Staples in The Kosick Kitchen

The excuses surrounding cooking and making meals at home are something I hear on a daily basis in my nutrition practice.  Even just friends who say "how do you have the time to make all that?" or "I don't want to go to the grocery store every day to get all the ingredients to make ONE meal!"   And look, I get it!  However, if you don't start making some simple easy changes now, start practicing new ways of preparing foods, you'll always think "it's just too hard".  

SO, in order to help you out a little bit, I wanted to post the essentials of The Kosick Kitchen.  Foods that are always in our frig, our freezer, and our pantry that really lend me to make any and everything I do on a daily basis.  I rarely have to go to the store for 1 or 2 ingredients in order to make a fantastic meal.  

If you really want to do some damage, I'd suggest you do a nice kitchen clean out this spring and make room for all your clean healthy foods!  Get rid of anything that's past it's expiration date, anything that has HFCS, hydrogenated oils, or things that are just plain not good for you (you know what they are!).  And let's start fresh ehe?!

Quality is extremely important to me and Rob, and something I am almost never willing to sacrifice, thus we spend quite a bit of time at Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage.  As Rob always likes to remind me, "just because it's from WF, does not mean it's healthy."  True.  You still have to look for organic vegetables and fruit, mostly stay clear of the prepackaged isles, and choose organic free-range (when it applies), grass-fed (when it applies), preservative-free animal products.  

Alright here we go:
Our Frig-which we need to stock with veggies every 2-4 days

Kale
Spinach
carrots
celery
onion
tomatoes (typically now through fall)
asparagus (in season!)
strawberries (in season)
cucumber
zucchini
garlic
maybe ginger (i don't use it that much)
WF Honey roasted turkey
WF virginia ham 
Part skim 365 Mozerella cheese
Hummus
GF Brown rice bread (for emergencies ;))
almond milk (a few cartons)
ground flaxseeds (yes keep these refrigerated) 
organic sprouted corn tortillas
turkey bacon
chicken sausage

Our freezer- mostly comes from Vitamin Cottage (cheaper)

bison burgers
boulder Chicken
ground turkey
ground Chicken
Atlantic Salmon
maybe shrimp
sweet potato fries (very important! a pregnancy food staple :))
organic broccoli
organic peas

Our pantry

Justins Maple Almond butter
raw honey
rice cereal- Erewhon Brown Rice Crips, Cinnamon Chex, etc
brown rice grits (hot cereal, yum!)
GF oats
cashews
slivered almonds
brown rice pasta
sun dried tomatoes
tea- lots and lots of tea
soup- Pacific, Imagine, Annies
brown rice crackers
whole brown flaxseeds 
extra virgin olive oil
apple cider vinegar
spices galore


Honestly, I think that's it!  I may be missing a few things but you get the idea.

I didn't do this to brag or to say that "my food choices are perfect, so you should do exactly the same thing!!"  I always get questions about recipes, and about how I made something, when really it just comes down to what's available in my kitchen.  You have to learn to be creative too, because following recipes is still just following rules!  Make your own rules, and thus make your own creations.  This blog is here to help inspire you to make healthier food choices as often as you can.  

Happy Cooking :)