Staple Foods And Tools

STAPLES

We are what we eat. And we perform best with the right foods taken on board. So, I've been taking a closer look at which foods I really enjoy to eat the most and am therefore happy to have on a regular basis. I've narrowed these ingredients down to just those that are healthy, nutritious, as unprocessed as possible, plus convenient/quick to prepare & cook in a multitude of different meals.

Creating a new mindset for how we view our food, will enable us to make better choices in what we take into the body. Food is fuel. Simple and true. Yet, food has come to mean so much more than merely energy for the body. Advertising messages bombard us with (often misleading) information about how tasty, nutritious and healthy certain foods are. Marketeers have become experts at branding their products with impactful packaging to catch our eyes and encourage us to select their brands. It's no wonder we fill our baskets with over-packaged, processed and often unhealthy choices.

Not only are we swayed by advertising, but we often choose the foods that we find the most tasty. These more often that not, tend to be the ones high in fat, sugar and salt. These foods not only contain high level of the ingredients that can cause us harm, but the bodies response to these ingredients, means we tend to over-eat higher quantities of them too.

Apart from athletes, body builders or the body conscious types, most of us don't give a second thought to what we put in our mouths other than focus on it's taste, convenience and one other factor - social implications. We centre a lot of our socialising around food too. So, we'll prepare tasty meals or visit restaurants, where we can eat tasty, highly calorific meals with our family and friends. A lot of restaurants are now under pressure to display the calorie content and breakdown of the main essential ingredients within it's meals. If we all become greater masters of our own palette and more closely in tune with managing our health, then knowing the protein, fat, carbohydrate percentages, plus how much sugar and salt is contained within our food, will help us to make the right decisions. Restaurants and a lot of those who enjoy eating - are reluctant to allow this to happen. Much better to hide it and deceive themselves that ruin the momentary enjoyment that a desert can bring. A moment on the lips - a lifetime on the hips!

Removing impulse decisions - ie. mastering the palette, can mean we consume a lot of the same food ingredients. This can get a bit boring after a while. But, having a combination of essentials in the cupboards, the tools and creative flair to concoct gastronomic delights from a multitude of essential ingredients, will help to keep meals interesting and enjoyable.

Moderation is the key as they say - so, a little of the things we call 'treats', can still be allowed in the diet, but we should try and keep them down to a minimum and factor in some regular exercise so we can earn them. We should im to follow a 'clean' diet for at least 5 days of the week. We can therefore have a greater choice for eating whatever we want for our meals on the other one or two days of the week. And following a better diet most of the time means the odd indulgent meal shouldn't impact on the waistline too much either.

There's a few key ingredients we should always keep in the cupboard for those easy meals. Fresh vegetables, herbs and fish/meat will have to be bought regularly but always having foods like eggs, tins/packets of tomato and tinned fish to hand, means we're never caught short for something easy and relatively healthy to make.

The Right Tools For The Job
Another element to ensuring we don't revert back to processed/convenience foods - is to have the right equipment in our reach to make quick and easy meals. These items can all be bought cheaply. I've chosen an expensive juicer because it's worth investing in one that retains as much of the live enzymes from the food and allows longer life for the juice, but there are cheaper ones on the market that still do a great job.

Tools
Wok
Steamer
Juicer
Blender
Slow cooker
Griddle pan

Essentials
Spray oil 1cal
Coconut oil
Ginger paste
Garlic paste
Lemongrass paste
Madras paste
Tomato paste
Fish sauce
Hot Sauce ie. Tabasco
Virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Chilli powder
Bouillon or veg stock cubes/powder

Supplements
Fish oil
Aloe Vera gel
Pea/hemp protein
Bee pollen

Food Regulars
Avocados
Spinach
Rocket/mixed leaves
Tomatoes
Almond milk (unsweetened)
Eggs
Small bananas
Dates
Garlic
Ginger
Coriander
Spring onions
Onions/shallots
Red onions
Lemons
Limes
Celery
Cucumber
Apples/Granny Smiths
Almonds
Sweet potatoes
Broccoli/tender-stem
Asparagus
Carrots
Tuna sachets/pots
Mushrooms

Foods Convenience
Soup bags
Stew bags
Stir fry bags
Tinned tomatoes/passata
Tinned tuna
Tinned salmon/Mackerel
Rice sachets

Good Proteins
Smoked salmon
Salmon flakes
Salmon fillets
Cod fillets
Haddock fillets
Mackerel fillets
Sea bream
Prawns (fresh)
Mixed seafood (available from major supermarket fish counter)
Roast chicken
Chicken breast
Chicken thighs
Chicken strips
Turkey Breast
Turkey Slices
Duck breast
Quorn mince

Cheat Foods & Snacks
Whole grain rice
Whole oats
Spelt Pasta
Rice cakes

Cream crackers
Cottage cheese
Low fat mayonnaise
Ham slices
New potatoes
Rye bread
Almond butter
Mixed nuts (no peanuts)
Dried fruit

Gentlemen's relish fish paste
Honey
Molasses
70% Dark chocolate
Coconut water
Humous

Note It Down
Essentially, what we take in for our fuel, needs to be of the best quality. So choose organic veg, non-farmed fish, grass-fed and free-range meats wherever possible, convenient and fairly priced.

It's amazing how much we trick ourselves, so, make up a list of all the foods you regularly eat, break them down into healthy and not so healthy categories. Then work out the healthy meals to be eaten in the week and provided you take in some regular exercise every day (at least 20 minutes of fast walking), give yourself a little daily treat for the first week. Avoid snacking and remember to jot down in a diary, everything you take into your mouth to eat/drink - including how much water. After a week, assess where you've been good or struggled, and repeat the following week but without daily treats - keeping just to weekends fro sweets etc. If you can keep this up for 30 days or more - there'll be a change in the mindset with a lot more consideration given for what you consume.

Having only the freshest, most nutritious ingredients in the cupboards, will stop those impulsive snack decisions and encourage you to be more creative with the ingredients for varied meal combinations. Having a break from the sweet treats will also curb the desire for snacking on them. Eventually, over time, the weekend treats will become smaller in volume and therefore much easier to control, plus the regular management of what is consumed will mean mindful decisions play a much greater role over the impulsive ones.