Ep 57: Clean out your Pantry

As we get ready for summer it's important to make sure our pantry is summer ready with the kids being home from school and eating all the snacks.

I discuss:
-How to organize your pantry
-Nutrition Label reading
-Healthier Options
-Cooking oils

to grab our snack guide, head here:
Guide for healthy family (mailchi.mp)-no longer available

Transcript

Unknown: 0:09

Welcome to raising healthy humans, where you as a busy mom can come each week to find information on health and wellness for your family. Enjoy experts discussing tips to help raise children through each phase of life. Gather current information on nutrition and wellness. And listen to Courtney, a personal trainer, health coach, movement specialist and founder of forum fit a community where she helps busy moms move more. Here she provides you with movement and posture tips while sharing information you need to help raise healthy humans. As we get close to summer, the one thing I'm starting to think about is the amount of snacking that is going to be going on in my house. I have two teenage boys who are growing and a daughter who is very active. So our pantry is going to be accessed a lot. And I need to get my pantry summer ready. So if this sounds like you as well, then join me today as we are going to work on cleaning out our pantry, create some sort of organization and make sure that we have some healthy options for our children. As we head into summer, where I usually start with my pantry organization is I will usually go through my pantry and create specific shelving like organize my shelving. So I have a shelf where I have like the side dishes to my meals. So that's including the different Rice's the keen was the barleys, pastas, anything like that, that I think of you know, that I would be using as a side dish. Then I also have a shelf where I house all my breakfast type items. So for us in our house, we have some cereals, some oatmeals. This is where I put all of the nuts, and seeds. And then we also have like our oats and things like that, then I have a shelf for my children and snacky type items. So you've got your chips, and your goldfish and your pretzels and you know, anything that you would want to snack on. I put there my dried fruits as well down below that I keep a shelf with all my baked goods or I'm not baked goods, my baking items. So my different flowers, my different sugars, including like maple syrup, and honey, and then some of my seed butters that I use. So that would be that shelf. And then usually I have another shelf that kind of holds miscellaneous things and then all my canned goods are on the bottom. So this is how I organize my pantry, you may need to find something that works best for you. But I do like keeping like things with like, I think that makes it much easier when I'm going in to create my grocery list. And speaking of grocery list, another thing that I like to do is have the clear canisters. I have purchased the Oxo or Oxo not sure what you call it. But I have purchased those canisters to hold our goods because for me it is easy. Unfortunately, I would love to do glass. But you know, that's just terribly dangerous with three kids in the house. So we do have the plastic canisters, I have noticed that I had to get them big for my sanity truly, because I noticed when I would go to the grocery store, I would get home from the grocery store. And lo and behold, one of the kids would pick something up and be like, Oh, you didn't buy such and such. Like, say, my son cereal. You didn't buy cereal? No, there are two boxes of cereal. No, but they're almost a half. You know, they're more than half empty. They're almost gone. Okay, so for me I had to put things in canisters that way I can see what is left in it. It keeps the frustration from getting home and realizing that I didn't buy that now mind you I still forget things left and right. That must be the perimenopause brain going but at least this helps me to ensure that if something's almost empty, I'm picking it up. Now I will caveat this with you will have to fill these yourself for some reason is very different. Colt for the children to grab a bag and pour it into the canister. If anybody has a clue as to why that's so difficult, and how I can work through this with my children, feel free to let me know. Because that is one thing that they really struggle with, they'll just keep the box in there. So I have to put it into the canister. And I just realized that that's for my own sanity. So I'm willing to do that. Now I want to talk about labels. So a lot of questions I usually get has to do with label reading, people have a lot of questions about labels. And I would say the first thing you want to do is make sure that you're checking out the serving size, because I'm going to use a Coke, one of those, like, I don't know how big they come anymore, like 18 or 24 ounce Cokes, and people will assume that's one serving, but I think that's like two and a half servings or something. So it's important that we understand the serving size, so that we are ensuring that, you know, if you're getting something and you see that there's maybe four of something, and you're like, Well, my child will eat all four of those, and you see that that would be four servings, then maybe you want to steer clear from that item. The other thing is don't bother looking at the calories. This is a calorie is not just a calorie, it really isn't because you can have 100 calories of nuts, compared to 100 calories of m&ms, and they are going to react differently in your body, they are going to affect your hormones and blood sugar different differently, the way they are metabolized within the body is different. Usually even 100 calories of nuts, if you're not chewing them down completely does not mean you're going to be getting 100 calories within your system. So that is not the best gauge. Because we are we've learned so much more about the body, and how things how different foods affect our hormones, like I said, our hormones, our blood sugar, and then