Your kitchen cupboard essentials...
Here is what I always try to keep in stock (and a little about the 'why') and what makes rustling up a healthy after school snack, quick pack lunch or comforting dinner which should be ready the minute you get through the door a little less challenging.
Fruit and Veg
There is only so much of it you can have at home at once before things start to go off. I try to make sure the fruit bowl is always full, there is no excuse for unhealthy snacks when there are plenty of bananas, apples and satsumas around. Berries and certain fruits which go off quicker are best bought on the day or go with a frozen option when possible.
A good stack of root vegetables as well as cauliflower, squash/pumpkin, most dark leafy greens, pepper, courgette, celery, fennel and all kinds of cabbages will easily last up to a week or more.
More delicate veg like spinach, chard, lettuce and broccoli is best used within around 3 days. I tend to buy these in smaller quantities whenever I pass a greengrocer.
Grains
Brown rice, barley, quinoa, oat grain, wheat grain, spelt and many more. Grains can be stored easily and provide a very nutrient as well as fibre rich basis for most meals. Whole grains contain substantially more of all the good stuff than their white and more processed cousins and keep energy - and mood - levels higher for longer. Keep a bowl of any cooked grain or grain mix in the fridge to speed up cooking time when the kids want to eat the minute you get home.
Pasta
A firm favourite of most children, pasta is of course absolutely indispensable. Again, I recommend sticking to whole grain pasta, there are so many types and shapes available, that most kids will see past the slightly darker colour quickly.
Beans and Pulses
Black beans, butter beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans, adzuki beans, lima beans, navy beans, chickpeas and lentils, the list of beans and pulses is endless. All of them are a great source of protein and fibre and help regulate blood sugar levels. To make life easier I always keep a few tins in the cupboard (ideally just beans in water), but whenever I have the time and remember to soak them overnight (very important!) I try to cook a large batch from scratch to save the planet from yet more tins and tetra packs. They can be frozen for up to six months or kept in the fridge for a few days. Then there is of course the wonderful and hugely versatile soybean, which provides us with a whole range of products (you will always find a block of tofu or tempeh in my fridge).
Nuts and Seeds
Nut spreads are a wonderful replacement for butter. There are tons of different brands and varieties available, with prices varying significantly between different types of nuts. Peanut butter is the most famous as well as cheapest of all and it can be a bit of a mission trying to find the best one amongst so many different brands. I recommend sticking to the one with the fewest ingredients, ideally it's made of 100% roasted peanuts and nothing else. The same applies for all other nut butters, the higher the actual nut content, the better.
Fresh nuts and seeds are equally great to have in the house, add walnuts, sunflower, pumpkin, hemp and ground flaxseed to any breakfast muesli or porridge. Sprinkle seeds over pretty much any dish for added crunch and healthy, unsaturated fats to keep everyone fuller for longer.
While all nuts and seeds have great nutritional properties, walnuts, hemp seeds (or hemp hearts, the shelled version if you aren't too keen on the crunchy shell) and flaxseed* contain the highest amounts of omega 3 fatty acids.
* Consuming ground flaxseeds enables the body to absorb the nutrients more effectively
Oats
Oats are simply amazing, I’m such a big fan of these versatile little grains that they get their own mentioning despite being part of the grain family. They are a great addition to all kinds of sweet and savoury dishes and feature in most days' breakfast as well as on the go snacks in my family. They are filling, slow burning (especially if you opt for steel cut or jumbo oats which have a lower GI (glycemic index) than the more processed porridge oats, which are more readily digested and can cause a bit of a sugar spike, though not necessarily in everyone as we all handle different foods in our very own way) and amongst many other benefits a great source of various minerals.
Plant milks
It's a real joy to see how the plant milk aisles in most supermarkets have grown over the last few years. There are so many options available, there is oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, hemp milk - it's easy to get choice paralyses. Soy milk is high in protein (containing all nine essential amino acids) and oat milk seems to win my childrens "taste award", but is naturally higher in sugar and lower in protein. After a transition phase of mixing the two they now happily drink plain soya milk too. I always make sure to read the list of ingredients and stay away if a brand contains added sugars/ sweeteners or any other unwanted additives like emulsifiers, stabilisers or flavouring. The only additives you want are calcium (calcium carbonate, calcium phosphates or lithothamnium calcareum), vitamin B12, D2 and B2 (riboflavin), Calcium being the priority for me as we all take a supplement which covers us for B12, D2 and B2.
In the freezer
There are a few things you’ll always find in my freezer. Berries for daily mueslis (this way I can buy them guilt-free all year round even if they are not in season – plus they are cheaper, even if organic), garden peas, sweetcorn and a few portions of cooked grains or beans for days when I don’t have time to cook from scratch.
Sugar
Nature provides us with a whole bunch of wonderfully sweet foods, which not only taste amazing on their own, but can often be used as the main source of sweetness in cooking and baking. Dates, bananas and berries are healthy and tasty sweeteners and if you need something more ‘sugar like’ I recommend date sugar, the powder you get when grinding whole dried dates. Not only does it look like brown sugar, it tastes fantastic while still maintaining all of its natural fibre, vitamins and minerals. It can be a little hard to come by however and making it at home isn’t always an option when life gets busy.
There are tons of refined sugar replacements on the market, all of them claiming to be a healthier option which can be confusing. To me the same rule applies with sugar as does with most other foods. The less processed and the more whole any source of sweetness is, the better. Eating an apple beats drinking a glass of apple juice by large, because of the lack of fibre in the latter. Pure fructose has a very similar effect to cane sugar in the sense that it causes spikes in our blood sugar levels, which doesn’t occur if it is consumed as part of a whole fruit or berry.
A few raisins or any dried fruit can make a meal much more appealing to a child and add iron on top of it. One of my sons can be fussy when it comes to trying new things, but he will agree to eat almost everything if I sprinkle a little handful of raisins on top.
Turmeric
Turmeric doesn’t only look like gold dust, it's gold for our health too. With its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties it's a great spice to keep in stock, be it the powder or the fresh root (beware of the staining when using the root). Even a small sprinkle of black pepper boosts the absorption of turmeric significantly. Add a quarter of a teaspoon to your morning smoothie or sprinkle a little over your kids' pasta, it has a very subtle taste which is easily overpowered by the other elements of the dish.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT