Getting prepped - cleaning out the pantry

They say at the start of any change in habit or challenge it's important to take away the temptation to maximise your chances of success. For JERF in June that includes clearing out the pantry of any sneaky processed foods that have crept in.

Now, I thought we were a family that ate relatively well and limited our processed foods, but...this is the before shot.


After spending a good hour or so clearing out items that didn't fit with my real food mantra, this is what I have left.

Bit of a difference! (Plus, wow, how easy is it to find everything now!!)

I really dislike waste, so I haven't thrown out the food that we won't be eating in June, I've stored it in a plastic tub so I can see how we feel at the end of the 30 days. Some foods may be reintroduced as a once a month/fortnight type splurge for the kids - things like the Weetbix and rice crackers. This is how full the tub is...

All this left me thinking about pantry staples for wholefood eating. 

In my pantry I have the following left:

- tinned tomatoes

- various tinned beans (mixed, cannellini, kidney, butter beans and chickpeas)

- coconut cream and coconut milk 

- tahini

- tinned corn (I've left this at the pleas of my son - but once it's gone, I won't be restocking)

- tomato paste (homemade and 100% tomato store bought)

- various homemade jams and marmalades (made with rapadura sugar)

- spelt flour

- wholemeal flour (to be used very rarely)

- brown rice flour

- bicarb soda

- baking powder

- rapadura

- maple syrup

- honey

- lots and lots and lots of herbs and spices 

- rock salt

- organic brown rice

- popcorn kernels

- homemade vanilla extract

- sunflower seeds

- pepitas

- flaxseeds

- sesame seeds

- cacao butter

- various dried fruits (organic where possible) 

- buckwheat

- oats

- lots and lots of shredded/desiccated coconut

- coconut oil

- olive oil

- macadamia oil

- a whole variety of nuts (walnuts, almonds and cashews are my basics, but I love to have macadamias and hazelnuts on hand too)

- quinoa

- chia seeds.

What I noticed I was missing from my pantry with the clean out were some of my homemade condiments - peanut butter, tomato sauce and bbq sauce. They've slowly been replaced with the store bought "easier" options. I'll need to get started on those this week so we've got some on hand once the June starts. More about those later this week though.

Tomorrow's job is to clean out the fridge.  

What are your pantry staples?