how those can create different responses in the body. So let's pull out don't even bother looking at the calories. What I want you to start to look at instead is the ingredients. There are lots of hidden things in our ingredients, I will go over a few of those for you. But you want to think the shorter the list, the better 10 or less is doing well. The more you can get it like below five, the better make sure they're all familiar ingredients. Can you save them all. I mean, these are things that you've heard before, I'm sure, make sure that they're everything that you can read, if there's something you can't read, look into it that you know, natural flavors is one of those buzzwords that has no requirements surrounding it. So natural flavors could be filled with chemicals, it doesn't mean that it's chemical free. It's just this little place that they've created to kind of house certain certain things that make it okay, these are natural. So it doesn't mean that it's good for you or that it's healthy. Just because it says natural flavors, things you want to steer clear of would be MSG hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, you'll find these a lot in your protein bars or your protein powders stay away from hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, you want to stay away from sodium, there's certain like maltodextrin, and things like that. Other names for sugar, there's a ton of names for sugar. And just because a sugar sounds like it might be better like a beet sugar, or a cane juice crystal or things like that doesn't mean they are better. So there are lots of different sugars that are out there stay away from the osis. So your fructose, your cellulose, things like that you want to stay away from those steer clear of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. These have been proven to be very bad for our system. And unfortunately, they can say 0% hydrogenated oils and still have a little bit less than 0% so like point zero 5% and they can still have it in the ingredients. So make sure you're looking for that because just because it says 0% you know no hydrogenic hydrogenated oils, it stood still could have hydrogenated oils within the ingredient ingredients. So make sure you're checking that stay away from all your artificial flavors, colorings, and natural flavorings. When looking at the top area of the nutrition facts, you want to make sure that you're limiting your fats, you're limiting the cholesterol, the sodium and the sugar. And then you're looking for things that are higher in fiber and protein. And then we go by a key of 363. So this is going to be it contains more than three grams of fiber contains less than six grams of sugar, and contains more than three grams of protein. So 3633 grams of fiber, higher six grams or less of sugar, and three grams of protein or higher. And this one is great for when you're looking for cereals. Because if you want to make sure that your fiber is high, your sugars are low and your proteins are high, you are more likely to get a healthier option for your sugars. When you look for things like that, depending on where you are on your health and wellness journey will depend on how much you need to work on swapping foods out within your pantry. But the one recommendation I have, as you're cleaning out your pantry, don't clean out everything. Like don't get rid of everything that your kids are comfortable with. You've got to start this process one at a time because you will have a revolt in your house if you do not do it this way. So just start with just look in your pantry and figure out what is the one thing I know that I need to get rid of one thing I would recommend if you in your household are soda or juice drinkers, get rid of it, that is the best fix that one of the quickest fixes, is getting rid of that that is empty calories, we do not need to be drinking our calories. That is one area that you can just work on getting out of the house very quickly. And I did mention like natural flavors that you shouldn't have those. And when I say like should and shouldn't understand that this is all you know, we got to, we got to pick our battles. And we've got to choose over time what is best for us. So yes, in a perfect world, I would say get rid of all natural flavors. But as I'm thinking about you working on if your household is soda and juice drinkers, we need to start pulling that stuff. So the first thing that I would recommend for juice, this is one of the easiest fixes is to start adding a little bit of water into their juice. So it might mean you're pouring it, you know, if you're pouring the juice or lemonade, you're pouring it and then you add a little bit of water to it. And you're gonna water it down enough over time to where they don't care about it anymore. It doesn't taste that good to them anymore. If you are looking at getting rid of sodas, here is where I talk about the natural flavors, because I would much prefer you drink those seltzers where they there's no sugar in them. But they do have natural flavors, because they have that essence that is so much better because you're still not drinking the calories. Yes, you're getting some of those natural flavors, which we know are chemicals. So not the best. But if it's between soda that is filled with chemicals plus the sugar, plus the high fructose corn syrup, which is obviously sugar. But you know all of those things. I'd much rather you go natural flavors with your seltzer water than the sugar. So you need to assess like, what how do I break this down to where my kids don't revolt and how they start, you know, start to work through that. The other thing that I would recommend is, if you know that they like one certain brand, I'm going to say goldfish, my kids love goldfish as well. So what we would do would be maybe you buy those Auntie Anne's, or another more natural product and you start mixing it in with the goldfish so that it's not every single one is a goldfish. Some of them are the end ends and I'm just using any answer as a, you know, a choice