
Are you buying the almond/soy milk equivalent of coconut milk? Or the cans?
Both are good but they're very different. The canned one is great for cooking and is really thick. You probably wouldn't want to drink it just like that (though you could, but it would be tough to have a full glass).
It's crazy how little we actually keep in our pantry.
- varied nuts
- protein powder
- tea and coffee
- coconut milk
- pasta sauces
- spices
- varied oils and vinegars0 -
Let's see, we keep (in no certain order):
- Raw veggies, all kinds, we snack on them and my daughter takes them to school for lunch
- Some fruit
- Raw natural nuts, almonds, walnuts and seeds
- Coconut milk, canned
- Spices of all kinds
- Cheese, I don't eat much but my daughter takes it to school for lunch
- Tea
- Olive oil, coconut oil, vinegar, etc
- Sunbutter
- Salsa
- Eggs
- Bacon
- Fish (lots o' fish, we love seafood)
- Other meats
- Almond milk
I hadn't thought about keeping tuna around but that's a great idea too.0 -
Are you buying the almond/soy milk equivalent of coconut milk? Or the cans?
Both are good but they're very different. The canned one is great for cooking and is really thick. You probably wouldn't want to drink it just like that (though you could, but it would be tough to have a full glass).
It's crazy how little we actually keep in our pantry.
- varied nuts
- protein powder
- tea and coffee
- coconut milk
- pasta sauces
- spices
- varied oils and vinegars
I bought the carton kinds, I was going to get canned milk but your right it looked way to thick, If I need it for a recipe then I will buy that kind..0 -
Are you buying the almond/soy milk equivalent of coconut milk? Or the cans?
Both are good but they're very different. The canned one is great for cooking and is really thick. You probably wouldn't want to drink it just like that (though you could, but it would be tough to have a full glass).
It's crazy how little we actually keep in our pantry.
- varied nuts
- protein powder
- tea and coffee
- coconut milk
- pasta sauces
- spices
- varied oils and vinegars
I bought the carton kinds, I was going to get canned milk but your right it looked way to thick, If I need it for a recipe then I will buy that kind..
Ya, for drinking you would definitely want the carton kind. The canned milk is great as well. We often use it in stir frys or in shakes. Having it in berries is great as well. We often froth it in a blender and keep it in the fridge - it usually stays pretty foamy and even just eating it with a spoon is delicious.0 -
Are you buying the almond/soy milk equivalent of coconut milk? Or the cans?
Both are good but they're very different. The canned one is great for cooking and is really thick. You probably wouldn't want to drink it just like that (though you could, but it would be tough to have a full glass).
It's crazy how little we actually keep in our pantry.
- varied nuts
- protein powder
- tea and coffee
- coconut milk
- pasta sauces
- spices
- varied oils and vinegars
I bought the carton kinds, I was going to get canned milk but your right it looked way to thick, If I need it for a recipe then I will buy that kind..
Ya, for drinking you would definitely want the carton kind. The canned milk is great as well. We often use it in stir frys or in shakes. Having it in berries is great as well. We often froth it in a blender and keep it in the fridge - it usually stays pretty foamy and even just eating it with a spoon is delicious.
I tried coconut milk (carton kind) and it didn't taste good at ALL!!! it was the "so Delicious" kind?? it tasted woody and thick and coated my mouth with a fatty film.... anyone have a better tasting brand?0 -
I went out and bought some Coconut milk, OMG ! where has this been my whole life..... I've had soy milk and almond milk before but never coconut .. WOW! I love how silky it is and my stomach hasn't had any issues with it so far...
What brand did you buy?0 -
Be careful with the carton brands, they nearly always have a lot of additives, including things like xanthan gum (which isn't bad in itself, but was probably what caused the film feeling that degan2011 tasted) and carageenan.
I haven't tried it, personally, but you could probably just get the canned variety and add water to it to make it the consistency you want. That's how other nut milks are made, and homemade coconut milk uses the same process as tree nut milk, so I don't see why that shouldn't work, but maybe someone who's tried it can verify.0 -
Be careful with the carton brands, they nearly always have a lot of additives, including things like xanthan gum (which isn't bad in itself, but was probably what caused the film feeling that degan2011 tasted) and carageenan.
I haven't tried it, personally, but you could probably just get the canned variety and add water to it to make it the consistency you want. That's how other nut milks are made, and homemade coconut milk uses the same process as tree nut milk, so I don't see why that shouldn't work, but maybe someone who's tried it can verify.
if paleo allows almond milk, I will probably just stick with that anyway... I am not one to make things more complicated for myself just because. (I think they call that lazy in some places??? :yawn: )
:laugh:0 -
Be careful with the carton brands, they nearly always have a lot of additives, including things like xanthan gum (which isn't bad in itself, but was probably what caused the film feeling that degan2011 tasted) and carageenan.
I haven't tried it, personally, but you could probably just get the canned variety and add water to it to make it the consistency you want. That's how other nut milks are made, and homemade coconut milk uses the same process as tree nut milk, so I don't see why that shouldn't work, but maybe someone who's tried it can verify.
if paleo allows almond milk, I will probably just stick with that anyway... I am not one to make things more complicated for myself just because. (I think they call that lazy in some places??? :yawn: )
:laugh:
It does, but again, the stuff in the carton is filled with a bunch of other crap, too.
It's really not that hard to make your own almond (or other nut) milk, nor is it that difficult to just buy a can of coconut milk and mix it with water for drinking straight.0 -
Let's see- catching up on everything...
1. It's so easy to make your own coconut milk! Check it out here:http://www.anorganicwife.com/2012/12/how-to-make-coconut-milk.html (that's the drink kind, but you can make it as thick as you want for the cook kind)
2. I am right there with everyone on "What's a pantry?" lol. In fact, my fridge went out for a few hours and upon surveying the contents, I was like "Welp, doesn't matter nothing in here will go bad" it was just fruits/veggies/farm fresh local eggs and raw cheese, all of which can sit at room temp.
3. I keep almond butter, just a few nuts (I get bored of nuts fast) canned tuna, canned tomatoes (Jovial makes a great jarred GMO BPA free tomato sauce) spices of course, plantain chips (which the boyfriend tried and like too) and about every type of hot sauce known to man. We like things spicy in my house.
Check out the topic "what to read" or "Reading materials" or something like that to get you started. Also, Well Fed and Practical Paleo are great starter cookbooks with what to stock in your house.
Good luck! My advice would be to ease into it. I've got some whole wheat tortillas that I just made myself, and I'm going to eat those up. I also eat beans every now and then because making my own refried beans versus bingeing at Taco Bueno... I would pick the first one.0
