10 Foods to Add to Your Kitchen

Clients are often very curious what foods I keep in my kitchen, so I’ve decided to share ten of my “must-have” foods.

1. Food for Life Sprouted Grain English Muffins and Tortillas
I feel good about eating these products because they’re made from 100% whole grains. I use the tortillas to make quesadillas and the English muffins are great to have as part of a snack or breakfast.

2. Almond Butter
I find the taste of almond butter more decadent than peanut butter. I enjoy eating it with apple slices or on whole grain crackers.

3. Dark Chocolate Dreams
This company makes several varieties. My favorite is peanut butter with rich dark chocolate. I enjoy eating this on the sprouted grain English muffin (mentioned above), as an evening snack. It tastes like desert, but I feel good about it because it has very little sugar.

4. Wasa or Kavli Crackers
These crackers are made from whole grains and though they don’t have a ton of flavor by themselves, they’re great with some cheese, nut butter, tuna salad, or egg salad.

5. Canned Tuna
I buy the “chunk light” in water, because it’s lower in mercury than albacore tuna. It’s a great thing to have in the pantry because it’s a great source of protein. You can quickly whip up a meal – tuna on a green salad, tuna salad sandwich, tuna on crackers (as I mentioned above), add the tuna to some tomato sauce and serve on whole grain pasta.

6. Dried Cranberries
I always have dried cranberries in my pantry and love adding them to salad, oatmeal, and leafy greens (especially kale).

7. Canned Diced Tomatoes
We cook with tomatoes a lot, so in the winter we rely on canned tomatoes. We love Muir Glen canned tomatoes. Try their fire roasted ones for some extra flavor.

8. Eggs
Eggs are incredibly healthy – especially if you buy free-range eggs. I use them to make egg salad for sandwiches or to have as a snack with crackers. I make hard-boiled eggs to add to salad or I’ll have them scrambled for a hearty breakfast with a sprouted grain English muffin.

9. Paul Newman’s Light Microwave Popcorn
I keep microwave popcorn around as a special treat to munch on while watching a movie. It makes it feel more like an “event.”

10. Baby Lettuce
Almost every week we buy a clamshell box of organic baby lettuce. It keeps well in the box and I find it’s good to have around when I don’t have the energy to cook a vegetable, or use to create a meal with tuna, hard-boiled eggs, beans, or leftover chicken.