Protective Diet Class #117
This class walks you step-by-step through a weekly restock of PD refrigerator and freezer staples. Using key ingredients on a regular basis keeps you organized and saves money without overbuying, batch cooking or extreme meal planning. This Protective Diet kitchen system gifts you with flexible meal planning and easy fresh meal prep making fresh restock the most exciting day of the week.
Announcements
- Engage in our support group, Protective Diet Living (PDL). We want to know you and help you.
- Shop www.protectivediet.com/azure for many PD staples in bulk at low prices.
- Read the Newsletter associated with this class.
Vocabulary
Pantry Staples | Seasonal Fresh Electives | Veggie Broth Baggie | Organic |
Fridge & Freezer Staples | Set Up for Success (SUS) | Workplace for Wellness | Conventional |
Fresh Staple Restock | Anthocyanins | Batch Cooking | Pantry Par Stocking System |
Action Steps for Fresh Restock Day
- Clean Out the Refrigerator
- Before going to the store, make room in the refrigerator for the fresh items you will bring home. Assess what needs to be eaten, what has passed its prime, and what might be moved to the freezer for future use (such as the last bit of kale).
- From the refrigerator door, remove condiment squeeze bottles and jarred items that are nearly gone. Plan to use or discard them. Clean lids and jars/bottles to be refilled with freshly blended dips, dressings and sauces.
- Smell items that are plentiful to be sure they are still fresh. Consider downsizing them to a smaller container.
- Place items you want family members to eat next in a designated area, such as the top shelf of the refrigerator.
- Refresh your herb box with a clean towel, rehydrate herbs or move spent herbs to the Veggie Broth Baggie in the freezer.
- Empty crisper drawers. Inventory staple vegetables and determine what needs to be restocked.
- Crisper drawers can be removed easily and washed in the sink or bathtub with soap or vinegar and water.
- Use PD All-Purpose Cleaning Spray to wipe down refrigerator shelves, drawers, inner and outer doors and handles.
- Check the non-refrigerated fresh items: onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and fresh fruit.
- Do this clean-out & inventory the night before or the day of your fresh restock. Fresh Staples are listed below:
Basic Fresh Staples | Basic Freezer Staples | ||
Tofu, firm/extra firm | Cucumber | Blueberries | Corn Tortillas |
Carrots | Salad Greens | Strawberries | Fresh Ginger Root |
Red Bell Peppers | Cooking Greens | Mangos | Fresh Garlic Cloves |
Parsley | Lemons & Limes | Cherries | Peeled Bananas |
Cilantro | Broccoli/Cauliflower | Pineapple | Tofu, firm/extra firm |
Celery | Bananas | Sweet Corn | Tempeh |
Red Cabbage | Garlic | Green Peas | Seasonal Fresh Items |
Potatoes | Tomatoes | Ezekiel Bread | What’s on sale? What looks good? |
Sweet Potatoes | Onions | Active Dry Yeast |
- Go Shopping
- Follow guidance in PD-Ed Class #087 to keep restock lists including: fresh staple items that are restocked weekly, pantry or freezer items to restock ASAP, and those that can be budgeted/added gradually to weekly shopping. Take your list.
- Source PD pantry and fresh staple items at the highest quality for the best price in your area or online.
- Know what you like to get at each store. Know how much space you have and do not overbuy.
- Some items that you buy will “rollover” to the next week, so weekly stocking will not be necessary.
- The cost of whatever you don’t use in a week can be credited toward stocking pantry items.
- Keeping these fresh ingredients in stock will enable you to make Protective Diet recipes at a moment’s notice.
- If organics are not an option, get conventional. You are still getting fiber and protection from conventional vegetables.
- Bring your own reusable produce bags if you want to eliminate plastic and reduce your carbon footprint.
- Restock with Purpose
- Put fresh finds in the refrigerator in an organized fashion: salad greens on a shelf together, etc.
- Put items that need to be used first in the front. Spinach needs to be used before cabbage or romaine lettuce.
- Be sure to rotate tofu, putting the freshest in back.
- Put non-refrigerated items in designated places: a basket in the dark for potatoes, onions and garlic, etc.
- Wash and dry fresh herbs and set up your herb box for the week.
- Plan a set-up day (usually the day after fresh restock) to make ferments, sauces, dips and dressings for the week.
Cooking Tips
- Address cravings for sweets with frozen fruit or a Frosty. Rather than just satisfying a craving, feed your body/skin with antioxidants in fresh, whole foods. Taste bud reprogramming will sensitize your taste buds to the natural sugars in fruit.
- Do not add stevia to beverages more than twice per day. Gradually stop using it to sweeten things all together.
- Master the Storing Herbs Technique demonstrated in the video at the bottom of every page on the website.
- Reuse freezer bags. Designate and label freezer bags for certain items that are part of your regular rotation.
- Keep 4 boxes of tofu in the freezer. Transfer 1 box of tofu to the refrigerator to defrost once a week. Mark tofu that has been frozen & defrosted with a sharpie “X” so it is not confused with fresh tofu. They are not interchangeable in recipes.
- Many PD recipes use 2T. lemon juice, which = ½ lemon.
- Make the last piece of bread into breadcrumbs and freeze for future recipes such as Pepper Poppers or Stuffed Plum Tomatoes.
- When you make Italian Sausage, freeze a little bit so you have some to make a Quick Mix Pizza.
- You can substitute pineapple for the mango in Mango Salsa.
- Cover casseroles for baking with a piece of parchment, followed by a piece of foil to avoid aluminum exposure in your food.
- Place any baking item with a sauce on a rimmed baking sheet to avoid spilled or boiled-over sauce in the oven.
- Do not heat anything wrapped in plastic in the microwave to avoid plastic contamination in your food.
- Wrap sandwiches in parchment paper, then in a reusable plastic bag.
- When you cut into red cabbage, wrap a chunk in plastic wrap for handy addition to salads.
Student Q&A
Q: What should I use instead of erythritol if I am allergic to corn?
Q: Can you put frozen yeast right into the bread recipe or do you have to let it come to room temperature?
Q: How long does yeast last in the freezer?
Q: Can you use potatoes that are starting to sprout?
Q: Can we use plastic wrap to preserve dishes in the refrigerator?
Encouragement
- I want you eating and thinking, “I am serving my body. I am healing my body. This is so good for my body. This is so good for my skin.” It lifts our mood and helps us feel like we are serving and benefiting ourselves. Our minds are powerful and so is the food.
- I splurged. I don’t buy ice cream anymore. I don’t buy processed, packaged foods. I buy protection in the form of organic purple cabbage and I will use every last bit of it. Purple phytochemicals are super powerful at inhibiting cancer cell growth.
- After a while, you will know how much you need of everything. I know these ingredients by heart. I always keep them in stock.
“Every week I want you to have a fresh start. These staples are how I make this happen every week. These things I never run out of. These things are always stocked. They are not elective.”
Recommended Recipes
Recommended Classes
Class Description:
This class walks you step-by-step through a weekly restock of PD refrigerator and freezer staples. Using key ingredients on a regular basis keeps you organized and saves money without overbuying, batch cooking or extreme meal planning. This Protective Diet kitchen system gifts you with flexible meal planning and easy fresh meal prep making fresh restock the most exciting day of the week.
Class URL: https://protectivediet.com/courses/protective-diet-education/lessons/class-117-fresh-restock/
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