Someone on facebook asked me yesterday, as a newbie to raw foods, what would be some staples you would find in my kitchen pantry, fridge or bench top.

Very timely indeed, as I was just putting together my shopping list for the store, and thought you might like to see, usually what my shopping basket/trolley consists of.

Of course as much as I take a list to the store, I am flexible to sales, seasonal produce and also being inspired on the spot. 

I also only loosely meal plan for the week, as I like to have some spontaneity to my meals, however being a busy working mother, I do need to have some organisational flow to our meals.

Fresh Produce 

 Greens (eg baby spinach, romaine/cos lettuce, kale) for salads, smoothies & juices. As is sometimes the case in this region of the world, if I cannot find any fresh spinach or dark greens I will buy some frozen spinach.

 Lemons/Limes  (for dressings, juices etc)

 Bananas (for snacking and for peeling then freezing, for smoothies) I buy a variety of green, ready to eat now and super ripe so I can eat them as they all ripen on the bench

 Oranges (for snacking and to juice with lemons for liver flush drink)

 Garlic/ginger

 Red/golden apples (red for eating, golden for juicing)

 Cucumbers for juicing and salads and dipping

 Green onions/shallots for salads and also nut cheese/pate

 fresh herbs like basil, parsley & coriander/cilantro for guacmole, salads, juicing and smoothies

 Tomatoes (cherry or roma usually)

 Carrots for juicing and grated in salads

 Sprouts (or grown your own) to top salads and put in smoothies

 Avocados for making guacamole, or topping a salad to give it more density

 Red & green cabbage for juicing and also for shredding and putting in a massive salad with other greens and salad veggies and topping with a delicious home made dressing (I love the Spa Salad dressing here)

 Celery for juicing

 Zucchini for making pasta or chopping up and putting in a salad

 Pick out some seasonal fruits that you like too. Like mangos, watermelon, berries, pineapples, whatever you like. If you wish you can buy frozen berries, mangoes, peaches etc if you cannot get anything seasonal, for smoothies. 

Pantry

Himalayan or Sea Salt 

 Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 Nutritional Yeast (available from a health food store – may be called savoury yeast) – used to salad dressings and making nut cheese/pate

 Almonds & Cashews (Almonds for nut milk http://girlonraw.com/2010/03/video-how-to-make-nut-milk/ for smoothies and raw granola that I make, Cashews for making nut pate/cheese for topping salads and making wraps with)

 Nori or rice paper sheets for wrapping vegetables into, yep, you guess it, wraps and dipping into sauces

 Tamari (wheat free soy) or Nama Shoyu

 Roasted Sesame oil (for dressings)

 Pumpkin & sunflower seeds for making raw granola for a week’s worth – store it in the fridge and have it with almond milk

 Whole golden flax (don’t get brown as it tastes different) – don’t grind them until you need to use them, great in smoothies or I make dehydrated crackers and breads – you won’t need if you don’t have a dehydrator yet, but you could put flax oil in your smoothies.

 Pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds for making granola

 Raisins/sultanas 

 Dates (for sweetening smoothies or snacking on with almond butter/cashew butter)

 Almond/Cashew/Brazil nut butters for putting on fruit for snacks like apple/banana or celery

 Cacao powder (raw cocoa – great for smoothies and nut balls)

 Shredded/Desiccated Coconut (for nut balls and raw bars)

 Tahini (to make dressings and dips)

 Coconut oil

Hope this helps!!!

Of course I do purchase other items for our cooked meals as I do live with an openminded omnivore husband   but these are the things I’d suggest you start looking to include in your raw food pantry.

What’s in your shopping trolley/cart?