Pantry Check
For those of us in the US, Thanksgiving has kicked off the holiday season, and I absolutely love it! Decorating the tree, spending time with family, and obviously eating lots of delicious food. So as you’re restocking your pantry for the upcoming festivities, lets talk about what to keep and what to avoid! I did a little pantry inventory of a typical pantry, and pulled out some of the good and some of the bad.
The Good
You want to stock your pantry (and of course your fridge) with as many whole, real ingredients as possible, obviously. I like to keep mine full of quinoa, barley, beans, and other easy-to-store ingredients. But convenience food tends to slip in there as well. If I didn’t keep a few handy things on hand, like pasta and pasta sauce, then we’d be eating a lot more last minute dinners at Chipotle. So here are a few examples of things you might have in your pantry:
Whole grain pasta is one of the easiest things to keep, as it is cheap, easy to prepare, versatile, and doesn’t really go bad. I always have a box or two on hand. And naturally, it’s nice to have a jar of pasta sauce at the ready. While many of you might make your own pasta sauce, I find it helpful to have a jar around if I’m pressed for time. This jar of Prego doesn’t cost more than a couple of bucks, and the ingredients list is great! (Check ingredients lists on jarred pasta sauce. Many of them have high fructose corn syrup and/or tons of sodium!)
Obviously, I have to have snacks around. This bag of popcorn might not be the “healthiest” snack ever, but sometimes you have to eat something other than carrot sticks to satisfy a craving. This stuff is just three ingredients: corn, oil, & salt. While it might not be the most nutrient dense snack in the kitchen, it’s easy and delicious, and I know exactly what I’m eating.
The Bad
Now lets cover some of the not so great things you might have lurking in your pantry. You might not realize what types of ingredients packaged foods are slipping past you. Can we talk about high fructose corn syrup? You know it’s in soda, and often in things posing as “fruit juice” but you might not know it’s in hundreds of other packaged goods, and not just sweets. ALL of these items have high fructose corn syrup in there.
Seriously, why is there high fructose corn syrup in stuffing? Or crackers? What is happening? My point is, check the label! The sugary substance isn’t just hiding in sweets. And don’t even get me started on reduced fat peanut butter! If you’ve made peanut butter at home, you know that you really only need one ingredient: peanuts. And maybe salt. So why are we buying “reduced fat” peanut butter, where they’ve taken out the natural fat, and replaced it with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils? Don’t be fooled on this one. Go natural. Now about those hydrogenated oils…
The Ugly
Trans fat. Maybe you’ve heard of it. But did you know that it can be hiding in all kinds of packaged food?
These days, it seems like anything that comes in a package could contain these. But the good news is, a lot of these things have better alternatives. For example, that microwave popcorn has a long, long list of ingredients, but that popcorn I mentioned in the first paragraph has a fraction of those. (Also, making your own popcorn on the stove is shockingly easy, and cheaper.) Most of this is just a matter of checking the ingredients list. Oh, and that chicken soup also contains high fructose corn syrup. YIKES!
While I absolutely understand the need to count calories if you’re trying to “get healthy” I want to encourage you not to lose sight of the ingredients! Whole ingredients are the way to go! It’s much more satisfying and much better for my body. I believe in “everything in moderation”… but I have a hard time justifying ingredients that are proven to be bad for my body.
Thanks for the reminder to check ingredients! I buy most of my groceries at Trader Joe’s since they have the best track record in that area for me, but I’ve definitely let bagged popcorn and other stuff sneak into my house. I’ve also never understood why they need HF corn syrup in crackers!
I love Trader Joe’s! I wish I had one a little closer 🙂
I so agree whole ingredients are the way to go less so than counting calories.
We are lucky here in Australia and don’t have nearly as many products with high fructose corn syrup!
I have barley, brown rice, tinned tomatoes and lots of nuts, seeds, oats and dried fruit always in my pantry 🙂
Wow, that’s awesome! I wish the states woudl hop on the trend and get that junk out of food!
That popcorn is my absolute favorite!! I am SO hooked on it!
Isn’t it amazing?! SO addicting!
This time of the year my pantry takes a beating because I am trying to use up what I have before I leave for winter break. I try to always have a plethora of brown rice, though, as well as pumpkin, quinoa, lentils, and tea! I usually have peanut butter, too. I ran out last week and when I went to Kroger last night there was none of their natural kind on the shelves. I was so mad because it’s extremely cheap right now – $1.88 for the holiday season – and it only has peanuts and salt. Before I leave for break next week I might buy $15 worth just to save money during spring semester! lol
Oh wow! That’s such a good deal!! I hope they get more in stock!
Way to take some of my ingredients out of the pantry for the bad. haha.
Hah! No! I didn’t use anything from our kitchen! I won’t say where it came from… 😉
i have pasta, beans and sauce with me almost always 🙂 I wish I made my own pasta sauce though.
Great info, Liz! We always have jarred tomato sauce, salsa, and beans in our pantry – AT ALL TIMES! I need to get better about making sure there are a few different homemade snacks available too. Snacking on the first thing we see is kinda mine and Vishnu’s downfall!
Good to know about the peanut butter! Thanks for the tip. I’ve been meaning to try that Boom Chicka Pop popcorn. I’m all about healthy and easy snacks!
The Boom Chicka Pop is soooo good! Warning, it’s easy to eat the whole bag 😉
NOOOO. We live Jif peanut butter but I had read that there was HF corn syrup in it too. We are actually cleaning out our pantry as well to prepare for the Holidays.
Haha I know! It’s sad. But Skippy Natural is pretty awesome (and still super cheap!)
Are we twins? I keep the same foods/condiments in my pantry. Along w/ the above listed, I always have beans and crushed tomatoes as well.