No Fast Food Challenge Day #7 (late posting)

Over the past several days, I've been sharing tips that have helped us avoid fast food. Admittedly, a well stocked pantry is the first step for me. Admit it, peeking in someone else's cupboards is a voyeuristic thrill. Although I confess, there are things I really wanted to hide before I posted this picture. Things I don't want my fellow adherents to healthy eating and green living to see. Photos don't lie and my pantry reveals that we keep chocolate drink powder and commercial cereals in the pantry. We have cake mixes and jarred pasta sauce. We have regular store bought peanut butter (as well as the natural stuff that only Mr. Daily Green eats and we keep that in the fridge), not to mention plastic bags and straws. But there also are enough essentials to put together just about anything we'd like to eat on any given day. 

With yesterday being the Superbowl, a day second only to Thanksgiving with potential for gluttonous eating, we had a full family schedule. After getting home from a morning at church, we all grabbed a quick bite for lunch, before heading separate ways. I was in the kitchen prepping for our evening grazing. I had a taste for lettuce wraps, the kind that I like to order when we eat out. My daughter asked if I was going to make buffalo chicken dip like I always did. I hadn't planned on it, but honestly, when I realized that she thought of that as a Superbowl tradition, I decided I needed to do so and surprise her when she got home that evening. Besides a well stocked pantry, I also recommend investing in a chest freezer. We buy our meat from local farmers and always have something on hand to thaw and eat. I also freeze fruit and vegetables for when it's not in season and beef and chicken broth (although I do keep instant soup base in the pantry if you look at my photo confessional). 

There are several guides online for stocking a pantry, I adapted the lists to my own needs, as a starting point. Take into account what you liked to cook and how often you'll make the effort. I have a ton of cookbooks, that I frequently peruse for inspiration, although with all the recipe sites online, a future project I have in mind involves becoming a minimalist on my cookbooks and (gasp) cleaning out my inventory. 

Basics

• Flours (wheat, white and bread)
• Sugars (brown, granulated, powdered)
• Pasta variety
• Grains (couscous, brown, wild and white rice, quinoa, oats, cornmeal)
• Oils (olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil)
• Canned/Jarred Tomatoes (sauce, diced, stewed, paste, sundried)
• Natural Sweeteners (honey, maple syrup)
• Vinegars (balsamic, white, red wine, apple cider, rice wine)
• Specialty Sauces (hot sauce, soy sauce)
• Nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, peanuts)
• Canned tuna
• Canned Beans and Dry Lentils (black, cannelini, garbanzo, kidney)
• Capers and olives (black, green, kalamata)
• Vegetables (onions, potatoes, garlic)
• Coffee and variety of teas

Herbs and Spices

• Oregano
• Basil
• Cinnamon
• Rosemary
• Bay Leaves
• Nutmeg
• Cardamom
• Dry Mustard
• Paprika
• Saffron
• Spice Blends
• Pepper (ground and whole, and red pepper flakes)
• Salts (kosher, sea salt, pickling salt, rock salt)

Baking Supplies

• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Cornstarch
• Cream of Tartar
• Cocoa Powder
• Chocolate Chips or Chunks
• Extracts (vanilla, almond, lemon, peppermint)

No Fast Food Challenge Day #6

Here we arrive at the weekend, past the halfway point of our challenge. One of our other downfalls with convenience food is snacking. Not just for meals, but even the need for a snack and suddenly the vending machine or drive-through is a quick fix.

Again, the key is preparation. One of my favorite new kitchen toys is a food dehydrator. I actually have the very inexpensive Ronco one pictured in this post. I've been experimenting with a number of foods since I acquired it, but my favorite is truly dried apples. They key to drying apples is to slice them thin, but not too thin and not to over-dry them. They should still be flexible and chewy.  Unlike the prepackaged fruit colored and flavored roll-ups, fruit dried in a dehydrator does not contain any artificial flavors or added sugar. It is pure fruit, just more concentrated. 

The one quart canning jar in the photo holds 7 dehydrated apples. One secret to dehydrating apples so they don't look like the shrunken apple heads kids made in elementary school is to soak the slices in either a lemon juice and water mixture after slicing, or citric acid and water. I prefer the powdered citric acid because it really draws out the tart flavor. I order citric acid online from a cheese making company. What is great about the dehydrated apples is that they don't get bruised in a bag and they are lightweight, making them an easily portable snack. I sliced the apples in the evening and plugged in the dehydrator. In the morning, they were ready. 

If you've never used a dehydrator, we highly recommend them. It's a great way to make a bunch of easy to carry snacks, from fruit to vegetables to jerky. Part of the challenge involves having a strategy in place to avoid the easy lure of unhealthy fast food. 

How many of you are trying the challenge? How are you doing so far? 

No Fast Food Challenge Day #5

By Keith Weller, USDA ARS [Public domain],
 via Wikimedia Commons

We are at the mid-point of the No Fast Food Challenge. It's going well and I want to continue to share tidbits that help me avoid the dreaded drive-through window, as well as my personal downfall, frozen convenience foods.

Today's hint is about filling up on fiber. I am a huge fan of fiber, even without alliteration. The Mayo Clinic recommends 25 grams/daily for adult women and 38 grams/daily for adult men. Dietary fiber is found in plant based foods and is the part of the plant that the body cannot digest or absorb. Other food components such as fat, protein, or carbs is broken down and absorbed by the body. Fiber passes through your stomach and small intestine, and colon relatively intact.

Fast food contains little, if any fiber. Instead it is loaded with fat, carbs, and some protein. The body doesn't feel full from such foods. Fiber on the other hand, because it stays in the stomach, keeps the hunger pangs away. Foods that contain fiber also can be considered "fast", fresh fruit, nuts, canned beans, high fiber bread.

I keep an array of canned beans in my pantry at all times.
I want to share a favorite bean salad recipe, adapted from Real Simple magazine. This salad is great to keep on hand for a quick lunch on the go.

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper together. In a larger bowl, mix rest of the ingredients. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad. Tastes best after it marinates overnight.

The best way to avoid fast food is to have something ready to go and to know it will keep you full. A high fiber diet is your best defense against mindless and unhealthy munching.