my pantry

Organizing your pantry and your fridge is the most important step when you decide to follow a healthy lifestyle. And I will not go into defining “healthy” because it is a seriously tricky task to do.

The only thing I can do to help you find your “healthy” is to share my thoughts on that, my experience and my list of ingredients I most often cook with.

Okruglice od leće, riža od karfiola, pečene paprike, namaz od patlidžana i salata

Popečci, lepinjica sa sezamom, pečeni batat i rotkvica, rikola

"Hasselback" krumpiri, pečena mrkva, tofu kajgana s povrćem i svježi krastavci

Eating healthy is a sort of job. A serious job.

You need to read, you need to learn, you need to work on it, and It takes time to get to know how it works best for you.

I used to find myself often running out of things which I needed for some recipes and with time I have realized that there are certain things I need to have on hand always (and I really mean *always*) if I do not want to end up eating processed foods, sweets and other bad things…so I went and made my list of those ingredients.

Here is my BASIC list.

It lists ingredients I most often cook with. Of course, fruits and veggies vary across seasons, and I tend to freeze some summer harvest because I love to have it around all year long (that includes all kinds of berries, tomatoes, zucchinis, some string beans, and a corn cob or two).

As you will see, my list does not include meat or seafood because I rarely buy it and cook with it. It is probably only once a week or so, and for those rare occasions I always get it fresh. If it happens that I buy more than needed, I freeze a package of it for another use.

Although we do not pursue a strict diet, since in our family of 4 everyone has its own dietitian restrictions, I could best describe it as flexatarian – vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and grains are the most important part of our diet. I eat vegan, but I sometimes use dairy products and eggs in preparing foods for my family. I say this because I want to give you a clear guideline about this list and my kitchen. If you would need more explanations, feel free to leave a comment or contact me either on iva@culinary-postcards.com or through some of the social networks (all direct links available at the bottom of the page).

I hope you find this list useful and it helps you make your own healthy list in time.

And yes, it is OK to enjoy not -so-healthy dinner with your friends or have a bad snack from time to time. Don’t be hard on yourself, but do your best to eat healthy every day. <3

GRAINS and CEREALS

millet
buckwheat groats
quinoa
oats
rice (basmati or jasmine for Asian food, Carnarolli or Arborio for classical risotto)
rice noodles
soba noodles
pasta – wholegrain, spelt

NUTS and SEEDS (including nut butters)

walnuts
almonds
pumpkin seeds
sesame (and tahini)
sunflower seeds
flax seed
peanuts (and peanut butter)
chia seeds
hemp seeds
cashew nuts

OILS

olive oil
pumpkin seed oil
coconut oil (raw, organic)
cold pressed sunflower oil

PULSES

chickpeas
red lentils
beluga lentils
dry peas
beans

FLOURS & co.

spelt flour (white and wholegrain)
buckwheat flour
oat flour (or simply grinded oats)
rice flour
millet flour
coconut flour
tapioca flour

VEGETABLES

carrots
onions
garlic
peas (frozen)
leeks
cauliflower
sweet potato
butternut squash
zucchinis
eggplant
salad leaves
rocket
kale
spinach and chard
beets
cucumber
ginger root

FRUITS (and dried fruits*)

bananas
apples
lemons
oranges
avocado
berries (fresh in season, frozen for winter – incl. blueberries, blackberries, red currants)
cherries
melon and watermelon
kiwi
perssimon
*raisins, prunes, apricots