One Beet Wellness

Holistic Food and Lifestyle Coaching to Inspire Transformative Change

  • About
  • Work With Me
    • Private Clients
    • Corporate Wellness
    • Internal Medicine and Wellness Center
  • Join the Community
  • Resources
  • Recipes
  • Blog
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Healthy Living / Beetroot: Five Easy & Healthy Pantry Upgrades

Beetroot: Five Easy & Healthy Pantry Upgrades

October 2, 2013 by One Beet Leave a Comment

Quick_Easy_Pantry_Upgrades                                                                                                                                                (Photo credit Prevention.com)

There are so many approaches to clean and healthy eating.  One of the best ways to make more nourishing choices is to stock your pantry with healthier food.  I’ve found that there are a few easy swaps that significantly enhance the nutritional value of what you’re eating and help you get rid of the processed junk.

Here are my top five quick pantry upgrades –

Quinoa Pasta instead of Regular Pasta: This is the simplest way to transform a meal high in not-so-good refined carbs into a totally healthy plant-based complete protein.  Quinoa pasta is now mainstream because of many people looking for gluten-free pasta alternatives.  Even if you eat gluten I suggest making this switch. Quinoa pasta is totally delicious and doesn’t have the heavy texture and distracting flavor of many whole wheat pastas.  I promise you can make this swap without anyone in your household even knowing!

Almond Butter instead of Peanut Butter: Nut butters are a terrific source of healthy fats, protein, and vitamins, but some are better for you than others.  Peanut butter is the old standby, but in fact it’s not the healthiest nut butter available and can pose some health risks.  When peanuts are stored they can grow a mold that produces aflatoxin, which is a carcinogen and can be dangerous for the liver.  Given this, almond butter is a much safer alternative.  It has a delicious nutty flavor and actually offers even more nutrients than peanut butter does.  In particular almond butter has higher levels of vitamin E and magnesium – vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that supports the cardiovascular system and magnesium is particularly important for bone health.  I still use peanut butter when I’m making a peanut sauce, but use almond butter for all my other nut butter needs.  It is especially tasty on toast with a drizzle of honey.

Grains instead of Couscous: For some reason people often believe that couscous is a whole grain, when in fact it is just really tiny pasta.  It has all the same issues as it’s refined carbohydrate cousins and doesn’t offer much nutritional value.  Try making millet, quinoa, or brown rice instead of couscous in the future.  Each of those whole grains is bursting with nutrients and fiber.

Jared or Boxed Tomatoes instead of Canned Tomatoes: The natural acid in tomatoes makes it quite unsafe to eat from a can.  You can find some varieties that are labeled as BPA free (OK to eat those!), but in general it is safer to eat tomato products from glass jars or paper boxes where there isn’t any risk of leaking. Keep a particular eye out for a good brand of tomato paste – the extra cooking time to make the paste also makes the lycopene particularly bioavailable.  Ideally we should all be eating a spoonful of tomato paste every day.

Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of Conventional Soy Sauce: Soy sauce is a great condiment to use in cooking, but it tends to be filled with sodium.  I prefer to use Bragg’s liquid aminos, which has a similar flavor without any added sodium.  Liquid aminos are made from fermented soy beans and actually help the body absorb nutrients from food.  You can make a 1:1 substitution in any recipes that call for soy sauce or tamari.

You May Also Like:

  • Beetroot: Selecting Ripe FruitBeetroot: Selecting Ripe Fruit
  • Beetroot: Eating OrganicBeetroot: Eating Organic
  • Deep Winter NourishmentDeep Winter Nourishment

Filed Under: Healthy Living Tagged With: health coach, kitchen staples, pantry, shopping

« Early Fall Dinner Party Menu
Quinoa Pasta with Butternut Squash and Mountain Sage »

Subscribe to our mailing list

Interested in more? Sign up for the One Beet Wellness newsletter to get the good stuff delivered right to your inbox.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to One Beet Wellness! I’m Zoë, a Holistic Health Coach, Herbalist, and all-around wellness warrior. I offer boutique food and lifestyle coaching for busy, go-getter women and men who are inspired to heal themselves from the inside out. I’m passionate about living life to my fullest potential and helping you to do the same!

connect with me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Newsletter

Sign up for recipes, inspiration, and lots of love!

Recent Posts

Grilled Corn with Spicy Black Beans

Maple Cinnamon Granola

Maple Cinnamon Granola

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Categories

Instagram

Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow Me


Interested in learning more about becoming a Holistic Health Coach? I studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and can't recommend it highly enough!

Thrive Market

NEWSLETTER

Sign up for recipes, inspiration, and lots of love!

Instagram

Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow Me

Work With Me

Are you enjoying what you're reading and feeling excited about upgrading your food choices? Learn how I work with clients to guide and inspire them on this self-healing journey. Work with Me

Copyright © 2021 · One Beet Wellness  |  View website disclaimer