At the beginning of the month we talked about ingredient labels. I told you my goal was not to scare you or make you feel overwhelmed, instead bring awareness to what types of ingredients are unfortunately in our food in the United States. I didn’t want to leave you hanging, so left you with a couple of references.
- Fooducate, which allows you to scan / search products and basically does the ingredient dissection for you, giving each product a letter grade and talking about the good and bad of each product.
- List of ingredients you could print for reference, if you want to start trying to avoid some of the bad ones. The list included ones I spoke about in the post plus many more.
Since I have been talking for the last 7 months about changes you can make in your home, I thought it would only be appropriate to show you what we do at our house, with complete transparency. With that said, I promised you I would share what my fridge, freezer and pantry staples are. Also, each week I will share easy tips of things you can make or do at home to avoid buying products with junk in them.
For us, a well stocked pantry, fridge and freezer helps keep us on track. Also, I plan our meals to help us stay focused at the grocery store and only buy what we need, because buying higher quality food can be more expensive. Check out how we meal plan here.
We have covered the fridge and freezer and are now finishing in the pantry. You might have seen a sneak peek of our pantry when we first moved into our new home last fall. I am pretty sure people think I am crazy, but I embrace it and love it!! Hehe. Lets get started.
Cereal: We buy Whole Foods 365 organic brown rice cereal. This cereal is a 100% whole grain and only has three ingredients. They are great for my granola bars. I am not a big cereal and milk person, but this would be a better alternative to some cereals out there. You will likely want to add some sugar, which is fine because you get to control how much instead of the manufacture. We usually have one more box of cereal but the type varies. We try to do organic and watch the sugar content.
Organic oats: We buy these from the Whole Foods bulk bins and store in a large glass jar. They go in my morning smoothies, granola, energy bites, and granola bars.
Whole grain crackers: We typically have three different brands and none of them are organic. Similar to what I said about the ice cream last week, sometimes I prefer to have a non-organic product because it has less / better ingredients. The first, Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheat Cracker, only has three ingredients: whole wheat, safflower oil and sea salt. This is my favorite cracker. I use it with cheese, peanut butter or by itself. The second cracker, ak-mak, is made with also only a few ingredients: organically grown whole wheat flour, clover honey, sesame oil, dairy butter, sesame seeds, yeast and salt. I particularly like this cracker with tuna or egg salad. Finally, the third, Back to Nature Golden Honey Oat Graham Crackers, is not as great for you and has a bit more ingredients, but it is still a whole grain due to the whole grain wheat flour and oats. This is something I use for my dessert fruit crisps or s'mores
Brown rice noodles: We buy Annie Chuns. There are a few varieties and are 100% whole grain, but not organic. These are great for asian dishes.
Grains: We have a ton of 100% whole wheat organic pasta varieties. While they all probably taste relatively the same, I think certain types are better in certain dishes. Plus, having a variety keeps things interesting for us. We also have a short and long grain brown rice, quinoa, and couscous, which are all purchased from the Whole Foods bulk bins. All of the grains are stored in large glass jars. Read more about whole grains here.
Raw organic honey: We buy the Whole Foods 365 brand and it is used as a primary sweetener in our house. Read more about sweeteners here.
Cacao powder: We buy Navitas Naturals and it is great for homemade hot chocolate or desserts. Read more about chocolate here.
Various oils: We have a variety, most all organic, including, extra virgin, peanut oil, coconut oil, and walnut oil. More on oils next week.
Various vinegars: We have a variety of organic options including balsamic, red wine, white wine, apple cider, rice and distilled white.
Various dried seasonings: We have tons and tons. This is fun for me when cooking. We usually buy them in small quantities, because despite popular belief they don’t last forever. We get them at the City Market by the spoonful or Whole Foods has a bulk area where you can buy what you need.
Various canned / bottled products: We buy Whole Foods 365 organic pasta sauce, fire roasted tomatoes and tomato sauce. We also usually have some tuna on hand and occasionally a can of organic pumpkin puree, especially in the fall. I hope to start making homemade tomato sauce in the future and freeze.
