Have you ever looked at a recipe only to realize that you don’t know what a lot of the ingredients are? Well let’s start demystifying ingredients.

Perusing through recipes is a favorite pastime of mine. As well as collecting cookbooks, although I’ve gotten much better than I used to be. A recent conversation about ingredients got me to thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some sort of guide that removes the mystery as well as gives you ideas of where to obtain these items?

I often take for granted much of what I know, and I’m sorry I do that because it’s not that I’m ungrateful by any means, it’s just I don’t think about backing up the train and sharing more often, if that makes sense.

So this post is about breaking down some basic ingredients that I use and are a staple of my pantry and should be in yours as well. If you have looked at any of the recipes I share here, then perhaps you’ve had questions too. This is for you and anyone whom you think will find it helpful.

Fats

Coconut oil, cold pressed

Extra virgin olive oil

Avocado oil

Lard (from pasture-raised hogs)

Tallow (from pasture-raised beef)

Unrefined sea salt (not bleached with minerals still intact)

Celtic

Redman’s Real

Pink Himalayan

Sea 90

Kefir (fermented cow or goat milk)

Ancient Grains (We generally define ancient grains loosely as grains that are largely unchanged over the last several hundred years and are more nutritious than refined grains with higher protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Many ancient grains thrive with lower levels of pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation, making them an attractive choice to consumers who choose to shop with their carbon footprint in mind.)

Spelt

Kamut

Einkorn

Emmer

Faro

Teff

Millet

Amaranth

Quinoa

Sorghum

Unbleached flour (not what you buy in the store – comes from a good bulk food store)

Whey (the watery part of milk after separated from the curd – considered a complete protein)

Sweeteners

Rapadura (Rapadura is the pure juice extracted from the sugar cane (using a press), which is then cooked to evaporate off the water, whilst being stirred with paddles. It is then sieve ground to produce a grainy sugar. It has not been cooked at super high heats and spun to change it into crystals, and the molasses has not been separated from the sugar.  It is produced organically, and does not contain chemicals or anti-caking agents

Sucanat (basically the same as rapadura, only an industry trade name)

Arrowroot powder (You can use arrowroot powder to thicken soups, sauces, and stews. It works exactly like cornstarch but without the scary refinement process or question of: “are there GMOs in this?”. It is one of the easiest starches for the body to digest as well)

Now for the where to buy. I shop at a local bulk food store that carries these items and most are organic. If you don’t have a local store, you can always find these items online. Google the item and often times you’ll find it in places like Amazon. Shop for both quantity and price. You’d be amazed at the differences there are.

While this list isn’t all inclusive, it’s a great beginning. If there is something you have a question about, please feel free to ask and if there is something that should be added, please share that below too.

 

To your health,

Kellie