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Carb Proofing Your Pantry

Okay, so you’re fired up, armed with at least a basic understanding of the low-carb regimen, and ready to get started on your new lifestyle. If you’re like most people, you need to make quick and easy meals using simple and inexpensive fresh ingredients that you can find in your local grocery store (lucky for us that low–carb is not about processed foods, because processed will always cost more and give you less). Shopping and filling your kitchen with all the great low-carb foods that will keep every meal exciting and interesting is key to successful low-carb living. Before you start shopping, you need to carb-proof your pantry to make room for all those wonderful low-carb fresh foods you’ll be buying. It’s simple – just pack up all those foods that are high in carbs and low in nutritional value, starting with the white stuff: sugar, flour, pasta, and rice. Put them in a box and drop them off at your local food bank. (if others in your house are not on a low-carb diet, simply separate the foods and assign a low-carb cabinet that’s just for you.)

Reading Food Labels

Next you need to learn how to read food labels and get rid of anything that has added sugars. A low-carb diet allows natural sugars, such as those found in canned tomatoes, in moderation, but you don’t have to put up with products that conceal additional sugars, such as corn syrup solids or high-fructose corn syrup. You can find these added or hidden sugars by paying attention not only to the sugars or carbohydrates listed on nutritional labels, but also to the added sugars and starches in the ingredients list. When you get started reading labels, you will be surprised to find out where all that sugar has been hiding – in condiments, salad dressings, deli meats, and even canned veggies. Once you have the chips, candy, and white bread packed up and moved out, your pantry may be looking rather empty. Don’t despair – there are fresh low-carb alternatives and replacements for almost all those high-carb processed foods. Your pantry will only contain a few staples, and your refrigerator will be overflowing with all the good fresh stuff – and that’s the way it should be!

Grocery Shopping

Shop The Outer Aisles First
Simply put, shopping Low-Carb means sticking with the outer aisles of the grocery store, as that is where you will find all the fresh, healthy, and naturally low-carb foods that have always been there. Hit the produce isle, then make the rounds from the meat, poultry, and fresh seafood departments to the dairy and yes, even the Deli counter (who doesn’t need a rotisserie chicken from time to time!).

I’ve included a “Quick List” of some popular Low Carb Staples to get you started livin’ low carb!

Keep On Low Carbin’
George Stella

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Low-Carb Shopping Quick-List

Veggies
Some of the lowest-carb vegetables that we use almost daily are celery, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow and spaghetti squash, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, bell peppers, spinach, eggplant, and my favorite, mushrooms.

Fruit
You can’t go wrong with the lowest-carb fruits, which my family enjoys all the time – all berries, cantaloupe and honeydew. Strawberries are the best choice at about 1 gram carb each; next come raspberries. Blackberries, and blueberries, all loaded with antioxidants. Lemons and limes used sparingly in cooking are totally acceptable.

Fresh Seafood
In the fresh seafood department, I usually buy whatever looks so fresh it jumps out at me. Pretty much everything is a great low-carb catch in this department, from salmon (preferably wild) to shrimp, lobster, scallops, mussels, and clams, to any fish fillet.

Fresh Meats and Poultry
The sky is the limit in the meat department with all beef, chicken and pork being zero carb but why not widen your horizons and enjoy Italian and lean turkey sausage, turkey cutlets, veal and lamb, Cornish game hens, pork and beef tenderloin, and so on.

The Deli Counter
I usually pick up a rotisserie chicken for a quick dinner or lunch. You can’t go wrong with sliced deli ham, turkey breast, thick sliced bacon without nitrates, Italian dried meats and sausages such as prosciutto or capicola, and salami, pepperoni and mortadella are all great!

(*Note: Better brands are usually your best bet for the lowest carb deli meats, but you must ask to check the labels. They should read 0 or 1 gram carb per serving at most to be acceptable. And unless the store makes its own and lists the ingredients, I avoid premade salads such as chicken or tuna, as most are processed with sugars and starches).

Rules for the Dairy Isle
In the dairy department, where the main rules are to avoid milk, read all labels carefully for added sugars, and usually buy whole-fat products. (If you do decide to limit your fats by purchasing lower-fat dairy products, check carefully for sugars, usually added to replace the lost flavor and body of the removed fat.)

We all know eggs are in and cheeses for the most part are 0 carb; just make sure to buy real cheese and not processed “cheese food.” I also pick up staples such as sour cream and half-and-half cream and heavy cream for baking and cream cheese and ricotta cheese, which are great for making simple snacks.

Frozen Foods
The frozen food section has some great time saving options: inexpensive bags of spinach, broccoli, or cauliflower, which offer easy fixings for dishes such as cauliflower mashed “potatoes,” and frozen berries, which can stand in when the fresh ones aren’t available. And lastly, once you have shopped the outer aisles for all your fresh foods, you will need to shop carefully for low-carb pantry and baking items, making sure to read labels for carbs and added sugars.