What’s In My Cupboard?

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Nadia Damaso, author of Eat Better Not Less, shows us the health food essentials that will transform our pantries into healthy spaces

5 Jan 2017 |

The ingredients listed below are what I always have stored in my kitchen and use in my recipes. If your cupboard and freezer are full of packaged, ready-made and sugary products, which are full of preservatives and additives, the time has now come to go grocery shopping and replace them with fresh, nutritious and natural products. Once you have them stored on your shelves, my recipes can then be easily and quickly recreated. Then you will only need to buy fresh produce like fruit, vegetables and dairy products or plant-based alternatives.

Since people are increasingly becoming more interested in a healthy and balanced diet, most products are now readily available at bigger supermarkets at a very reasonable price. If you can’t find them there, you’ll certainly find less common ingredients or superfoods at a health food store. It might cost a little more, but to me it’s absolutely worth spending a bit extra on good and wholesome produce. You are what you eat. The better you feel, the more energy you will have and emit. It’s just a question of how much you want it and how strong your will is to eat well and follow a more balanced lifestyle.
 
 
GRAINS
Barley: whole, flakes, flour
Brown Rice: whole, flour, cakes, flakes, noodles
Corn: thins, flakes, popped
Millet: flakes, puffed, semolina, golden, flour, milk
Oats: rolled, milk, bran
Rice: milk, paper, syrup
Spelt: flakes, flour, milk, noodles
Wholewheat: flour, couscous, bulgur, bran, tortillas
DRIED FRUIT
Cranberries
Dates: Medjool dates
Goji Berries
Mangos
Mulberries
Pomegranate

 
SUPERFOODS
Acai Powder
Cacao Nibs
Carob Powder
Chia Seeds
Maca Powder
Matcha Powder
Protein Powder: whey (isolate), soy, hemp
Raw Cacao Powder
Spirulina Powder
Wheatgrass Powder


NUTS & SEEDS
Almonds: whole, ground, milk, butter
Cashews: whole, ground, butter
Coconut: whole, shredded, chips, milk, water, oil, butter
Hazelnuts: whole, ground, butter
Hemp Hearts
Linseeds (flaxseeds)
Peanuts: whole, butter
Pecans: whole
Pine Nuts
Pistachios: whole, butter
Pumpkin Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Sunflower Seeds
Walnuts: whole, ground
 
OILS
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Toasted Sesame Oil

PSEUDOGRAINS
Amaranth: whole, flour, puffed
Buckwheat: whole, flour, flakes
Quinoa: whole, flour, puffed, flakes

 
POTATOES, ROOTS & LEGUMES
Beans
Chickpeas (garbanzos): whole, flour
Lentils: red, yellow, brown, green
Potatoes
Soybeans: whole, flour, milk
Sweet Potatoes
Yams


100% PURE SWEETENERS
Agave Nectar
Brown Rice Syrup
Coconut Nectar
Coconut Sugar
Date Syrup
Honey
Maple Syrup
BASICS
Baking Powder (gluten-free)
Balsamic: vinegar, glaze
Fish Sauce
Garlic Powder
Himalayan Salt
Lemon Juice
Lime Juice
Nut Butter
Onion Powder
Oyster Sauce
Spices: chilli, black pepper, ground coriander, cumin, curry powder, cinnamon
Tahini
Tamari/Soy Sauce
Tomato Purée (paste)
Vanilla: bean, extract
White Wine Vinegar




Nadia's new cookbook Eat Better Not Less: 100 Healthy and Satisfying Recipes is available now where all good books are sold.