Cleaning Out the Pantry

One of our clients recently put herself on a food budget and the results were far better than she expected. Her diet went from one that was highly processed to one that was based on wholegrain, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. It was low GI, low in sugar, low in saturated fat, lower in caffeine, higher in fibre and met all of her nutrition requirements. She saved money, weighed less and felt better as a result.

So what can you do?

Stocktake

The first step is to do a stocktake and commit to shopping from your pantry first. Use the food stuffs that are about to expire and fresh food leftovers first.

Planning

The next step is to plan your meals. This will take you 10 minutes to do for the whole week and will save you a lot of time and stress later! If you have leftovers lying around, get creative!  You can use leftover ham, chicken and turkey in salads, frittatas, soups or as pizza toppings. A ham hock leftover from a roast will also make a great basis for a pea and ham soup.

Think about what will last in your fridge and what won't, it’s a great idea to plan to have salads at the start of the week and cooked vegetables towards the end. Any vegetables that look like they’re on the way out will be fine to grate into a bolognaise sauce, or chopped and sautéed into a vegetable omelette or frittata or put on wholemeal pita bread to make a healthy high fibre pizza.

Shopping List

The next step is to work out what you need from the supermarket. Make a list so you don’t forget anything and never shop hungry so you don’t over purchase. If you only need to pick up a few things use a basket, if you have a trolley you are more likely to fill it. Be careful when purchasing meats, do you need 500g of mince or only 400g? You might be better off shopping at a butcher where you can buy specific amounts.

Organise

When you get home, make the effort to store things properly. Wash all of your fresh fruits and vegetables and put them in your line of sight in the refrigerator. Store these foods in clear containers so you can see them easily and store your more highly desired foods in opaque containers and on the bottom shelves.  Try to make healthy choices the easiest choices for you to make. When you get home portion meat appropriately and store properly in the fridge or freezer. Remember buying in bulk is only a cheaper option if you actually consume it!