Pantry staples for a clean kitchen & starting a low carb, high fat lifestyle

People often ask me about the things I have in my pantry. More recently, since I began doing some private coaching to help those in Chalene Johnson's Diet Beta Test. I've been sharing much of this list with these clients embarking on low carb, high fat living as they start their pantry clean out and replenishment. Living in a food desert, I'm well aware how annoying it is to want to make a recipe and you don't have the supplies.

It's also hard to make progress on cleaner eating and your goals for feeling awesome when you don't have any of the right tools in place.

Yes, of course, it's expensive to stock a pantry and up-leveling your health comes in increments; not everyone feels the drive to jump head first.

However, pick the items most important for now and KNOW that many of these will last a LONG time. Pssssttttttt: Start with some better salt!!!

1. Get a free one-month membership to Thrive Market (It'll be worth it just to save $10 per jug on the collagen proteins!)
2. Coconut oil
3. Cooking spray
4. Good Sea salt (Celtic is the best brand, but for family use please also grab some Redmond's Real Salt and discontinue iodized salt)
5. Collagen vanilla collagen powder (just get two bottles; there's only 12 servings/$10 cheaper than their site and unavailable on Amazon)
6. Miracle noodles/zoodles (Crazy Fresh makes already spiralized veggies in the fridge section too; zucchini and miracle noodles will probably be the lowest carb once you get started)

  A. 0 carb rice
  B. 0 carb angel hair
  C. 0 carb spaghetti
  D. 1 carb sea kelp noodles (these are thicker, like rice noodles but aren't quite as tasty. Not bad though either.)

7. Avocado/olive oil:
Avocado oil has a high smoke point, meaning you can heat it up hotter.

Olive oil has a low one. Don't cook it on high heat.
(optional: you could pick up some sample infused olive oils at an olive oil shop to take with you and add to your food throughout the week/salad too if you wanted.

Alternatively, this stuff is absolutely legit incredible: Vigoa Cuisine. Miriam is the nicest, too. Caveat: it's pricey, like $19/bottle. I just ordered a case for the year. It's all you need for salad and rather than cooking with it, you season with it. It's too good to overcook and over-oxidize.
8. Essential oils--lemon, orange for flavoring water, smoothies, food
9. Hemp hearts/chia seeds/flax seeds (pick one, two or all--can get reasonably on Thrive or Amazon). I tend to put some in a jar in my cupboard or fridge for quick access and throw the rest of the bag in the freezer to maximize shelf life. High-fat seeds and nuts can otherwise go rancid more quickly than other processed foods.
What would you do with them? Bread your chicken with hemp hearts, make a pudding with chia seeds and nut milk, and the fiber in whole flax can help move bowels and ground packs a powerful Omega punch + plus can be used with water in place of eggs if needed. Not to mention these all boast disease and cancer prevention properties. I once interviewed a researcher that saw an immense reversal of colon cancer by dosing mice with a tablespoon or so of flax daily, and his results were not unusual.
10. Bulletproof brand vanilla shortbread bars:
Tiny ones
Regular sized
11. I LOVE pine nuts. They're heaven. And roasted pumpkin seeds.
Many people eat the same foods over and over (Hello, almonds) and over and end up creating sensitivities due to gut issues. Mix it up a little.
12. Mayo (Sir Kensington's is also good) Their ranch and other offerings are lovely too. But not their granola bars. Unless you were on a deserted island. Not my fave.
13. Coconut butter/aka manna- Might need this for some of the fat bomb recipes. Nikki's is another brand a lot of people use.
14. Vital proteins collagen is something I stir into my faux detox coffee lattes now and it's SUPER filling! Collagen is super for strong hair, nails, and radiant skin. Yay!
15. Stevia is my fav nutrient free sweetener. It may not work for everyone, especially those with ragweed allergies, but for those it agrees with, it makes a nice sugar sub. Sweet Leaf or some type of unbleached, high-quality Stevia is best. When it's a highly processed, bleached version (think Truvia) it's definitely subpar.
Cheapest price I've purchased it for is here. They also make tablets and on-the-go options.
16. Erythritol is another popular sweetener for LCHF (low-carb high-fat living). It's technically a sugar alcohol and you can learn more about that here. I probably wouldn't buy it first thing unless you KNOW you're going to want it for that sweet tooth or baking addiction. But one of the reasons some people go LCHF is to overcome those cravings for sweets, or it's a nice byproduct at least.