My Kitchen Essentials - Part Two

Here’s part two of my kitchen essentials – a few more of the various items you’ll find in my kitchen that I use regularly and can’t live without.

Herbs and Spices
I season just about every meal with herbs or spices. They’re the best way to add flavour – they’re so simple to use, you can create endless flavour combinations with them and they’re great for your health. Pepper is my number one and I used it just about all savoury meals. Some of my other favourites include dried chilli flakes, basil, cardamom, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, oregano, nutmeg, paprika, parsley, rosemary, smoked paprika, thyme, turmeric…and the list goes on!

Wholegrains
I always have a good supply of wholegrains on hand. My basics include rolled oats, rice (mainly brown, but sometimes also red or purple) buckwheat and quinoa. I’ll often have oats or quinoa for breakfast, and all sorts of wholegrains as part of lunch or dinner.

Yoghurt
Yoghurt is a delicious addition to breakfast, as a snack, as part of a salad dressing, atop a soup or in baking, It also has numerous health benefits, including digestive health as it’s a fermented product and calcium for strong bones and teeth. I like to use plain unflavoured yoghurt and it’s closer to it’s natural state and that way I can add my own flavours (like frozen berries…so good!). I specifically like Vaalia, which is one of the only brands of yoghurt that contains a specific probiotic strain, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), which has been widely researched for its numerous health benefits.

Canned legumes and fish
Many people seem to forget about protein but it’s oh so important to our health. Having some canned legumes (like lentils, chickpeas, black beans or white beans) and canned fish (like wild caught salmon, mackerel, kippers or tune) are so handy and convenient.

Cacao Nibs and Carob Kibbles
Cacao was mentioned in part one of my kitchen essentials but I had to give cacao nibs a specific mention here…as well as carob kibbles. A handful of these make for an excellent snack and are also delicious added to things like smoothies, yoghurt, muesli or a homemade trail mix.

100% Cacao Chocolate
This stuff is good…insanely good. 100% cacao is not for the faint hearted, it’s super bitter and oh so amazing!

Other Bits and Pieces
Other things that often appear in my kitchen include
- Milk
- Eggs
- Vegetable stock
- Canned tomatoes (BPA free)
- Tamari
- Miso paste
- Vinegar
- Rice paper
- Nori
- Extra virgin olive and coconut oil
- Tahini
- Dukkha
- Sauerkraut
- Pickles
- Maca powder
- Baking goods – including flours (buckwheat, oat, brown rice, and wholemeal are some of the ones I use most often), rice malt syrup, baking soda / powder and vanilla extract

Don't forget, if you're curious about how to use any of these goodies in your cooking, check out recipes and instagram for ideas! Also, if you have any questions about any of the ingredients I've mentioned, get in contact with me to ask more!