Inside My Pantry: Baking & Cooking

One of the biggest oppositions that I get when talking about eating healthier is the new ingredients that come with it.  I'm not sure if it's fear of new ingredients or the idea of actually making the purchase or what exactly it is.  But I am faced with that argument from a lot of people.  It's okay!  I was resistant to the idea at first, too.

As mentioned previously, you cannot outrun a bad diet.  You have to change what you're eating if you want to see success.  With that comes the perhaps overwhelming task of cleaning out your pantry and stocking it for success.  When it comes to baking and cooking, it can be tricky and maybe you feel like you don't want to have to change the flours and sugars that you use now.  Maybe you just aren't sure how to use them or how it will change the taste of some of your favorite treats.

I will let you in on a little secret of what not to do.  Do NOT go out and purchase all the "alternative" flours at the store.  This is exactly what I did, so I can give you an insight of why you shouldn't do this. ;)

When I was ready to change over my flour, I literally went out and purchased five different kinds of flour:  almond, coconut, white rice, tapioca starch, and potato starch.  I found that I used two of the kinds more frequently than the other.  So ultimately, I wasted money.  If you aren't sure what you will use for cooking and baking, it's okay to only purchase one at a time.

In my video below, I share what I use most frequently and how I can use them in both baking and cooking:

My top flour suggestions are:

Almond Meal 

Coconut Flour

Quinoa Flour

Chickpea/Garbanzo Bean Flour

Brown Rice Flour

*If you have a food sensitivity or allergy, please make sure you choose the right option for you.

Almond meal is simple to make if you can't seem to find it in the store.  All you need is raw almonds and a food processor.  Just make sure to keep an eye on it or you'll be making almond butter pretty soon!

Sugar is something that was hard to give up.  We live in a society where everything is sweetened.  We want our strawberries sweetened.  We want our coffee and tea sweetened.  But all of that sugar isn't healthy for us, and actually, strawberries by themselves are fairly sweet when our taste buds adapt.

I know that this was the biggest change for me.  I threw out the white sugar and started using a couple of different options to replace it.  Some of my favorites are:

1. Honey--make sure it's local and raw.  Raw honey is almost never processed, so you're getting the real deal.
2. Stevia--again make sure to research this.  There are a lot of products out there that are processed.  You want either the green leaf option or extract.
3. Dates
4. Coconut Sugar--this is a great option for baking.  It's a 1:1 replacement ratio, so no extra calculations are needed!
   
   
   
   
   
5. Maple Syrup--look for a Grade B.
   
   

Do your research.  Find recipes that use these products before you buy.  Experiment with new recipes until you find something that suits your fancy! What will you start using?