The Refrigerator

This article was taken from Real Simple Magazine.

  

Dairy and Staples

HUMMUS
Keep tubs on hand, plus bags of baby carrots. The combo is a low-fat, high-protein snack alternative to hunks of cheese or a fistful of cookies. Hummm.. dont know what this is. Will need to check it out. What IS hummus?! I try to limit my carrot consumption, because carrots turn to sugar, but may try this.

CHEESE
Replace mellow, soft cheeses with sharp, harder ones. A small amount packs lots of flavor, saving you both dollars and fat grams. Look for aged Cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano. I got away from buying cheese, because it is hard to only eat one ounce and cheese is mostly fat.

EGGS
Keep eggs in their carton on a lower shelf to guard against the loss of carbon dioxide and moisture. The shells may look impermeable, but they are covered with tiny holes that can absorb odors and flavors. Been doing this! Yay!

BUTTER AND MARGARINE
Use real butter where it counts, but sparingly. Keep sticks in a covered dish. (Freeze sticks you're not using.) When it comes to margarine, soft kinds in tubs and those labeled "trans-fat free" are the only healthy butter substitutes. I like the I Cant Believe It's Not Butter spray. It has zero calories and tastes great.

CHICKEN BROTH
Buy it in resealable cartons. Use it to cook rice, mash potatoes, or saute vegetables for rich flavor without butter or oil. (Add broth to a warm skillet with the vegetables; cover and cook until tender.) Look for low-sodium or organic broth. I like real broth instead of cannned. When I boil chicken, it's mostly to make soup, but sometimes I separate the broth into little baggies and put it in the freezer. It has more flavor than water to add to rice, but will need to consider it also for cooking potatoes and veggies. Great idea!

YOGURT
As with milk, go for low-fat instead of nonfat to enjoy more flavor. You can bake with it or drain it through a coffee filter for yogurt "cheese." I think I eat too much dairy. Sometimes, I will freeze the flavored yogurt and whack at it with my spoon. Takes longer to eat, but it's like a treat.

MILK
One percent milk has enough fat for baking but isn't unhealthy to drink. Buy milk in opaque containers to protect it from light, which can reduce the vitamin content. More dairy. I eat too much dairy?! I also like to make sugar-free jello chocolate pudding for that chocolate monster in moi. Wonder how it would taste frozen?! Must try that.

ORANGE JUICE
Select juice that is calcium fortified. There's barely any difference in taste, and drinking one glass will give you a third of your recommended daily allowance of calcium. I dont usually buy juice. It has too much sugar. I like to eat the orange instead.

Oils, Water, Produce

SALAD DRESSINGS
Your healthiest bottled-dressing options are vinaigrettes made with olive oil, but if you have a weak spot for creamy dressings you can make them last longer (and eat fewer calories) by thinning them with milk, mild rice vinegar, or herb tea. Tossing a salad with dressing before serving it is the key to using less. I checked out all of the dressings at the supermarket and the lowest in calories is Italian. I prefer the Zesty Italian because it has a kick.

MAYONNAISE
Go for low-fat mayonnaise rather than the low-cholesterol kind. Regular mayo doesn't have a lot of cholesterol to begin with, but it does have a great deal of fat. I try to stay away from mayonaise, but when I do, I buy Miracle Whip light. Have to have that kick!

DRINKS
Keep filtered water or seltzer in the refrigerator and you'll always have a cold, refreshing, healthy drink on hand. (Soda consumption in the United States surpassed milk consumption in 1994 and is still shooting upward.) I try to stay away from sodas, but if I do, I buy the diet lemon-lime to mix in sugar-free jello or the diet root beer to make a black cow. A black cow is made with diet root beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream... yummm...

LEFTOVERS
Spoon leftovers ? even the take-out kind ? into glass or plastic containers that are microwave-safe. Some take-out trays and yogurt tubs are made from a kind of plastic that can leach chemicals into food at high temperatures. Avoid reheating in plastic containers that aren't designated microwave-safe. Leftovers are a life-saver... I do this. It's great to reach in the freezer instead of taking time to prepare a fresh lunch. Saves a lot of time.

