's Daily Message - Staples

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's Daily Message SundayFebruary 05, 2006STAPLES

Do you ever open your refrigerator, look around, and say to yourself, "Why, there`s never anything in here for me to eat." Gee, I wonder why. The fridge is quasi empty because you don`t know what to keep in it. If you`re trying to lose weight, get in shape or maintain, you have to keep the healthiest of foods in your kitchen. When I open my fridge and look around, I see foods that I can use to make 50 or more different recipes. No matter what week or what month you look in my fridge, it pretty much looks the same. Keep these staples if you want to start eating more at home.

Dairy: I always buy fat free cottage cheese, fat free sour cream, fat free milk, fat free yogurt, parmesan cheese, and Laughing Cow cheese.

Fats: Olive and vegetable oil, pecans and almonds, avocado and a margarine that helps lower your cholesterol, like Benacol.

Vegetables: I would say this food group takes up the most space in my fridge. I have 4 produce drawers, and 2 of them are filled with salad stuff like iceberg, Romaine, and butter lettuces, bell peppers, carrots, celery, yellow and purple onions, radishes, jicama, and cucumbers. The other 2 containers are filled with broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, zucchini, yellow squash, and string beans. And the cherry tomatoes are on the window sill. I like the ones called Nature`s Sweet.

Protein: Egg Beaters, grilled or steamed chicken breasts, cans of tuna, ground turkey meat, halibut steaks, and cooked beans like red, pinto, lentil, or navy beans.

Fruits: Whatever Mother Nature has in season, I get! Strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, apples, oranges, and grapefruits. I never waste my time on drinking juice, because it disappears so quickly. I take my time and eat fruit in its natural state.

Starches: Whole wheat whole grain bread, a container of brown rice, also a few cooked yams or sweet potatoes, and cooked pasta.

All I have to do is open my fridge, and I`m ready to create omelets, fruit plates, French toast, all kinds of salads, open faced sandwiches, stir-fries, casseroles, vegetable plates, and other balanced, healthy meals. I wonder what I would find if I opened your frig?

Love,