The Processed Pantry

I’ve been trying to eat more “whole foods” more fresh items and less processed foods.   I’m not necessarily subjecting the rest of my family to the same dietary expectations while at the same time wanting my children to eat more healthful foods.   Some things are easy, such as eating fruit and vegetables, making meals at home or ordering better choices at restaurants, but there are other things that are more challenging.

My pantry is the biggest “problem” for better choices.   If it goes in the pantry, it should be shelf-stable, needing no refrigeration.   That for the most part equates to “processed” in some way.    I was talking to my next-door-neighbor today about this very issue as I know she and I have similar philosophies on food.    My question was, “what do you put in your pantry for snacks?  I’m having a hard time coming up with options.”

She ran through her pantry in her mind and she laughed and said, “most of the suggestions I have won’t work for  you because they have nuts in them.”   My son has a peanut itching allergy, my husband doesn’t eat nuts and my daughter hasn’t had a lot of exposure to them as a result.   The cereals we have (processed) can’t have nuts in them which rules out almost all granolas; the (processed) granola bars mostly have peanuts or peanut butter.   The trail mixes almost exclusively have nuts in them.

We have some crackers, cookies and chips.   There are pretzels and dried fruit, every bit of it processed.   Some items are better than others such as Triscuits which contain only three ingredients: wheat, oil and sea salt.   There are better options for cookies and chips that I purchase over other options.

I’m still working on my plan for a healthier pantry, but I can say it’s better today than it was two years ago.

The Big Boy Update:  We were riding in the Model X today and had just left the neighborhood at a very leisurely pace to go to lunch.   My daughter was asking if the car could go zoom to which her brother replied, “I think this car is too fast.”

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter and husband were busily working on creations in the bonus room before bedtime last night.   I came upstairs to find they’d made their own scooters out of plastic pipe tubes.   The colorful tubes were part of a set the children hadn’t played with in a long time.   Today, after the dual scooter incident, the Tubation tubes were all over the house, taking the shape of many imaginative forms.