My journey towards clean eating has not been a sudden rampage, in fact over the past 3 years I have made slow and steady changes to decrease my consumption of processed, preservative and sugar filled foods, to those of the natural unrefined variety. It’s a bit of a daunting thought to suddenly opt for no sugar, no gluten, no dairy (I eat some dairy), no anything and so I ambled it out one step at a time. My pantry is now filled with ‘real food’ ingredients, rather than ‘ready to go’ food – which can be a disaster when I’m having a hangry moment and desperately require food as I routinely come home STARVING. My flat-wife, Leonie, is used to me falling in the door and requiring a teaspoon of honey or some berries to pep me up – not something to strive for folks. Note to self: be more organised.
‘Super foods’ as they are called can cost a small fortune, so if you’re keen to invest in a few I would aim to purchase one a week or so, you don’t need them all at once. Alternatively you actually don’t ‘need them’. Eating clean can be as simple as buying fresh fruit and veges – organic is ideal but these are pretty spendy and you have to start somewhere, so as long as you wash the produce well (use water and white vinegar, then rinse with fresh water), one step at a time is good. I buy organic where I can but I’m no millionaire and prefer to live within my means so realistically you can do your best, but you can’t always do it all. Baby steps. If you’re thinking about etching towards clean eating or to cut out a bit more sugar and a few preservatives, a good way to approach shopping is to focus on the outer isles of a supermarket and less on the inner isles. In general you’ll find your fruit and veges, meat, fish, full fat dairy, bulk bins of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and frozen items – veges, berries etc, in these isles of a supermarket. The middle isles are mostly filled with packaged food items – biscuits, chips, tinned stuff (which depending on what you are buying can be good!!), sweets, chocolate etc. Just after I launched this blog my Mum quizzed me on a couple of ingredients that I had used and it reminded me that I used to spend a lot of time googling ingredients in order to figure out what the heck they were, and where I could buy them without breaking my bank account. So I thought I’d ramble a wee bit about some ingredients that I find useful to have on hand …
Cacao powder – is the rawest form of chocolate. It is made from the whole unprocessed cacao bean. The beans have been ground and pressed into a paste and then the powder and butter is separated. Cacao is super high in antioxidants and contains a whole bunch of Serotonin (the happy hormone, hurrah!). It is pretty bitter so for those of you who are used to milk chocolate or even relatively dark chocolate, it may take you a little while to become accustomed to the taste but it is really good for you – no joke – and does take you to a whole new world of chocolate joy. I still eat milk chocolate or similar every now and then, but I have to say that my taste buds definitely veer towards dark – cacao dark – chocolate. It’s pretty satisfying too so you really don’t need much of it to curb a craving. Cacao is rich in magnesium as well which is a bonus, especially for women as we lose magnesium when we get our periods (blergh) – hence the mad chocolate cravings some suffer from. I like to use baby muffin moulds (reusable silicon ones are handy) and make a stash of raw choc and bung them in the fridge or freezer as treats (see my j’aime le chocolat post). This is only one use of cacao though, you can use it in smoothies, museli, baking in general, and beauty products – chocolate mud masks anyone? It is a bit pricey but does last for a long time as you only need a little to reap the flavour benefits. It’s pretty punchy stuff!
Cacao nibs – as above, these are wee nuggets that pack a flavour punch. They are a great alternative to chocolate chips in baking or scroggin, but definitely take some getting used to as they are not sweet, but bitter. They add a bit of visual zing to food by sprinkling them on top of smoothies and cakes. I like them thrown into my breakfast as they add flavour but are also full of antioxidants which are great for your immune system, and like cacao powder, they are also rich in magnesium and help you’re your bones stay strong and boost your mood. I wouldn’t say cacao nibs are a must have – they too are a little pricey – but they are handy for experimenting with as you get into the swing of things.
Chia seeds – some would say that I am rather a passionate chia seed consumer. Again, a bit pricey but there are some decent websites in NZ that do some good deals, otherwise you may wish to purchase at a conservative rate. The first time I bought chia seeds form the bulk bins at the supermarket I was pretty liberal about my pouring approach and just about fell over at the checkout when they went through at almost $20. GAH! I would encourage you to take the approach of weighing before paying. Chia seeds are excellent though, they are a great source of protein, iron (more than spinach), omega 3 fatty acids, Calcium, Magnesium, are high in fiber and helps to balance blood sugar. Essentially a dream food. They do have a jelly-like consistency when mixed with liquid as they swell a lot and some people don’t like the texture of this, so if that is the case you can mill them and use chia powder on your breakfast, in smoothies and baking. As mentioned in my green smoothie post, chia seeds are perfect for throwing into smoothies etc in order to release vitamins A, E D and K.
Almond meal/flour – essentially ground almonds, handy for baking!
Rice flour – milled rice, also a great flour for baking.
Arrowroot powder – good binder in baking and useful in homemade beauty producs.
Quinoa – pronounced ‘keen-wa’, is a seed, jammed packed with good stuff for ya! Quinoa is super high in protein, is gluten free and I find it to be a delish base for salads. To make quinoa go a little further, an option is to mix it with some brown rice.
