fruit and vegetable
Going paleo means making sure your kitchen is ready for your new way of healthy eating. This obviously means getting rid of unhealthy processed foods, refined sugar and flour, carbonated beverages, most of your vegetable oils and other paleo-unfriendly food items.
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But just like there are things you need to get rid of, there are also things that will become very valuable to you. These are your paleo cooking essentials and you will need to keep these essentials on hand to replace all of the processed foods you will be removing from your life. On the paleo diet plan, as with any dietary approach, there are going to be foods and beverages that you are going to love as well as foods and drinks that you absolutely hate. That’s just part of a lifestyle change. Thankfully though, there are many people who have already walked this ‘Paleo path’, and they have roughly 45 food items that became staples in their transition. And these foods can become staples in your life too.
Meats
1 – Shrimp
2 – Wild-caught salmon
3 – Uncured, organic, nitrate-free bacon
4 – Organic, free-range chicken
5 – Grass-fed beef
Dairy
6 – Organic, free-range eggs
Oil
7 – Extra-virgin olive oil
8 – Organic coconut oil
9 – Organic ghee
Beverages
10 – Black tea, green tea and herbal teas
11 – Filtered water
Fruits and Vegetables
12 – Apples
13 – Broccoli
14 – Kale, romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce
15 – Tomatoes
16 – Berries – raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc.
17 – Oranges
18 – Pears
19 – Melons – cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, etc.
20 – Carrots
21 – Spinach
22 – Asparagus
23 – Onions
24 – Brussels sprouts
25 – Beets
26 – Celery
27 – Cucumber
Spices
28 – Cinnamon
29 – Turmeric
30 – Black pepper
40 – Basil
41 – Garlic powder
42 – Cumin
Seeds and Nuts (unsalted, uncoated)
43 – Almonds
44 – Ground flaxseed
45 – Cashews
If you started with nothing but the 45 food items just mentioned, you could make a virtually endless number of paleo-approved recipes and meals. You can additionally purchase any fresh, organic fruits and vegetables that you like. For a simple start, focus on the 45 foods on this paleo essentials shopping list to take the decision-making process out of stocking your paleo kitchen.
Paleo Cooking Essentials Shopping Tip
When you are shopping at a traditional grocery store, there is a simple shopping tip that will save you a considerable amount of time. Shop the exterior of the store. When you walk in to the front door of your grocery store, imagine the right and left walls and the back wall of your store as a “U” shaped health food store.
The majority of the products in the interior aisles of the grocery store are where you find all your unhealthy processed foods that don’t make it on a paleo shopping list. Stick to the exterior of your store and you will not only spend less time shopping, but you won’t end up with any paleo-unfriendly foods in your buggy.
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