...Now you know why to buy seasonal produce &
...The wonderful variety that winter brings....
...Next on list is to get organized think ahead set up in 3 steps
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| The sorted stone n jade cupboard... |
Winter for me? Warming soulful comfort food. My ‘comfort foods’ however are only high in good fats when required & carb smart & supplemented with at least 2 RAW meals a day... Done right like RAW apple slice after training recovery is still comfort food for me though, I guess just not traditional. Some winter choice waistline tips;
- Higher fat intake over winter with low to moderate starchy carbs. It tastes good & being smart with carb intake in accordance to daily activity's to keep balanced with blood sugars & hormones.
- Don't just keep the saturated variety at bay but also keep RAW where you can like nuts, freshly homemade butter, avoid cooking virgin olive oil (eat RAW) cook with coconut & rice bran oils)
- Keep high GI/fruit carbs for post training recovery which is about the only time the blood sugars benefit long term bodyfat control & or loss.
- Otherwise keep carbs majority veg & fibrous in source with a little starchy. I have roughly 2 cups of oats/four in winter, 1 in summer & 1/2 when leaning down with min of 1/2 cup sweet potato.
- Use fresh unsweetened applesauce, prune purée avocado, norbu & stevia in bakes to sweeten & or sub for fat (butter - keep it RAW) Rice bran oil is a wonderful vegetable canola oil sub in muffin/cake recipes.
- Also use PURE maple syrup, & Agave syrup to sweeten.
- Avoid daily stock use & use just a pinch of salt to bring out flavour in cooking. Combined with complimentary herbs & spices.
- To give foods comfort & a little more texture/fibre n protein, try using chickpea/buckwheat/millet & quinoa added to recipes
- Make massive quantities of foods like soups & freeze up serves to take n go at he office desk
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| The sorted onxy ruby cupboard... |
Step One - Pull out a log book to note....
- Recipes that you love in the winter or want to try with seasonal produce & include any eqipment & tools that will be required, ie slow cooker.
- List any dried herbs, legumes, pulses that will be required
- Note any herbs that can be planted now with advice from the local garden nursery or hardware store.
- Note any produce that can be planted now with advice from the local garden nursery or hardware store. Sowing seeds may also be required for the next seasons harvest.
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| The sorted Jade waters cupboard... |
Step Two - Organize/tidy kitchen & with logbook , go through the kitchen & pantry...
- Clean out the cutlery Drawer from the crumb monster
- Sort the Utensil drawers/stand/holders: from the utensil needle in the haystack (how many times have you bought a can opener for you couldn't find/thought you lost it, to one day have it reappear later on... Hence ending up with 7 or something silly like that (Yes, that USE TO happen to me b4 gettin organized ;)
- Sort out bits n pieces: I've taken to storing protein powder scoops in a washed out protein jar or tub... The scoops are awesome for 1/4 cup serve scoops in jars of beans etc...
- All those lids :z!!! from jars I keep collecting, now go straight to storage tub, bigger ones in a CD rack laying on side in drawer
- Go through the other things like the whisk, tongs, wooden spoons, pastry brush, egg flip etc to check for replacement (LOLO I accidently baked my last egg flip :((
- Sharpen up the knives (I use an old chefs tip, with my old kitchen sink - its already marked up:p) Invest good quality for less hassle & better safety too, replacing ones with wobbly handles/damaged edges etc..
- When going through these things is to attain what you'll be using over the winter months.. Me everything haha, store away for the next season what you wont be using
- Sort the Plastics (lids mentioned above) but I always buy the same brand BPA free so they stack with less room taken up. Your asking for attacking the spilling containers if you multiple brands types sizes etc... Also toss out containers & jars that have no lids, or that are damaged
- New tea towels, fluffy & warming (old for craft, dish rags or even shed garden use)
- Burnt oven mitts? Replace.... Holy gloves... Ditch
- Clean out the pantry
- Toss out all expired foods (spices are notorious for being left on the shelf for too long)
- Store half packet stashes into airtight jars & check others for weevil bugs : z
- Clean out the fridge
- Ditch any expired foods in the fridge or stuff you just don't eat any more
- Clean out the cupboards & organize the dishes for quick access
- Warm up the kitchen n pantry with winter warming décor - no-one likes a cold sterile kitchen on cold winter days
- Toss out chipped damaged plates, mugs, glasses etc or store for making mosaics in the shed
- Note the things to replace or Buy...
- Organize cupboards, drawers etc
- Ditch any processed junk
- List a cook off to freeze batches of.... healthy bread/bakes even RAW balls & slices, & home-made sauces
- Note to Add Staple grains/starchy foods to include; brown & black rice, rice flakes, millet, whole oats, quinoa, buckwheat, puffed wholemeal cereals, French, red, yellow green lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, cannellini beans
- Note to Add Jars not cans of tomatoes
- Note to Add staple seeds; Pumpkin, sunflower, flax, sesame, chia, poppy
- Note to Add staple oils; olive oil, extra virgin, flax seed, rice bran
- Note to Add seasonal s; Vinegar balsamic, red wine or white wine, dried herbs/spices (oregano, thyme, cumin, fennel, paprika, coriander, chilli, pepper, mustards) sea salt
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| The sorted Glass cupboard... |
Step 3 -my favourite, GO shopping & stock up/prep
- Armed with the list, shop up with fresh local coffees between trips at ornate new coffee houses... Starting from the department stores, to the grocer, to the markets, to the hardware store/nursery, to the butcher
- Place produce on the table & perishables like meat in the fridge
- Don on the wellingtons/boots, gloves & plants seeds/tidy the garden with harvesting what can be harvested
- Replace replaceable s, set up new things & ditch recycle the toss pile
- Grab a coffee & healthy snack
- Bulk prep those foods, my winter staples include 1 cook serves of apple-sauce, diced onion, fruit to freeze zip-locked, sauces bulk, grilled/boiled meats to freeze, Large pots of soup with 1/2 to freeze, Zuchinni bread loaves RAW super chia balls & RAW seasonal fruit slices, bulk buttermilk oat flour waffles, fresh mayo, cornmeal pizza bases, tomato purée into 1 serve containers to freeze, bulk soaked & plain cooked lentils/beans, pre-mixed plain vanilla oat flour pancake batter in zip lock serving bags..
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| Wine rack for storing the bottles :DD |
Yes this is an all day affair, but when your cold toes rest upon that new warm kitchen rug & healthy food is cooked already or so easy to access you can spend more time enjoying the beautiful bounty of winter produce that mother prep-ping brings. Sometimes Ill actually spend 3 days doing this... like this winter, I've even dived up my bulk prep over 3 days to avoid burnout & conflict of schedules that I have all over the place...
Anyway happy prep-ping & healthy comfort foods & home... Im off to have my RAW egg nog & baked sea salt veggies with 1956 C Heston's Ten commandments dvd (I know daggy as it was this or Gone with the wind, so love the naustalgic!) :p Click below for some fun... Introducing the nightly window wiper Ms Shalimar Fox :)))))))))))))))))))))
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