but it could be anything that you choose. That will help and then the other goal is to get them away from more of the ultra processed foods. So if you're looking at the colored like the goal goldfish with all the different colors, maybe you want to pull them into more of the plane goldfish. So they're not getting all of those added colors in there getting more of the natural, you know, product. So that's another way that you can do it. And you start just kind of moving that way with them. I have tried personally to get goldfish out of our house. And it didn't work. So I am content knowing that, for the most part, my children eat healthier stuff. They eat. I have some that eat nuts, but obviously others who have allergies, he doesn't touch any nut. But you know, there are, they're, they're eating fruits, they're eating vegetables, they're eating all of these healthier options, and they eat goldfish, like there's a point in time where you just have to be okay with some of what they're eating. So another one that I would recommend is, when it comes to chips, same thing, the more you can get to some healthier options with chips, I like this Yeti brand, I think they do a really good job of trying to make them like a healthier option, they use avocado oils, you can look for ones that use like avocado or coconut oil, when they are making their chips that will be to get those hydrogenated oils out of the house. So that is something you can do. And a lot of times it's just for the crunch. And you can always so one thing that you can do, especially in the summertime, where maybe things are a little bit more lacks, and you have time to kind of make some things on your own, get the regular chips, especially if they like say, you know, the flavored chips, the salt and vinegar in this sour cream, get regular chips, and then look at making some dips for your family like you know how you have the French onion dip, but don't buy that make something of your own. You can do like a dill dip, or ranch strip, dip, and use that for their flavor where they're getting some extra greens in some fresh dill, some fresh parsley, and use that as their flavoring, rather than the flavoring on the potato chip itself. So that would be an idea I have for you as well. We are also a household that tries a lot of different things to see what everyone likes. And this is something you may have to do, you may have to test a few items to look for some healthier options. We like you know, if your kids are looking for something salty, pumpkin seeds are a great option. You've got sunflower seeds start trying to bring in seeds. And you can do fun stuff with this as well. So think of it like a trail mix, where maybe you do put some goldfish in and then you put some sunflower seeds in or pumpkin seeds. And maybe you have a couple of little things of dried fruit in there as well for some sweetness. Those are ideas that you can have to kind of give your kids and healthier option. But they're also still getting some of the fun stuff that they enjoy. The other thing that I would recommend, and this is for those of you who may be at home a little bit more and have a little bit more time is creating those, you know, like the charcuterie boards. I'm not saying make a shortcut report. But they do have some fun boards where you can just go to the grocery store and buy those prepackaged like broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and have that and then have some snacks, so you've got your healthy snack, and then maybe you put some pretzels out and some cheese sticks and things like that, so that they're still getting some stuff that they enjoy. But for whatever reason when you put these things on a plate with fat, you know in a design or just having these like little bite size options for them, it makes them more apt to eat them. So doing that is a great option for your fruits and your vegetables. Just creating a whole platter that has some of the yummy stuff that you know that they love. And then adding a few fruits or vegetables into that platter to help them be more apt to grab at those as well. I'd also love to hear what type of items are you using? Have you found healthier swaps. And feel free to join us over in the form fit mom community and share what swaps are working for you. I've tested a lot of things and I'll tell you that some had been real misses for us. So I would love to hear what is working in your house and what you have maybe found that is a good option for a swap. I want to move into cooking oils a little bit. As I feel like we need to kind of address this, as I mentioned hydrogenated oils are not good for us to be having. So we really want to steer clear of your canola oils, your sunflower, safflower all of those oils. I'm not saying toss them out now, but I am saying that when you get rid of them when when they empty out, try not to buy them again, let's look at healthier options. So coconut oil is a great one to be able to use. There is a lot of new evidence out there about coconut oils and the health benefits. And there is a lot of new evidence that some of this information that was reviewed previously posted about coconut oil is just not true. I will say that they have done studies where they say that 30 milliliters a day does not impair cholesterol. So that would be about one ounce a day. So if you're thinking of using it for cooking, you might use two ounces, but that's distributed throughout the whole meal. So you know, think of it that way. This is great because it has anti microbial properties. It also has lauric acid, which is naturally found in breast milk, and it can be heated up to about 365 degrees. The concern is or not that it's a concern, but the negative is it tastes very coconutty. So if you don't like the flavor of coconut, then you're going to need to look at something else. So we also use extra virgin olive oil in our house along with avocado oil. And I use avocado oil in place of all like your canola or vegetable oils, I use that so if I'm baking something and I need oil, instead of