The Basics Part II

If you missed my previous post on the basics, you can find it here.

Last time we covered a few of the basics that are on our grocery lists.  Let's go over a few more.  Little by little you can do this!!!  I promise.

Forget the vegetable oil, it's no good.  Once you've started on the right track, you can do some more research in that area and perhaps expand your oil use.  For now, stick with extra virgin and light olive oil and coconut oil.  Cold pressed is best, but if you can't get that, try and buy the best brand possible.  Yes, it's going to be expensive, but oil can so dramatically affect our health.  It's worth it.  You should be able to do all your cooking between those three oils.

 

Forget Mrs. Butterworth's.  Go for the 100% PURE maple syrup.  It's spendier, but you can use a lot less of it.  Most syrups are chock full of high fructose corn syrup or refined sugars at best.  If you use syrup a lot like we do at this house, it's an important change to make.

Organic raw cheese is best, but it's not always readily available, I understand that.  Just like milk, you will want to get organic because if not, the cheese will be made from that same junk milk.  Trader Joe's has an excellent selection of cheese and Bridgeport Farms and Gardens sells raw cheese.

With flour, I will just say to make sure you are buying organic.  There are so many different types of flours and so many different uses, it's hard to pinpoint one kind or brand.  Use wheat as much as you can and when you need white, please be sure it's organic and unbleached.  So many brands bleach the flour, zapping the nutrients right out.

I am so terrible about what kind of pasta I buy, but I am trying to get better.  I have been slowly trying to change my taste for pasta so that I can actually tolerate whole wheat.  It's tough though, and some things just aren't right with whole wheat if you ask me.  However, there are a lot of times that whole wheat is just fine.  I buy some of my pasta from Bridgeport Farms and Gardens or...shame...Safeway.  I really love Barilla, but I do NOT condone you doing it!!!  I'm workin' on it.  No matter what, organic is obviously best.  Like with flour, the white pasta will come with less nutritional value.

So, go forth and buy better!