How many times have you done to the grocery store and bought a bunch of vegetables and veggie things and gotten home and not had anything to make? Back in the day … actually until my early 30ies … When I was shopping for myself I would do this all the time. I would just go and buy the things that I liked and then would figure it out when I got home. Only to find that I was missing ingredients and have all this food with no real plan. It wasn’t until my first crack at weight loss that I really got into teaching myself how to cook really good plant based meals. Having a well stocked pantry and planning out what I was going to make and then shopping for those things changed my approach to cooking and eating.
If you have a well stocked supply you can make a delicious meals with things you have on-hand. If you don’t like to plan to far in advance being fully stocked is the way to go. As you many know – grocery shopping hungry is a bad idea and often leads to shopping with reckless abandon and getting $200 worth of food with nothing to make. So set yourself up for success with a list in hand, a coffee on the go and a full belly. This will stop you from getting food you don’t need because your eyes are bigger than your stomach.
If you want to see a lot of success at plant based cooking and being prepared for anything the trick is a well stocked pantry and freezer. My trick is to keep a well stocked freezer of frozen fruit and veg as well as a well stocked pantry and spice cupboard.
Things I always have at home:
The best freezer food to have in stock:
Peas, corn, broccoli, edamame, chopped and cubed butternut squash, bananas, raspberries, berries, pomegranate seeds, mango, pineapple. Basically I keep the fruit in stock so I can have daily smoothies. I also use the frozen fruit in my overnight oats. I love the juice from the melted frozen berries it adds some sweetness and flavor. The veggies are great for cooking when you want to have variety without it going bad. Stews, chili, curries – it is nice to keep those veggies in stock without needing to have them fresh and ready.
The best foods to keep in the pantry:
Red lentils, canned lentils, canned chickpeas, canned black beans, really any bean canned, nutritional yeast, canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, veggie broth, pastas, rice, oatmeal, nut butters, also carrots, potato and onion. If you think you might like to bake: all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, chia seeds, flax seeds.
Spices:
I have said this before I will mention it again. If you want to learn the ways around a plant based kitchen you need to up your SPICE game. You will need a well stocked spice cupboard. When I was first starting out my cupboard was always stocked with: onion powder, garlic power, cumin, chili power, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic salt, cinnamon and yellow curry powder. Those are all stocked to this day but I have way more spices now because the collection has grown over time.
With my house stocked in this manner – it is pretty easy to create recipes out of what I have on hand. I can really get a lot done with my house well stocked. It leaves my weekly shopping list for essential veggies that have a shorter shelf life and plant based milks and butters and such.
A well stocked foundation of stuff really helps to keep you prepared to lean into meat free options. Once you have the supplies you just need to learn how to use them. Hit the follow button to Stay tuned in for more recipe ideas coming every Monday! You can also check out my plant based Instagram!
If you are interested in learning how to make your favorite dish plant based or if there is a recipe you are looking for in particular please comment below and I’ll do my best to plan that out for you.
Until next time ❤ !
That Girl Named Carol 