Today I had one of those days where you just don't feel like cooking, and anyway, there's nothing to eat at home. One of those days where if there was any fast food/junk food in my house, I would have grabbed it without hesitation.
The funny thing is, just 15 minutes after feeling this way, I sat down at the table and ate wonderfully.
How is that possible?
With a fridge and pantry where I can find food that helps me turn leftovers from dinner two nights ago into an enviable lunch. A pantry where there are no chips, no pizzas or other frozen foods, and no other "just in case" or "for guests" items.
Today my lunch was a quinoa salad with carrots, cucumber, avocado, pickled onion and olives.
Having a super organized pantry and planning batch-cooking meals would be wonderful, but the truth is I'm not at a point in my life where I feel capable of doing it. I don't know if I ever will be, to be honest. However, I do have my basics that allow me to create a healthy meal even on days when "there's nothing in the fridge."
Shopping time
Before I go out to do my weekly shopping, I have two big meals/dinners in mind - they usually include some kind of meat (not fish because my son is allergic), and one or two specific recipes that I want to make - for example, a cake for afternoon snacks - for which I buy specific ingredients, fresh and seasonal fruit and vegetables, aromatic herbs, and my basics.
This will last me for two nights and a couple of snacks. The rest of the week I rely on my list of staples and leftovers from what I've bought (cooked or uncooked). For example, if I bought cilantro to make guacamole, I use any leftover cilantro with broth to make a Mexican-inspired soup another day of the week. There are some weeks when I need to go back to the market for a few ingredients, but I try to go only once or twice a week.
Below is a list of what I always keep in my pantry and refrigerator—none of them particularly large, by the way—and which have provided me with hundreds of unexpected, delicious, and healthy meals. These meals include lentils, Buddha bowls, porridge, rice with legumes, salads, and soups.
Always in my fridge
- Carrots
- Pickles – I like sauerkraut, beets, and pickled onions. I make them at home, but you can find good quality ready-made ones.
- Green leafy vegetable
- Broccoli
- Peanut or almond butter
- Eggs
- Green and black olives
- Spinach (in the freezer)
Always in the pantry
- Rolled oats
- Brown rice
- Quinoa
- Almond flour
- Wholegrain rice flour
- Dried lentils
- Legumes in a glass jar
- Dried fruits (almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts are my favorites)
- Seeds (sunflower seeds, chia seeds)
- Whole wheat pasta
- Sprouted bread (for my children)
- Tomato sauce (tomatoes only) in a glass jar
- Plant-based milk
- Bananas
- Apples
- Onions
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Note: Packaged foods—olives, tomatoes, legumes—are healthy as long as their ingredients are. It's very different to make a tomato sauce with a can of crushed tomatoes, where tomatoes and salt are the only ingredients, than to eat canned tomato sauce that contains sugar and a lot of preservatives. Pay attention to the ingredient lists, and you'll make your meals much healthier.