SHOPPING & COOKING GUIDES

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Guide to Stocking Your Pantry

A handy guide to things that will keep for months.

What to keep on hand to make cooking a delicious, nutrition meal easy every night of the week.

The best way to ensure you have everything you need to prepare delicious meals is to keep a well-stocked pantry. When you cook at home you can prepare healthy, nourishing food using quality, fresh ingredients—much better than prepared food that is often loaded with calories, fats, sodium and added sweeteners.

Our Healthy Pantry list includes all the items you need to prepare healthy recipes plus a few other ingredients that will make last-minute meals easier. You can also use it as a starting point for a grocery shopping list.

Oils, Vinegars & Condiments
Flavorings
Canned Goods & Bottled Items
Grains & Legumes
Nuts, Seeds & Fruits
Refrigerator Basics
Freezer Basics

Oils, Vinegars & Condiments

* Extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and salad dressings

* Canola oil for cooking and baking

* Flavorful nut and seed oils for salad dressings and stir-fry seasonings: toasted sesame oil, walnut oil

* Butter, preferably unsalted. Store in the freezer if you use infrequently.

* Reduced-fat mayonnaise

* Vinegars: balsamic, red-wine, white-wine, rice (or rice-wine), apple cider

* Asian condiments and flavorings: reduced-sodium soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce, mirin, oyster sauce, chile-garlic sauce, curry paste

* Kalamata olives, green olives

* Dijon mustard

* Capers

* Ketchup

* Barbecue sauce

* Worcestershire sauce

Flavorings

* Kosher salt, coarse sea salt, fine salt

* Black peppercorns

* Onions

* Fresh garlic

* Fresh ginger

* Anchovies or anchovy paste for flavoring pasta sauces and salad dressings

* Dried herbs: bay leaves, dill, crumbled dried sage, dried thyme leaves, oregano, tarragon, Italian seasoning blend

* Spices: allspice (whole berries or ground), caraway seeds, chili powder, cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon,coriander seeds, cumin seeds, ground cumin, curry powder, ground ginger, dry mustard, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, turmeric

* Lemons, limes, oranges. The zest is as valuable as the juice. Organic fruit is recommended when you use a lot of zest.

* Granulated sugar

* Brown sugar

* Honey

* Pure maple syrup

* Unsweetened cocoa powder, natural and/or Dutch-processed

* Bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips

Canned Goods & Bottled Items 

* Canned tomatoes, tomato paste

* Reduced-sodium chicken broth, beef broth and/or vegetable broth

* Clam juice

* "Lite" coconut milk for Asian curries and soups

* Canned beans: cannellini beans, great northern beans, chickpeas, black beans, red kidney beans

* Canned lentils

* Chunk light tuna and salmon

Grains & Legumes 

* Whole-wheat flour and whole-wheat pastry flour (Store opened packages in the refrigerator or freezer.)

* All-purpose flour

* Assorted whole-wheat pastas

* Brown rice and instant brown rice

* Pearl barley, quick-cooking barley

* Rolled oats

* Whole-wheat couscous

* Bulgur

* Dried lentils

* Yellow cornmeal

* Plain dry breadcrumbs

Nuts, Seeds & Fruits 

* Walnuts

* Pecans

* Almonds

* Hazelnuts

* Dry-roasted unsalted peanuts

* Pine nuts

* Sesame seeds

* Natural peanut butter

* Tahini

* Assorted dried fruits, such as apricots, prunes, cherries, cranberries, dates, figs, raisins (Store opened packages of nuts and seeds in the refrigerator or freezer.)

Refrigerator Basics

* Low-fat milk or soymilk

* Low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt and/or vanilla yogurt

* Reduced-fat sour cream

* Good-quality Parmesan cheese and/or Romano cheese

* Sharp Cheddar cheese

* Eggs (large). Keep them on hand for fast omelets and frittatas.

* Orange juice

* Dry white wine. If you wish, substitute nonalcoholic wine.

* Water-packed tofu

Freezer Basics

* Fruit-juice concentrates (orange, apple, pineapple)

* Frozen vegetables: edamame soy beans, peas, spinach, broccoli, bell pepper and onion mix, corn, chopped onions, small whole onions, uncooked hash browns

* Frozen berries

* Italian turkey sausage and sliced prosciutto to flavor fast pasta sauces

* Low-fat vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt for impromptu dessert

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