coconut oil, because I have a child who doesn't care for that flavor, I use avocado oil, and it's very tasteless, compared to like the extra virgin olive oil that you can taste a little bit more than you can taste the avocado oil. So we use a ton of avocado oil in our house, when you are looking for oils, do not worry about looking for anything that says natural. If it says like natural avocado oil or something like that, that is a manufacturing ploy. And there's no difference. So it just costs more money, don't waste your money on that. Organic on the other hand has been shown to have two thirds less pesticides in them. So if that is a concern for you, then I would recommend when plausible and financially able to do the organic. When you are buying olive oils and avocado oils, they really recommend making sure that you find them in a dark glass, because when it's a clear glass, because it can be damaged by heat light in oxygen. So look for those dark glass and then keep them away from the heat and make sure that they have a cap on it that you can keep it close so it's not getting affected by the oxygen either. The companies I recommend are going to be chosen, they have a great product is the California olive branch. So that would be what I would recommend in regards to olive oils and all your oils. And then also pay attention to the sugar that you have in your house. The goal would be to limit the amount of sugar to no more than about six teaspoons a day and that would be full everything that they're having. And that can be done by making sure that you're providing protein and fiber with all of your meals. Making sure that you're adding more vegetables first and then fruit I think a lot of times when we say making sure to eat your fruits and vegetables we always go for fruit first. I am the same way. So I would just encourage you to think about your vegetables first and then your fruit. I'm not against fruit in my house. I think it is imperative for us to be getting for the antioxidants and all of the phytonutrients they offer so I'm not so much concerned about any type of sugar that is within them also knowing that your fruit When you have it with fiber, it is absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream with fiber, try to steer clear of anything with high fructose corn syrup in it, because that doesn't tell the body to produce leptin. So that's why you end up being hungry more because leptin is the hormone that tells your brain it's full. So that is why you can drink soda endlessly. So that is why I definitely recommend that you try to get that type of ingredient out of your house, the sodas and your juices, I would also steer clear of any of those sugar alcohols, all of those sugars that in in all so you're like xylitol, because those are usually made from corn, and they haven't a laxative effect. And then they also ferment in the gut. So we don't want that to keep a healthy microbiome in our gut. And last but not least, in regards to sugar, even though it's wonderfully delicious and creates a habitual set, we want to make sure we're steering clear of sugars, because it impairs white blood cells for up to five hours. So you are more likely to become sick when you are having sugar in your body. Lots of sugar. It also reduces antibody production. It interferes with how Vitamin C is transported. So all of these you're seeing why it affects our immune system so much. It also creates a mineral imbalance. So a lot of times we won't have like magnesium and potassium and things like that, because the more sugar that we're eating, it depletes those from our system. So the more we can just discourage our children from having it in every single thing. So I'm not saying that I would recommend steering clear of sugar altogether. But I mean, when we were when I was little, it was more of a treat, it was not something you got every single day. You you look at it that way. So work on maybe having you know, if you're a family that has a trade every night, maybe look at doing something different where you're having some fresh fruit, and then some chocolate or something on the side. Alright, so hopefully that helps you a little bit. I know I got a little sidetracked. But I wanted to help you maybe think about your pantry and things that you can do to kind of freshen it up and make life a little bit easier and a little bit healthier for you all this summer, providing you with a couple of snack items that you can enjoy. And I wanted to let you also know that I wanted to offer you a guide of 20 different snack ideas. These aren't specific to your pantry, but I'm hoping that they can provide you some good ideas for you in your children this summer, giving you an healthier option. So just go into our show notes and we will have the link for you there that you can click on to grab that guide of 20 healthy snacks that you can enjoy this summer wishing you all the best and make sure to keep moving thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to our podcast. I hope that you found this information valuable. And I hope that you were able to immediately use some of the information that was provided. Make sure to go check out our show notes for all of the links that we discussed today. As a mom, I understand that at times you can feel alone and are looking for that sense of community. Here at form fit. I am bringing moms together in a healthy and supportive community. I would love for you to come join us over in our free Facebook community that is form fit community. Join us over there where we can get to know you more. Or feel free to try out our membership free for seven days. It provides you with workouts recipe guides information on healthy hormones healthy habits, posture information, accountability calls, and in person in zoom events. Plus, you can receive one on one training from me for 50% off. Find out all the information by going to form sit online.com so that you can learn more. Now, go out and enjoy your day. A while practicing small healthy choices that will make lasting changes