BAGGED LETTUCES AND VEGETABLES
Consider bags of baby spinach and other salad greens a shopping-list staple. For longest shelf life, buy prewashed greens in single-variety bags (the fragile leaves in salad mixes spoil first and can ruin the whole package). Combine them with more economical lettuce, such as iceberg, as needed. I do this too. Iceberg lettuce has little nutritional value, but combining it with baby spinach adds some nutrition and it is more economical. I like to add cilantro to my salads... again, that kick!

PRODUCE
Put produce in its place. That generally means either out of the fridge entirely (tomatoes and tropical fruits) or in one of the bottom bins, where the humidity is controlled. When vegetables lose moisture, they get limp and may lose vitamins. Spinach can lose as much as 50 percent of its vitamin C if left out overnight. Yikes! This means I must only buy what fits in the lower bin.

OILS
Olive, canola, and sesame oil are your healthiest options. If you have all three, you'll be ready for just about any kind of cooking. All are best kept in the refrigerator, because they oxidize when exposed to heat and light. Oxidized oils taste rancid and may release free radicals, which are linked to many health risks. Chilled oils may become cloudy, but they'll clarify at room temperature. Never thought about keeping oil in the fridge. Will need to try that, esp since a bottle of oil will usually last me for about a year.

The Freezer ~ Warning... I am a freeze-a-holic. I keep everything in the freezer including coffee and chips... although I have given up chips during this journey.

PREPARED FOODS
Packaged meals come in sensible portions ? but with sky-high sodium content. (The bulk of the sodium in the U.S. diet comes from prepared foods, not from what we use in cooking or sprinkle on at the table.) With homemade frozen foods, wrap tightly, label, and date. Meals stored in the freezer should be used within three months.

WHOLE GRAINS
Brown rice, whole-wheat flour, and oatmeal are the best grains to stock, but they should be kept cold. Unlike refined grains (the white ones), whole grains contain the outer bran as well as the inner seed, or germ. The germ contains some fat. And, like cooking oils, that fat can oxidize at room temperature. Humm... never thought of this. I keep cornmeal and flour in the refrigerator, because it keeps out the bugs and it keeps them fresher longer.

SWEET SNACKS
When frozen, marshmallows get caramel-chewy and grapes end up tasting like cold gumdrops. Either will give you satisfaction without giving you fat. I usually only buy grapes on New Year's because they have too much sugar but they do taste great frozen. I wonder what marshmallows taste like frozen. Will they taste just as good when you put them into sugar-free hot chocolate?! 

BANANAS
When bananas are too speckled to pack in lunch bags, throw them into the freezer unpeeled. The skins will blacken, but the fruit will stay sweet and ripe inside. Blend one with orange juice, berries, and yogurt (no need for ice) for a breakfast smoothie. Bananas have too much carbohydrates but when I do buy, I do put them into the freezer to put into my shakes.

NUTS
Freeze an assortment ? peanuts, pistachios, almonds, and walnuts ? all of which are loaded with antioxidants. Don't worry about the fat. Nuts are mostly made up of monounsaturated fats (the good kind). Like oils, nuts need to be kept cold and out of the light to remain fresh. Nuts do have a lot of fat. I like to put them into the refrigerator because they taste better cold, but I am curious to taste them frozen.

ICE CREAM
A University of Pennsylvania study found that the larger the container, the more careless we are about indulging. Buy ice cream in four-ounce individual servings or pints. This has got to be true! I like to buy the sugar free fudge pops and popsicles during the summer months, but comparing ice creams, vanilla is usually the lowest in calories, so I might buy that~ esp to mix with a black cow or eat in a sugar-free ice cream cone. Yummm..

SOYBEANS
Here is the healthy, high-protein snack that will break you of the potato-chips-before-dinner habit. Edamame (soybeans in their pods) are the best-tasting tofu alternative. Drop them frozen into boiling water for a few minutes, drain, and salt. Serve warm or chilled (with a separate bowl to collect the discarded pods). Hummm... wonder if Sun Harvest has these. Will need to look for them.

All in all, I'd say, my fridge and cupboards are usually packed with healthy options. What I do with what's in my refrigerator and in my freezer and what I put on my fork are choices that only I can make, though, but only I can be the heroine of my own weight-loss journey.