Organic broth: We buy boxes of Whole Foods 365 chicken, beef and veggie broth. Once a box is opened it lives in our fridge until gone. Broth is great for adding extra flavor while cooking veggies and grains.
Panko breadcrumbs: This is not a whole grain product and is definitely processed, but sometimes panko breadcrumbs just make the dish. We like them because they make a nice crispy coating. Check out my stuffed peppers and twice baked potato crisps.
Tea and coffee: Nothing special to say here. We do try to do organic when we can, but thats really all we look at at this point. I am sure there is more we can learn about, but not there yet.
Miscellaneous: We stock organic cornstarch and cornmeal, along with baking soda and baking powder. If buying corn products we always do organic to avoid GMOs. My husband loves fish and my favorite way to make it either as a fillet or in tacos, is coated in cornmeal. Check out a recipe for crispy tilapia here.
Chips: My husband loves chips. This is a hard one, because trying to find a better chip can be tricky. We do a lot of kettle chips that only have ingredients of potatoes, oil and salt. Also, veggie chips and pretzels are always on hand. Finally, we have organic corn chips and taco shells for Mexican dishes. Again, we make sure when buying corn products, they are organic or at least non GMO verified.
Unreal: More chocolate! We can’t and don’t want to withhold ourselves, so instead it is important to have better options available at our house. Read more about unreal and chocolate here.
Trends today - we are not perfect! We still buy canned foods and some processed foods. I hope you realize I have never tried to portray we do everything perfectly and you don’t need to either. The goal is to try to make better choices as often as you can. Please remember that!
Now onto the tips for this week - homemade seasonings. Most packaged seasonings have maltodextrin (a GMO), artificial colors and flavors, corn starch, etc. Today I am sharing a homemade chili, taco and fajita seasoning mix you can make at home to avoid all that junk! Plus, a yummy ranch dressing you can make at home!
Lets start with the chili, taco and fajita mixes.
Homemade Chili Seasoning Mix:
Ingredients:
Chili powder, 2 T
Cumin, 1 T
Smoked paprika, 1 T
Garlic powder, 2 tsp
Onion powder, 2 tsp
Sugar, 1 tsp
Salt, 1 tsp
Whole wheat flour, ½ tsp
Makes approximately ⅓ c seasoning. Mix with 1 pound ground beef and your other favorite chili mix ins (beans, onions, garlic, etc)
Homemade Fajita Seasoning Mix:
Ingredients:
Chili powder, 1 T
Cumin, ½ T
Cayenne pepper, ¼ tsp
Garlic powder, ¾ tsp
Onion powder, ¾ tsp
Oregano, ¼ tsp
Coriander, ½ tsp
Salt, 1 tsp
Pepper ½ tsp
Makes approximately 3 T seasoning. Add mix to ¼ c water and add marinade to 1 lb meat - I like half steak, half chicken.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix:
Ingredients:
Chili powder, 2 T
Cumin, 1 T
Chipotle ½ T
Onion powder, ¾ tsp
Garlic powder, ¾ tsp
Salt, 1 tsp
Cinnamon, ¼ tsp
Makes approximately 4 T. Brown 1 lb ground meat. Add seasoning and ¼ cup water. Mix and cook for a few more minutes until combined and water absorbed.
Better Bonus Tip: This has some bite to it, which is how my husband likes it. If you don't like it this way, consider using less or no chipotle.
Now onto the ranch dressing.
Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix:
Ingredients:
Dried parsley, 1 tsp
Dried dill, ½ tsp
Dried onion powder, ¾ tsp
Dried garlic powder, ¾ tsp
Salt, ¼ tsp
Pepper, ⅛ tsp
Add mix to ¼ c mayo, 3 T milk and juice from ½ fresh lemon. Makes ½ c (4 servings of 2 T each). This is a runnier ranch than what you might be used to. I don't use this necessarily for dipping with veggies, but works great in salads!
Better Bonus Tip: Check out your local farmers market for cheap dried herbs. Our main large City Market lets you buy in bulk, usually $1-2 per scoop. Feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the seasoning mix ingredients and store in your pantry in a glass jar. Make sure to stir up mix before scooping out what you need for each serving.
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