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A kitchen full of essential foods and ingredients can help you live more efficiently. Thus, keeping a stock of healthy foods in your pantry and refrigerator can help you prepare healthy meals for yourself. However, there are popular healthy foods that are highly perishable.
Nonetheless, you can still prepare and keep your kitchen well stocked with the right foods. That’s why it’s essential to be aware and knowledgeable about what foods to keep. To start this healthier lifestyle, here is a list of foods you can consider keeping in your kitchen.
Fruits and Vegetables
When discussing healthy foods, you should never forget about fruits and vegetables. Every type of these contains various minerals and nutrients. Moreover, you can cook and prepare several dishes with these healthy ingredients.
Although fruits and veggies have lots of nutrients, what makes them more amazing staple foods is that you can cook them with other foods. Vegetables would be a good pair with meat for proteins, or if you want to experiment with your meal, having vegetables in your ingredient can already help with the nutrients.
Meat
Another staple food that you can consider stacking up is meat. It’s a great ingredient to make a large and hearty meal and can be incorporated into various dishes. Moreover, it’s a great source of protein. It also has a wide variety too, from pork to chicken to beef.
But one meat product that offers tons of benefits is beef liver. This type of meat is rich in vitamin A, B6, B12, iron, zinc, and more. However, despite how nutritionally dense it is, many don’t like it because of its rather unique taste and texture.
If you’re one of them but still want to get the benefits of beef liver, you can try taking beef liver capsules as an alternative. But if you want to try and maybe develop a taste for it, you can easily prepare beef liver by frying it after marinating it with salt and pepper.
Fermented Food
Fermented foods are also another good staple food in your kitchen. They are healthy foods that you should keep in your kitchen. They last longer and you wouldn’t have to worry about wasting food. On top of that, they go well with other dishes such as a topping and side dish.
Popular types of fermented food include kimchi, pickles, and nattō. A jar of pickles can last for almost two years if unopened and roughly around the same length of time if you store them properly after opening. You’ll never have to worry about preparing simple meals.
Quinoa
If you love fiber in your diet but need to switch things up, you can try changing to quinoa. Quinoa is a gluten-free plant food that contains high fiber. Eating this could help you lower the risk of diabetes and cancer.
Moreover, preparing quinoa is easy; it only takes around 15 minutes to cook. You can prepare your hot quinoa as an alternative to oatmeal and pour your favorite almond drink, frozen fruits, and other toppings. Uncooked quinoa can last for almost a year if stored properly in an airtight container.
Eggs
Like fruits and vegetables, eggs are a must in every healthy diet. Eggs are versatile ingredients that you can use in many healthy dishes. Eggs are excellent sources of protein, vitamin A, D, and B12. They are considered breakfast foods, though people also consume them for other meals and are often used in baking.
On its own, you can cook eggs boiled, fried, or even raw. Just make sure you’re using freshly gathered eggs. Moreover, it would help if you were careful when storing them. USDA-grade eggs must be sanitized before they are packed and sold, so their natural protective oils are stripped as part of the process. As a result, the eggs’ shells absorb strong odors in your fridge. That’s why eggs bought from stores are sometimes better off stored in a closed carton.
Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is a type of yogurt that contains high protein and other nutrients like calcium, vitamin B12, and probiotics. Probiotics are healthy bacteria that help promote a healthy digestive system, and yogurts are best known as the greatest source of this.
Moreover, like the other staple foods in this list, greek yogurt also goes well with other foods. It’s an excellent low-fat alternative to a lot of recipes that will require cream sauces like mayo and sour cream. You can use it as a dressing for your salad or directly consume them after a good meal. This yogurt’s shelf life can last up to two months, depending on how you store them. Always read the instructions to have more time to enjoy your yogurt.
Honey
Instead of using processed sugar, you can use honey as a healthy alternative. It’s a healthy natural sweetener that offers a large list of health benefits.
A spoon of honey contains less than a hundred calories with 0 fat grams. Honey is also rich in antioxidants that help neutralize reactive oxygen species in your body. That’s why honey is a better alternative than regular sugar in maintaining sugar levels. Though honey does raise the blood sugar level, its antioxidants help protect against metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Believe it or not, honey can last indefinitely if stored properly. Under the right conditions, natural honey doesn’t expire and can be eaten safely.
Final Thoughts
You can prepare a list of foods you want if you want before heading for grocery shopping. Remember to consume the foods you buy to prevent wasting any food. Fortunately, the list above provides a relatively long shelter life, so you can just have them in stock and prepare a meal whenever you want.
