What's in the Fridge?

Just got back from a journey to Market Basket.....

Because for me grocery shopping is always a journey.  A time out of my day to be alone, to explore all of the numerous possibilities in the frozen food cases, to be thrifty and smart in the pasta aisle, and to be the first to spot new additions in the fresh produce section.

I think that today would be a good time to give you a taste of what goes into all of my cooking.  What's in my fridge? Pantry?  Spice cabinet?  After all, if there's no milk in the fridge and no ice cream in the freezer....

Never fear!  I hope that you will see lots of delicious and nutritious foods to put on your shopping list for next time that you are out.  Let's jump right in.

The Fridge

Here's a far-away shot... it really is full!

Most importantly, let's start out with the produce.  At least 50% of my grocery cart is fresh produce, and it's only that low because things like oats and rice take up so much room!  It is absolutely essential to being vegetarian/vegan to stock up on a VARIETY of fruits and veggies.  That's how we get our nutrients, thats how we get our minerals, and also thats one way we get our protein!  Yes I said it, Protein!                                                                               Absolute musts for me include onions, spinach, kale, and avocadoes.  Onions because I add them to everything (in some future blog I'll tell you that I start pretty much all recipes with sauteed onion and garlic, onions make everything taste better!!)  Spinach and kale because they are nutrition packed.  Spinach with vitamin A & K, zinc, beta-carotene, and kale with vitams A, C, K, calcium, potassium, iron, etc.  In fact, kale deserves a page to itself, a food that is a staple to the vegan diet.  The fact that kale contains iron makes it essential, because most other easily accessible iron sources are animal based.  And guess what, it even has protein!  Probably not enough to fulfill your daily needs, but a great addition to the other protein sources you'll see below...

I am so in love with kale that it gets its own picture.  In fact, you may have noticed that there isn't any kale in the fridge - thats because it's washed and drying on the counter!

Avocados are an important addition because they contain lots of GOOD fats - mostly unsaturated, but some saturated and also quite high in calories. Adding a small amount of avocado to smoothies, stir fries, salads, etc is a great idea - eating a whole bowl of guacamole probably not so much!

This week I also picked up mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, and scallions.  Beyond the basics, I tend to buy whats in season.  Zucchini are really awesome right now :).  In the fruit department we have apples, oranges, and bananas.  Not all that exciting - fall/winter isn't exactly the time for exotic fruits - but we do have apples, apples and more apples!  I'll have to get around to writing about lots of cool apple recipes that I've invented/discovered, because it's an absolute must to take advantage of the harvest season here in New England!

Here's a peek at the second shelf of my fridge -the protein shelf.  These are some pretty basic ingredients that I use in lots of recipes to get protein and healthy fats.  You'll see peanut butter and cashew butter in the back - I tend to have peanut, almond, cashew, and sunflower butter hanging out somewhere in my fridge.  All are absolutely delicious.  You'll also see coconut oil in the back, I use that sometimes instead of my default - olive oil.  In the front you see hommus - great for on top of salads, veggie burgers, sandwiches, fajitas, you name it.  There's a tub of earth balance there on the right.  I don't like to use 'artificial' foods so much, but every so often I have a craving for butter on a bagel.  Earth Balance does the trick.  And finally, a soy based yogurt.  This is actually not so common to see, something I decided to give a shot today.

 The Freezer

Let's take a quick peek at the freezer.  I tend to only do major grocery shopping once a month, so I stock up on frozen veggies for when the fresh run out.  I do make quick stops every week to get a few fresh things, but its always nice to have frozen ready and available.  Plus, frozen produce has just as much nutrition as fresh (as opposed to canned which has lots of sodium).

You can't see much here probably, except that I'm a hoarder when it comes to frozen food. But trust me, everything is there :).

The Pantry

Here's one good shot from my pantry.  Whole grains are another one of the essential foods for the vegan diet, and here you can see a collection of the breakfast variety.  Oats, steel cut oats, grits, and some flaxseed on the right.  I like to add flaxseed to smoothies in the morning, thus the breakfast shelf!

This next one is more like the lunch/dinner time whole grains shelf.  Farro, quinoa, a multi grain mix, wild rice, and teff (thanks so my new friend Lior!)  All sitting in front of a nice collection of whole grain pastas.  Carbs really aren't the enemy, and I tend to cook at least one of these lovely grains each night.

Spicing it Up!

Cooking to me is an art.  My meals are not overwhelmed by excessive fat, salt, and sugar that tends to come with non-vegetarian or processed foods.  Instead, I like to think of my job as bringing out the wonderful natural flavors that whole foods contain.  My spice collection is quite extensive - you're only seeing the major players above!  But to point out a few :

• Turmeric - is wonderful.  Slightly bitter flavor, high in manganese and iron.  I have been told by several of my wiser friends that turmeric is good for the body, for various known as well as not yet understood reasons.
• Coriander - great flavor.  Used in traditional Indian cooking, I add it to lots of my veggie dishes.
• Nutritional yeast - a MUST have.  This is one (if not the only) plant based source of vitamin B12.
• Cinnamon - High in manganese.  Used mostly for breakfast!
• Red Pepper - I like to 'turn up the heat' a bit every once in awhile.  Gets the blood flowing.
• Curry, Ginger, Cumin, Paprika - all great flavors to mix and match!

 Snacking

In addition to washing and drying all of my kale, theres another post-grocery shopping item that must be taken care of.  That is preparing my trail mixes.  It's sometimes tough to find a healthy snack on the job, so I like to take with me some fruit and trail mix every day.  Nuts are also a great source of vegan protein, so I do eat lots of nuts in addition to all the butters used for cooking.  To make this mix, so simple.  I buy whole containers of almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanut, and some craisins/raisins, and mix together in a tupperware.  One of my recent favorites in cocoa covered almonds (need above)  Ready for scooping and packing!

That's all for today, hopefully you can now envision what I'm working with when i start putting more recipes up!