Replenish your cupboards, the right way?
Since my return home on Thursday, my parents willfully admitted they had not made a substantial grocery store trip in about three months.
“What have you been living on Mom?” ”Salad, take out, more salad, more take out.”
Yummy. Due to my new affinity for cooking, I proclaimed myself head chef of the Jewell household for the summer. My parents complied without hesitation. I’m looking forward to experimenting in a full blown kitchen with a parent’s salary to use up on the finest cuisine. They deserve it, right?
I spent most of Friday perusing my childhood grocery hub, Wegmans. Wegmans never ceases to fail me; the organic section (borderline comparable to Trader Joes) is fully stocked with whole grains, healthy oils, and fruits straight from their backyard! I must express how grateful I am that my mother engraved healthy eating habits into my brain as a wee infant. At age two, my breakfast included breast milk and “Earth’s Best” baby food. TMI? Nonetheless, I’ve learned to pick up food resting on the perimeter of the food store. I rarely venture into the middle processed food aisles, unless, of course, we run out of peanut butter and jam.
Less is more fellow foodies. If you’re guilting yourself by saying, “I haven’t gone grocery shopping in weeks, Chinese food it is!” Take a breathe, I have you taken care of:
GROCERY STORE NECESSITIES:
-Vegetables for salad ingredients (Spinach, Cuks, Tomatoes, Beets (guilty pleasure), peppers, asparagus, broccoli.) Vegetables rot quickly, so don’t buy more than you can consume within a few days.
-Fruits to snack on (Oranges, Apples, Bananas, Grapes, Pears)
-Carbs, don’t eat anything with enriched white flours, corn syrup, or partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Do you want to eat bread that has been infested with a vat of thick, creamy oil resembling gasoline? Neither would I. Go for mixed nuts, whole wheat bread, baked chips (and spicy salsa), and whole wheat pasta. If you’re feeling adventurous, get some organic flax seed, sprouted grain, [insert more words that sound natural and earthy] pancake/waffle mix. Note: the mix lasts forever.
-Meat rarely makes its way into our house except when my Dad bought half a lamb from a farmer up the road last Christmas. “I got a great deal!” Thank god for frugal Dads. The Jewells practice conscious omnivorism. We enjoy the occasional salmon, shrimp, chicken. Red meat turns me off and upsets my gastrointestinal system. Not fun.
-Oils are incredibly important to incorporate into a diet especially if you’re on a diet. One simply will not feel full unless a meal includes a type of healthy fat, take it from experience. My Mom (I’d like to mention she’s a Dr., I hope this brings creditibility to my advice), drizzles sesame oil and balsamic vinegar on her salads. Play around with these; nothing beats a hearty vegetable stir fry relishing in a delicious sauce.
I hope this is helpful and you enjoyed my witty eliciting of healthy eaten’ information from a college student’s point of view. Get ready for some incredible meal posts. I made a middle eastern cuisine two nights ago, and a kimchi egg fry yesterday morning. Today, I’m cooking up a beautiful Mother’s Day meal for my lovely mother and Oma.
Happy Mother’s Day, stay creative.
