Eat Healthy in the New Year: stock your kitchen with healthy essentials

It's so hard to believe that 2012 is behind us. I swear this year flew by and I'm not even sure where the time went. With 2013 just a few hours away, many people are getting ready to start acting upon their New Year's Resolutions. One of the most common resolutions people make is to "eat healthy" and it is often broken just a few days into the year with people beating themselves up over the fact that they slipped off some kind of "diet".

The key to success is not in the idea of a diet, but the idea of a lifestyle change. There are two options: 1. Decide to make the investment into a personal chef to prepare or plan your meals for you. 2. Develop  an overall understanding of how to prepare meals for yourself, and how to keep good choices available to you. Either of these options, instead of relying on fast food when you're in a pinch, are important factors to staying healthy.

In my post right before Christmas, I mentioned that I had not had time to plan or prep anything for Christmas dinner.  Even down to the morning of, this had not changed. How then did I create a four course Very Vegan Christmas dinner with no planning and no grocery shopping?  I simply looked in my kitchen cabinets, refrigerator and freezer to see what I could pull together from my stock of staples.

Our menu looked like this:

Lentil pate with cashew sour cream on gluten free crackers

Curry scented butternut squash soup

Quinoa cakes with roasted broccoli over sweet potato puree 

Gluten free gingerbread cake with cinnamon frosting

This ability to pull together gourmet meals when there is seemingly nothing to eat is something that has impressed Jacques from way back when we started dating. There were several occasions in which I'd be hanging out at his apartment (his bachelor pad, if you will), we'd start ruminating over what to do for dinner and decide that we really didn't feel like going out. I'd look around his cabinets to see what he had on hand, and usually in 30 minutes or less pull together a wonderful meal when he thought he had no food in the apartment. Usually this meant some kind of pasta or rice dish, since those were the only things he ever did have on hand. Even so, from that moment, he knew I had a special talent for making something out of nothing; a talent that I had never really given much thought to because it just came so naturally to me.

Now that we live together, our pantry is much more stocked with staples and I've taught him a thing or two just based on what we keep in the apartment on a regular basis. There is really no science to making a meal without planning, it can be learned. It all starts with knowing how to stock your pantry.

With these simple tips, you too can be assured to always have the ability to create a gourmet meal without having to run to the grocery store.

1. GRAINS AND BEANS: Keep pantry stocked with whole grains and dried beans. Quinoa, and whole wheat cous cous are great quick cooking grains. When you have a little more time, turn to grains like millet, brown rice, or barley. Lentils come in many different varieties that can be used for multiple purposes, and all varieties are quick cooking and unlike beans, do not require pre-soaking. When you have more time, pre-soak chickpeas, mung beans, black beans, black eyed peas, etc and cook up a big batch, then put into freezer friendly containers or storage bags to have ready in the freezer when you need to make a quick meal. You can also keep cans on hand for ease.

Jars collected over time make for great storage

2. FROZEN VEGGIES: It's okay to have a few veggies in the freezer. I usually have peas, spinach and frozen fruits on hand. The peas and spinach are great for incorporating vegetables in a pinch, and the frozen fruits make for great use in smoothies!

3. NUTS, SEEDS AND FLOURS: Keep freezer stocked with nuts, seeds and whole grain flours. I like cashews, sunflower seeds, walnuts, whole wheat, spelt, and gluten free flours (chickpea, brown rice, tapioca). Keeping high fat nuts and seeds, as well as whole grain flours, in the freezer extends the shelf life of these items instead of storing them in the cupboards where they will get rancid easily. Nuts and seeds can easily be turned into delicious creamy sauces, flours can be used to make bechamel, morning pancakes, or even quick breads or desserts.

4. LONG LASTING VEGGIES: Keep long lasting veggies on hand. Carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, hard squash in the fall and winter, potatoes, sweet potatoes/yams, apples, lemons and other citrus all have fairly long shelf lives (some longer than others) and are great to have around when you don't have time to go shopping or plan a meal. Just make sure you always have them in stock and you'll always have something to make for dinner.

5. SPICES AND SEASONINGS: Keep your pantry filled with healthy, unrefined oils, different types of vinegars and an assortment of dried herbs and spices so that you always have a variation of flavors to work with.

If you're still feeling a little insecure even with a stocked pantry, that's what I'm here for. If you live in the LA area, I'm offering a six session course that will teach you how to put all these elements together to become a more confident cook and create a gourmet meal when there is seemingly "nothing to eat".

Visit my website at veggiefixation.com or contact me for more information, or to schedule a free consultation to see how I can help you eat healthier in the new year.