Summer Fridge #StockedAndStoked
I’m thrilled to be back with a summer edition of #StockedAndStoked. After beginning this series last fall, and continuing it in the spring, I’ve come to really look forward to preparing these for you. (I’ll be sure not to skip winter this year.)
Visiting our Saturday morning farmers market during the summer is probably one of my most loved experiences of the season. The tables are buckling from abundant harvests, and the variety is astounding. The farmers even seem happier, smiling behind their piles of strawberries and towers of fresh corn. Goodness knows I would be too. We love purchasing the majority of our produce this way, and you can read more about how and why we do so in a Q&A here if you’d like.
Below is our methodology using this season’s produce, and a breakdown of each of the shelves above. I hope you find it interesting and/or inspiring in some way. Be sure to pop down to your local farmers market to get an idea of what is in season near you, and to support local growers, if you can. We go to ours every Saturday morning to stock up for the week, and this was taken on a Saturday afternoon after I had finished prepping :).
Happy summer to you.
Enjoy it’s bounty!
x Jessie
METHODOLOGY
Satiating carbohydrates:
The first thing I think through before prepping ingredients or assembling a meal, is what will deliver the satiation and calories we need. Most plant foods are very low in calories, so you have to eat more of them to meet your daily needs and to stay full. There are some, however, that carry larger quantities of energy than others. These foods serve as the base for all of our meals. Such as bananas, potatoes, whole grains, and beans/legumes. These foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, slow digesting carbs, and fiber. We love them!
You will always find bunches of bananas ripening on our counters with a few dozen in the freezer, a bucket of potatoes at the base of our pantry, and usually some sort of cooked beans and grains in our fridge.
Mineral-rich greens:
Next is what greens will grace our meals for the week. It’s summertime so we have plenty of crisp salad greens such as arugula and red leaf lettuce, pea sprouts, herbs such as basil and cilantro, still some broccoli, and kale in the freezer for smoothies.
Eat the rainbow:
Now we get to the rest of the fruits and vegetables which build up the bulk of our meals! I always think in terms of the rainbow, and select one or two from each color category that are in season. Right now purple means fermented red cabbage, blueberries, blackberries, and cherries; green is zucchini, scallions, cucumbers, and the mineral-rich greens mentioned above; yellow is corn, yellow bell peppers, and gold cherry tomatoes, with bananas and mango in our freezer (not seasonal, but staples for us still); orange is apricots, orange cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes; and red is strawberries, cherries, raspberries, tomatoes and red bell peppers.
Healthy fats:
We include healthy, whole food fats in each of our meals to help with satiation and vitamin absorption - not to mention, they are delicious! A few favorites of ours currently are avocados, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, nut butters, cashews, and tahini. I have a variety of nuts and seeds in jars to rotate through when making a batch muesli, nut milk, or snacks too.
Flavor enhancers:
Lastly I think about how I’m going to impart extra flavor into our meals. Every ingredient is an opportunity to layer in more nutrition. So we focus on fresh citrus juices from lemons and limes, mineral-rich nut and seed butters, fresh herbs, and a pantry stocked with spices, fresh garlic, and onions. We really love our dijon mustard and coconut aminos, too.
THE FRIDGE
Top shelf:
Homemade peanut butter granola (recipe), blueberries, and strawberries for breakfasts; grapes for snacks; fermented red cabbage, onions, and carrots to top meals with; bean sprouts for stir fry; fresh cranberry beans I couldn’t resist at the farmers market; and some dried fruit and nuts that wouldn’t fit in the door shelves (we live in a warm and humid environment most of the year, so cold storage is best for these).
Second shelf:
In various containers: arugula, pea sprouts, scallions, cilantro, green and red leaf lettuces, and chopped broccoli. (Hiding in the back are some almond and apricot crumb bars too.)
Third shelf:
Homemade hazelnut brazil nut milk (recipe), boxed macadamia nut milk (for Scott’s breakfast granola, he goes through milk too fast for me to make it myself), peppermint ice tea, baked purple and orange sweet potatoes, crisped tofu cubes, tempeh, cooked millet, cooked black beans, and a cashew cilantro sauce.
Left drawer:
In the crisper: cucumbers, zucchinis, bell peppers, and plenty of corn on the cob.
Right drawer:
Lemons and limes. We use these on everything and stock quite a few!
Fridge door (not pictured):
Jars of raw nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and chia seeds. Condiments: olives, mustards, tamari, and coconut aminos. Others: homemade almond butter, a jar of tahini, and sometimes a homemade jam. (See fridge door here.)
Freezer (not pictured):
A container of ripe, pealed bananas. Bags of blueberries and mango. Freshly frozen cherries, strawberries, and raspberries. Jars of homemade jams, currently strawberry and mixed berry. Local sourdough bread, sliced.
Countertop (not pictured):
A tray of ripening bananas, a bowl of ripening avocados, a plate of cherry tomatoes, onions and garlic, and a jar of fresh basil.
The Produce prep eBook is here! View.
#STOCKEDANDSTOKED
Questions about jars and storage containers? See my post here.
Questions about how we shop for produce each week? See this post too.
See others: spring fridge and fall fridge.
Tour my pantry here.