Whether your motives are a healthy and varied diet, weight loss or even ingesting the best foods to meet your energy costs, building a balanced pantry is the key!
Indeed, having healthy food on hand is a winning solution not only for physically active people, but also for anyone who values their diet. Even more important if you have children to feed!
So here are a few tips that I apply so that I can always have healthy meal options to prepare and handy.
You arrive home after an intense workout (with a Altterre for example), completely starving, you scan your fridge and pantry for a meal that will satisfy you. Unfortunately, the only “drinkable” option available to you is cereal… which you ate for breakfast. Results? You pick up the phone to order pizza!
Or, you're in the car, back from work, wondering what to cook for dinner. After visualizing the possible options, you realize that buttery pasta might not be optimal. Results? You stop at the drive-thru of a " fast food"
Obviously, if this happens to you from time to time, it is far from problematic.
The solution to avoid such situations? Build yourself a pantry that will allow you to expand your options in order to avoid as much as possible quick fixes that are a little more harmful to your health… and to your wallet!
Pantry
Since most of the foods that are included in this section are non-perishable (or keep very long), do not hesitate to have a very complete inventory.
Without going into an exhaustive list, here are some foods to favor:
- pasta (preferably wheat);
- rice and various cereals (quinoa, barley, etc.);
- tomato sauce;
- legumes (canned for speed);
- dried fruits and nuts;
- canned fish;
- preserved or stewed fruits;
- the essentials for cooking (flour, oil, sugar, etc.);
- Etc
Whether it's a pasta dish with tomato sauce and a tuna cane, or even cheese pancakes, you will be surprised at the options available to you with so few ingredients.
Refrigerator
In this section, make sure to always have at least these few foods that will allow you to cook complete meals or to snack in a balanced way:
- Cheese;
- Milk;
- Yogurt;
- Fruits and vegetables;
- Eggs;
- Etc
A vegetable and cheese omelet with a few pieces of whole grain bread will prepare very quickly and provide all the necessary nutrients!
Tip 1: Do you have free time on the weekends? Why not take the opportunity to prepare your meals for the week in advance?
Freezer
The freezer, what a magnificent invention! It is this one that will allow us to accumulate items like bread and meat / fish in order to increase our meal options and never get caught hungry. Make sure you have these few items:
- Bread;
- Frozen meat / fish / tofu in portions;
- Frozen fruits and vegetables;
- Muffins;
- Prepared meals (preferably homemade);
- Etc
Tip 2: When you cook a spaghetti sauce or even a stew of any kind, take the opportunity to double the portions. This will allow you to freeze the leftovers which will be very useful later.
Tip 3: take advantage of the specials to fill your freezer with various items (breads, pâtés, meats, etc.).
Tip 4: make ready-to-cook freezer bags! Select a recipe that lends itself well to the game and prepare all the ingredients before putting them in a freezer bag that you will freeze afterwards!
Planning : guarantee of success
All of this advice applies more to “last minute” situations. Indeed, if you rely entirely on your food reserves to plan your menus, there is a good chance that your diet will have some deficiencies in the end.
Take a few minutes each week to create a menu that will guide your shopping list later. The day before, prepare the food you need for the next day's meal (take the fish out of the freezer or cut the vegetables for example). In this way, you avoid asking yourself the killer question, which is "what are we eating tonight?" "!
Bon appétit!
