If you are wanting start a real food lifestyle the first thing that you need to do is throw out any processed food that you may have in your pantry. Throw out margarine’s, cooking oils, canned processed products, pasta, flour, sugars, rice, packet meals, packet sauces, cakes, biscuit’s, crackers, soy products & anything else you may have that is processed. It may seem daunting, but just get rid of it, you actually do not need it and the reality is that it is bad for your health.
You will need to fill your fridge, freezer & pantry with fresh, real food ingredients so that you are not tempted to phone your local pizza guy. I have compiled this list of the items that I like to keep on hand so that it is easy to have a real food life style.
Fridge Items
- Fresh in season Vegetable
- Fresh in season Fruits
- Free range (natural fed) eggs
- Cured Salmon or trout (wild caught if possible)
- Homemade tomato sauce
- Home made condiments
- Fresh herbs (bought or grown)
- Grass-fed butter
- Medjool dates
- Coconut Water
- Mineral Water
- Limes
- Lemons
- Fresh Ginger Root
- Bacon
- Cured meats
Freezer Items
- Meats (Grass fed where possible)
- Frozen berries
- Frozen chopped bananas
- Frozen chopped mango
Pantry Items
- Dried Spices & Herbs
- Himalayan Salt
- Coconut Amines
- Herbal teas – my favourite is ginger & lemon
- Cacao powder
- Raw Honey
- Natural organic maple syrup
- Baking soda
- Crème Tartar
- Coconut flour
- Shredded coconut
- Almond meal
- Raw nuts – Almonds, pecan, cashew, macadamia etc
- Dried dates
- Apple cider vinegar
- Coconut oil
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Canned fish – salmon & tuna
- Canned tomatoes – no sugar added
- Tomato paste – no sugar added
- Onions
- Sweet Potato
- Garlic Cloves
- Coconut Milk
- Coconut Cream
Must Have Gadgets
- Food processor
- Good knives
- Wok
- 3 Pans, large, medium and small
- Good pot set
- Steaming pot
- Strainer
- Good salt and pepper grinders
- Garlic crusher
- Citrus juicer
How do you make your homemade sauces/relishes etc without sugar? Maple syrup??
If I want to sweeten anything I use maple syrup or honey. Some people also use coconut sugar which is not processed but I have never used it.
Do you eat quinoa or brown rice?
No I don’t eat any grains at all. Quinoa is a seed officially but I have not felt the need to include it as yet.
Very true and Im trying to so do
I’m a mom of five, so I know all too well the importance of a properly stocked pantry if you want to keep the family eating real food. I could have really used a list like this when I was first getting started. lol! I’m going to pin this my Meal Planning Made Easy board to help others out in there real food journey. Thanks for the post!