Nuts – obviously everyone knows what nuts are but one thing I’ll say is that if you’re trying to go clean, then opt for the raw variety (sob) which if you’re used to roasted and salted nuts, will take a bit of getting used to so pace yourself. As noted in my post about nut milk, it’s a really good idea to ‘activate’ nuts, i,e soak them before eating as this removes an acid which can make digestion a little more difficult – especially for those who already suffer from stomach/digestion issues. You should find this will make a difference. Nuts are a good source of protein and good fats and are great to have on hand for when you need to use nut flour in recipes. Just throw raw nuts into a blender and bam, nut flour. Nuts are also excellent in Bliss Balls and other baking delights!
Coconut oil – a decent price and excellent for cooking and baking with. Coconut oil has an extremely smoke temperature so is perfect for using to cook with at high heat as it won’t turn into a nasty fat in your food or your body and it’s a medium chain fatty acid which basically means that our bodies can process it, rather than storing it as fat. So despite it being a saturated fat, which we often hear are bad for us, it is actually ok and won’t make you fat as your body will use it as fuel – our bods are totes smart! Coconut oil is really versatile – and can not only be used for cooking and baking but is a great base for face scrub (I’ll add a post on this soon!) and is a cheap make-up remover as it’s an oil so whips make up off quickly and nourishes your skin while it’s at it. You can also use it as a general moisturiser if you like or mix it together with some shea butter and essential oils to make it a bit fluffier – more in this later.
Coconut – desiccated, shredded, thredded – cheap, and great to bung into a blender to make coconut flour, easy to whip up coconut butter (I’ll post this at some point), and makes delish coconut milk.
Coconut sugar – is a good step if you’re trying to ditch refined sugar. It might take a little bit to get used to the flavour, but once you do it is quite scrummy. Try not to go too wild though as it is still sugar, although it has a lower glycemic index (GI) than white refined sugar, which means it is broken down and absorbed at a slower rate than foods that have a high GI. Low GI foods are better for your blood sugar and insulin levels as they don’t cause such a dramatic spike in blood sugar as high GI foods do.
Brown rice syrup – is another sugar alternative for honey (although don’t put it on your toast!!), golden syrup or maple syrup. A bit cheaper and you don’t need heaps. Brown rice syrup is excellent if you can’t tolerate or want to avoid fructose! Agave is another alternatives but it does contain a boat load of fructose, which is a damn shame as it is yum, but is a good lesson on despite something being ‘natural’, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s great for you. Ho-hum, so much to learn.
Pure maple syrup – thank you Canada! Two of my most favourite people come from Canada which makes me a) instantly love Canada and b) assume that everything from Canada is amazing (yes? no?), one thing is for sure though, pure maple syrup IS amazing. It contains lots of minerals and had less fructose than honey or agave, and most importantly it lacks the injection of sugar that the cheaper stuff contains.
Pure vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste – these guys are a bit pricey but they last for yonks. Both are concentrated and you only need to use a little at a time, I think I would probably buy a pot of vanilla bean paste approximately once every 6 months. They really enhance baking and add a little something-something to homemade hot drinks such as hot cocoa and coffee, mmm so much goodness.
Dates or Medjool dates – depending on how wealthy you’re feeling. In general normal $1.99 packaged dates are fine but if you fancy splashing out on the real-deal-medjool dates I assure you, you won’t be disappointed! They are delightfully gooey and make a great caramel filling for raw chocolate caramel slice – ummmm yum. And what’s better than choc caramel slice? SALTED choc caramel slice. But I’ll blether more about that later.
Seeds – any sort of seeds you like are excellent for dressing up salads, throwing in smoothies and adding to baking or cooking. Some favs of mine are pumpkin, sunflower, linseeds and sesame seeds (super yummy sprinkled on roast pumpkin/veges). There are often rich with good oils and various vitamins add a wee bit of protein to your meals. Like nuts, you can ‘activate’ seeds by soaking them to release phytic acid; seeds to contain much less phytic acid but it’s still a good idea to soak them if you can summon the energy.
It can be a bit overwhelming starting off so take it easy and make small changes. Also make changes that make you feel good and that you notice making a difference to your body and how you function. Everyone is different and it can take some time to notice a change. An extremely knowledgeable and talented friend of mine, who is an integrative nutrition health coast and holistic facialist here in Wellington, Steph (see her details below this post; she is amazing!), has educated me a lot about my body, more than what I have noticed from just changing the way I eat but in regards to knowing that my body is smart. It is an incredibly intelligent machine. Bodies are made to repair and balance themselves, and the food we fuel our bodies with affect every cell, so change happens but it does take time.
Clean eating is a lifestyle choice that is aimed at nourishing and fuelling your body with real food that your body knows what to do with and can process. I personally don’t subscribe to clean eating 100% of the time, and I don’t want to be a preacher, but for me, I aim for an 80-90% hit rate and I find that works out well. There always needs to be a little room for a splash of spontaneity – and a few glasses of wine. Take what you like and leave what you don’t, and figure out what works for you on your own journey.
As mentioned above, if you fancy getting in touch with Steph you can contact her on 021 035 5769 or at stephaniemalcolmoffice@gmail.com – you won’t regret it, she is lovely and her treatments and life coaching will do wonders for your soul!
Wow, big post! Very helpful, thanks,