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Cooking Tips: How to Shop Your Cupboards.

by Stephanie

Cooking Tips: How to Shop Your Cupboards.

If you’re like me, you’re avoiding the big grocery stores and relying on grocery delivery services or smaller stores that shop for you and offer swift pick up.

Sometimes that means you’re not getting everything you want which means being a bit more creative when it comes to putting a meal together.

For the past couple of weeks, I haven’t been meal planning; I’ve been ‘shopping’ my cupboards to make simple meals.

Personally, I love making meals this way. I love the idea of looking into the cupboard and creating something from what seems like nothing.

Not everyone gets excited about this however so I wanted to offer a couple of tips on how to shop your cupboards so you’re not stressing about what to eat every day.

Option one: Shop the Fridge.

Always check to see what’s in the fridge first.

The food in the fridge is perishable so you want to make sure you use it before you use the food in the cupboards. Don’t be afraid to use those little bits of veggies that are leftover.

Here’s an example of what I did the other night.

I assessed the fridge and found the following:

  • Three small rainbow chard leaves
  • Celery 
  • A bunch of green onions

What I could have done with this:

  • Fry up to eat with scrambled eggs.
  • Sauté to eat with a can of lentils.
  • Add leftover rice and an egg to make fried rice.
  • Sauté, add ground beef, black beans, and brown rice (this is what I ended up making for dinner!)

I call the last one a skillet dinner. Anything can go into a skillet dinner really and you can change up the spices to make it taste different every time it’s made.

Skillet dinners are a great way to use up bits and bites of veggies in the fridge.

Another way to do this is in a salad.

For lunch yesterday I had a box of greens that desperately needed to be eaten. I used that as my base, added a few chopped green onions, chopped radishes, dill, some cheese cubes and half a can of wild salmon. 

I had broccoli pesto leftover from my pizza night so I thinned it out by adding more olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a bit of salt and voila I had a tasty salad dressing!

Option two: Shop your cupboards.

  • Do you have a can of lentils?
  • Do you have rice?

Make lentils and rice! Then you can go backward and use up some bits of food from the fridge to add to the dish. Again, it’s important to use up what you have.

If you have spinach or other hearty greens in the fridge or freezer add it to the lentils near the end of the cooking time.

This is also a great time to use up any canned or jarred items you’ve been storing in the back of the cupboard. I have some jarred smoked artichokes that I could also add to the lentils for an extra smoky flavour.

One more idea is to make beans on toast.

Sauté white beans with garlic, olive oil, and salt and then smash them onto a crusty piece of toast.

If you have salad greens eat this with a salad or you can eat it with whatever soup you have on hand. You could also fry up and egg and throw it on top.

I hope this gives you a few ideas on how to shop your cupboards.

Keep your meals simple to start and then once you get the hang of eating this way, you can start to experiment with different flavours.


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Follow me on Instagram • @lealoulemonade

From what I’ve heard so far, our property used t From what I’ve heard so far, our property used to be an apple orchard called Hope Farms in the 1800s. That’s all I really know (oh and that there’s a ghost we’ve yet to experience).

I was so excited to learn there were still 3 apple trees. But when we moved here no apples came.

The former owners must have trimmed them because truthfully they can be a bit of a pain when they fall and the animals and bugs get at them.

This year we started to see apples and then more apples and now all three trees are full of them. 

Many of them are wonky or blemished but they taste good! 

I picked this one today. It looks like I bought it from a store. 

‘Is that from *our* tree?’ The kids asked.

How cool and rewarding it is to pick food from your own yard. ❤️🍎🍏
Fun garden stuff! 🌱I picked some bush beans! M Fun garden stuff!

🌱I picked some bush beans! Most of them didn’t take. I think I have a furry little muncher eating the leaves…

🌱I harvested my garlic! I planted 16 cloves in November and now I have 16 bulbs! Pretty sweet return right there.

🌱My cauliflower is coming along! Almost there. 

🌱Not pictured are my mini watermelons! They’re so cute!

I’m learning lots and already thinking of what I’d do differently next summer.
Well, guess what? Our wellness retreat was cance Well, guess what? 

Our wellness retreat was canceled on June 24 because it was calling for thunderstorms all day - we had to make a call and guess what else? It barely rained! 

Such is life!

We managed to move most of the attendees to Sunday, July 16 and we'd love to open it up one more time to see if you would like to attend with them.

We'd love to see you!

As a reminder, here is the plan for the day:

❤️Welcome Circle
❤️Yoga + Group Reiki Class with Sonya Brar
❤️Cooking Class with me!
❤️Lunch together
❤️Meditation
❤️Closing Circle

I'm finalizing the yummy recipes we'll be cooking and eating. Fresh and local ingredients as much as possible. 

I'm also keeping the recipes simple because you're coming to recharge right? 

Join us on July 16! Link is in my bio @lealoucooks 
—-
@soar_wellness
Eat the rainbow(ish). 🌈 I find kids (and adult Eat the rainbow(ish). 🌈

I find kids (and adults) are more likely to eat veggies when we offer them like this. 

Sounds simple, but I find my kids eat more like this than when I put them in lunches or directly on their plates at dinner. 

Plus, it’s pretty on the table! 

I’m serving this with pulled chicken sandwiches for dinner tonight! 

Soccer night! ⚽️

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About Stephanie

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Hey! I'm Stephanie. I'm a Writer, Culinary Nutrition Expert and Cooking Instructor helping families cook nourishing meals. Read more about me {here}.

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