Staples (the kind you eat)

Staples are more than little metal half squares that attach pages to one another. They are the supply of food in your pantry and the key to your health. What happened to me tonight is a perfect example of how having good staples can save you (in case you're lost, I'm talking about food staples now, and not office depot staples).


I got home from work tonight totally exhausted. Actually the exhaustion began last night after completing an awesome brick work out. 1 hour of a hard swimming, immediately followed by a 45 minute run. After getting home and eating I started to feel overtired before even going to bed, knowing I'd have to be up by 6am.

There's nothing worse than this feeling, and everyone has been there. Of course I carried this exhaustion through the day as is bound to happen when you're overtired. 

So I get home tonight, totally wiped out - open up the fridge and find staring at me a huge serving of left over Lentils and Brown Rice! Score! (I posted about this recipe earlier in the week if you're interested in learning how to cook it.)  I know myself, and if there wasn't a healthy meal in the fridge, Thai food would have been on tonight! 

Anyway, I was on the verge of eating an unhealthy meal at the worst possible time. In times of stress your body craves bad carbs, salty, sweet and delicious ones. I am told this is a fear/flight response that happens in our body that is pre-programmed from evolution. But during those times of stress is when you're body most needs healthy food, to fight off all of the bad things that are going on in there (cortisol, the cause of belly fat, free radicals bouncing around destroying cells, etc). 

We are no longer cave men although our bodies are still programmed that way. While your body craves crap - what it needs is veggies, lean protein, healthy fat, and healthy carbs to sustain itself. Because unlike the stone ages, you no longer hunt for your food - and need to rely on thousands and thousands of calories to sustain you until your next meal - but that is exactly the chemical reaction going on inside of your body.

If you have the right supplies in your house, you can fill yourself up with healthy snacks instead of going for junk. And you can really throw together meals pretty easily with minimal cooking. It's how I was able to spend $1.50 on lentils this week, $.50 on garlic, and use brown rice I had in the pantry to make a kick ass Lentils and Rice dish that has fed me for many meals... and when you tire of eating the same thing, it still makes a great side dish to a sandwich or salad. You can always doctor things up later to change the taste a bit too.

So here is a list of staples to start with:

1. Brown Rice
2. Whole Wheat bread (the more grains, oats, barley the better).
3. Brown Rice Bread (even better than whole wheat bread if you can take the taste).
4. Brown Rice Pasta 
5. Almond Butter
6. Peanut Butter (no salt added for either of course, no hydrogenated oils, no JIF or Skippy basically)
7. Rice Milk (or skim/1-2%) - try to find a brand with a low sugar/sodium content with the least amount of preservatives.
8. Non fat or low fat yogurt.
9. Non fat or low fat cottage cheese.
10. Eggs.
11. Legumes (beans, lentils, split peas, garbanzo beans)
12. Kashi 7 grain whole puffs (the only kashi cereal with no sugar)
13. Bananas
14. Apples
15. Carrots
16. Chicken breasts (organic if possible, the one thing you rrreeeallly should get organic)
17. Turkey Burgers (careful here, many come loaded with sodium)
18. Kashi Frozen dinners (they're a little more pricey than the others, but the only brand that is remotely "healthy" and perfect for nights where you have no energy and nothing ready in your fridge).
19. Salmon! (if you can find a good deal on frozen wild caught Alaskan salmon - often sold at trader joe's, stock up!)
20. Grated parmesan (large flakes)
21. Avocados of course! how could I almost forget:)
22. Trail mix (raw, unsweetened, it's harder to find than you would think - try TJ's)
23. Cliff Bars (these are life savers when you're trying to cook and too hungry to think)
24. Olive Oil
25. Toasted Sesame Oil (Trader Joe's)
26. Brown Rice Cakes (low sodium)

Ok so this is a great list to start with, but we'll have to add to it later. I have left out some obvious things like vegetables, fruit, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. But a lot of those items really depend on what you're cooking. There is nothing worst than having the best intentions of cooking and finding rotten food in your fridge a week or two later. It happens to everyone... insane amounts of food are thrown out daily (bad for our wallets, and all of the hungry people in the world).

Alright, well this post is already way too long, so for tonight I'm signing off. Tomorrow I'll be back with ideas on what to do with all of your staples that you now are going to buy and put in your pantry, and how to grocery shop for meals so you don't waste food, but still have staples to fall back on when the fridge is empty.

Chris