Healthy Pantry Staples
By now most of you know my personal story how cleaning for passover three years ago changed my life & health and the health of my family.
Back in 2011 the topic of nutrition mesmerized me so much that I couldn’t stop reading, watching documentaries and YouTube videos about it. This led me eventually to enrol into a nutrition school to pursue my passion for healing through healthy eating.
One day, while I was preparing my kitchen and pantry for Passover (a Jewish holiday) I decided to clean the house from all the unhealthy food we had at home. Immediately, I grabbed a large garbage bag and started to throw away stuff. After about half an hour I suddenly realized that my pantry is almost totally empty! And the truth is it was pretty scary… I remember myself thinking “OMG we have nothing to eat!”
I just stood in front of these empty cabinets and honestly didn’t know how to substitute the unhealthy stuff I had there a few minutes ago. Are we going to eat only fruits and vegetables?? So yes, I admit, it was darn hard. At the time I couldn’t stop thinking of how I’m going to confront my husband with these empty cupboards. But after all this time and the knowledge that I had gained, only one thought inspired me not to give up – every unhealthy food has a healthy alternative, all I had to do is find it.
And so this day, which I will never forget, changed my health and the health of my family completely. Without even noticing my sinus infections disappeared and my daughter’s recurring strep throat infections were history, and I know that thanks to that day, three years ago, my family and I are leading a healthier lifestyle. My kids are learning to appreciate and choose good health and today I am privileged to help other young moms to bring that health and vitality into their homes.
Many moms ask me what exactly I threw away and what did I replace unhealthy stuff with?
So here is a list I’ve prepared for you:
| Things I threw away | Why? | A Healthier Substitute | |
| 1 | Refined oils | Those supermarket oils in plastic bottles that say ‘refined’ on them, including corn oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, etc | cold-pressed oils, especially olive oil and coconut oil. You can use any oil that was cold-pressed |
| 2 | Soup powders | MSG is just one reason. They are loaded with salt and refined oils | spices, including: cumin, turmeric, paprika, black pepper |
| 3 | White flour | anything white means it has been highly processed and stripped from nutrients | spelt flour, rye flour, whole wheat flour. Gluten free flours such as millet flour, brown rice flour, chickpea flour |
| 4 | Baking powder | contains aluminum | baking powder without aluminum |
| 5 | White pasta and couscous | for the same reason as #3 | whole wheat pasta, spelt pasta, buckwheat pasta, brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta, couscous from whole wheat |
| 6 | Breads | all white breads | wholesome breads from a health food store. I buy 7-8 breads and freeze them so it lasts me for the whole month |
| 7 | Cornflour | kuzu – a great thickener | |
| 8 | Processed food | pre-made sauces, store-bought soups, prepackaged fish sticks, etc | I make my own |
| 9 | Store-bought salads and spreads | humus, tahini, babaganush, etc | If I have time I make my own, or buy from restaurants who make the salads themselves without using preservatives |
| 10 | Soft drinks | Coke, Sprite, etc | homemade fruit and vegetable juice, water |
| 11 | Coffee | instant coffee, dark coffee, etc | my husband and I used to start our day with a cup of coffee and milk, now we start our days with 1/2 liter warm water with lemon and 20 minutes after eat breakfast |
| 12 | Chemicals and Food colourings | kid’s yogurt (the colourful ones), sweets, cakes, cookies, cereal, etc | we just stopped buying those. I buy my kids treats from a health food store with no food colouring and chemicals and very little sugar |
| 13 | Foods that are high in trans fats | burekas, malawach | very rarely I make my own (like once a year maybe). We just don’t eat this stuff anymore |
| 14 | Margarine | Butter or coconut oil | |
| 15 | Store bought cakes | I love baking! So I bake my own, I alternate between gluten free and spelt cakes and cookies | |
| 16 | pre-packaged spices and flavourings | all those spices that come in little cubes that help to flavour your food | expose yourself to spices, there are so many out there. My favourites are cumin, turmeric, paprika, black pepper, coriander and cardamom |
| 17 | Sugar | white sugar | cane sugar, dates, stevia, raw honey, maple syrup, date syrup, molasses. The idea in general is to reduce sweeteners altogether. For that reason my kids cannot eat commercial cakes and cookies because they find them way too sweet |
| 18 | Salt | table salt | Sea salt, Himalayan salt, Celtic salt |
Notice that some of the stuff are NOT KOSHER FOR PASSOVER! This table is meant for the rest of the year, Passover is just a good time to get rid of all the bad stuff.
I hope I didn’t forget anything, if you see something missing please add a comment below and I will add that in.
Hope this will help you to clean your pantry and, in the spirit of Passover, will liberate you from disease!
To your and kids health!
Love,
Dorit