Nutrition 101: Getting Started Revised 3/09

What do you need to get started if you are new to cooking, new to real food nutrition, and lost in the confusion of it all?


Here's my list of essentials for beginners (or staples for us):

1. Fats/Oils: Butter, Olive, Ghee and/or Coconut Oil

2. Vinegar: Apple Cider, Balsamic, and/or Rice Wine

3. Spices: Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Black Pepper, Sea Salt, Fresh garlic, cinnamon and vanilla.

I would also recommend a couple of pre-blended spices: something Mexican like a fajita spice and an all purpose meat/vegetable spice...we like the Bicentennial Rub from Penzeys. http://www.penzeys.com/ Make sure there are no weird chemical ingredients.

4. Flour: Oat, Wheat, Coconut, and/or Chickpea

5. Cans of plain tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

6. Sucanat (Sucanat is real sugar in a pure form. You can buy at Whole Foods or the Nugget locally.)

7. a variety of grains, I encourage you to think outside your comfort zone when it comes to selecting grains. Think Barley, Spelt, Quinoa, Wild Rice.....

8. Eggs, milk, and cheese

9. Bread: sprouted grain, sourdough wheat, and corn tortillas

10. Dry Active Yeast or Instant Yeast--this is important for making homemade pizza dough. Who doesn't love pizza? It takes 5 minutes and is so, so good.


Weekly Items to Purchase:

Produce

Meat

Grains (for replacement)

any other item needed for a specific meal


Combine the staples listed above with a little meal planning, AKA "Weekly Items," and you can make almost anything.