In this post I am offering my suggestions on three pantry staples to swap out in order to create a cleaner, safer and more sustainable pantry.
The creation of a healthy pantry was a slow progression. It started out as mere organization. Every New Year’s my list of resolutions typically included the phrase “get organized” in some respect or another. Then I learned about making S.M.A.R.T goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) and my life changed, along with my resolution making. In fact, I stopped making resolutions altogether and instead, created life goals for myself.
Although I have always considered myself a healthy eater, I admit that I fell victim to commercialism. This means I bought the goods and they replaced my soul. It began when my kids were little. My husband and I were busy people who both worked demanding careers. With three children to care for, we often stocked a lot of convenience food in our pantry. I am sure it looked a lot like a typical American pantry with sugar-filled cereals and quick snack foods. We needed convenience, and these type of products were oh so convenient. We had soccer games and ballet classes and music recitals to attend. There was a need for quick breakfasts, school lunches and after school snacks. This working mama did not have time to make everything homemade. We typically always made dinner at home, but for our busy lives we needed the extra help that all those products offered. I just didn’t know what I didn’t know.
But just like everything, the first step is awareness. Once I became aware which ingredients were unhealthy, I could take steps towards eliminating products made with them. From awareness to action to lifestyle.
I approached my cleaner lifestyle as a business. I needed to create the correct systems and processes for it to flourish. My pantry was a tool. The pantry and the refrigerator are the two places everybody goes to search for food to eat. So, change what’s in front of you and you will change your life.
Step one one of my SMART goals for cleaner eating was to clear out the pantry. Step two was to take everything out of boxes or bags and place it into glass jars or organizational bins. Step three was to put back into the pantry only those items that I felt were healthy or safe. Step four was to swap ingredients that were not healthy with healthier versions. Step five was to maintain the status quo and to continue to add only healthy, safe foods to the pantry.
That last part was going to be the biggest challenge. Every New Year’s I cleaned the pantry. By February it was in a shambles again. Not dissimilar from those people that make a resolution to visit the gym every week and by February the gym is empty. That was me in pantry form. But now I didn’t have a resolution, I had a SMART goal.
To start, when I cleaned out the pantry I threw out all of our cereal. This step was difficult for my husband, the cereal man. He grew up on Cap’n Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios. Honestly, so did I and to this day I can still taste that Cap’n Crunch. I was a teenager in the 80’s and Cap’n Crunch was a diet staple. However, I now cringe when I recall how many bowls of sugary cereal I have eaten.
Cereal is made from grains that contain glyphosate, the same chemical people spray on their yard to get rid of weeds. Glyphosate is in our food supply, particularly in grains like wheat and oats, and GMO products, like corn and soy. Glyphosate has been in the press quite a bit lately due to the class action lawsuits against Monsanto, the maker of the well known glyphosate based herbicide Round-Up. Glyphosate disrupts our microbiome and carries a risk of cancer.
The only way to create a safe and healthy pantry is to rid it of any products containing glyphosate. To do that, you need to replace pantry items with certified organic products. Certified organic foods are free of harmful pesticides and fertilizers and grown on soil that was not treated with chemicals for a three year period prior to harvest. Buying organic assures me that I am doing my best to rid our lives of Glyphosate.
To provide a band-aid to getting rid of my husband’s favorite cereals, I made homemade granola. In fact, I make granola once weekly and keep it in a large glass jar in the pantry. I enjoy the variety offered by homemade granola. Of course, first I had to replace our old-fashioned oats with certified organic oats.
Next, I swapped out all of my flours for organic unbleached versions. I admit to being a bleached flour kind of girl in the past. Bleached flour is as it sounds: flour that has been treated with chemicals to give it a white appearance, as well as to improve baking consistency. Because bleached flour has a finer grain, it makes for a lighter crumb. As a maker of cakes, the white flour is preferred for its color as well as lightness. But since I am ridding my life of unwanted chemicals, bleached flour had to go. Some may argue that bleached flour is safe. However, just because you can buy a product in the store in America does not mean it is not harmful. The chemicals used here to bleach flour are not allowed in European countries for a reason. Moreover, unbleached flour will naturally whiten as it ages so that should not be a high concern.
I have many types of flour that I stock in my kitchen. My typical rotation is: All-Purpose, Bread, Whole Wheat, Cake, Almond, Coconut and Gluten-Free Cup for Cup. I have had to find Organic replacements for all of these.
The next thing to swap out was my cornmeal. I use cornmeal often to make muffins and pies, and as a wheat alternative. Plus, as an Italian, I love a good polenta (which is made with cornmeal). However, it is very true that the corn of today’s world is not the same that I grew up with. Genetically engineered seeds were commercially introduced in the United States in 1996 for major field crops. Over 90 percent of U.S. corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets, and canola are produced using these modified seeds (“GMO”). This means that the DNA of the seed has been altered with genetic engineering. Most of these GMO plants are used to make ingredients used in other food ingredients (like cornstarch and sugar).
Currently, there is no link between GMO foods and cancer. However, there is a lot of debate ongoing about the safety of GMO crops. Despite this ongoing debate I know two things for certain. First, it cannot be good that we are eating food that has been genetically modified. It reminds me of Jurassic Park and how in the movie they thought it was completely fine that they supplied the missing dinosaur DNA with that of a frog. But, as they discovered, it wasn’t fine.
Second, there are a lot of sustainability issues surrounding GMO foods and the companies that produce them. Despite all of this, my main concern right now is that I rid my life of Glyphosate. GMO in no way equals Organic. Moreover, many of the GMO seeds were developed by Monsanto to be “Roundup Ready”–meaning the plants can be sprayed with Glyphosate but Roundup won’t kill them. Sounds exactly like the type of food I want to eat (not)!
I like to use the fine grain in baking, while stone ground is great for Polenta. Stone ground cornmeal is a healthier choice because it retains some of the hull and germ of the corn, which offers greater nutritional value. If you just want one item in your pantry, opt for a stone ground or medium grain cornmeal. I like the texture of the stone ground in my baking, but can simply pulse it in my food processor for a few seconds to make it into find ground.
If you are trying to build a more sustainable kitchen, these three swaps are a good place to begin! I’ll have more suggestions for you as we move along on our journey. I’ll also be posting my granola recipe so you can add that to your pantry. Once you start making homemade granola it’s life changing!
The opinions contained in this post are those of the author. The author was not paid by anyone to form these opinions, nor was she paid by the product makers of the products she mentions. As always, healthy debate is welcome. Feel free to send me the names of your favorites so I can try them out!
