Slimming Friendly Essentials

Slimming Eats Essentials - Whether you are new or old to my website, these essentials are great for anyone trying to eat healthier, whether you are just looking for healthy recipes, counting calories or following a Slimming weight loss plan.

Meal Plans

Need some help with some meal plans? We have all these for you to choose from, including my What I ate this week series.

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Slimming Eats Food Diary

Need somewhere to record your daily food diary? Check out this handy Food diary you can print off to fill in each day.

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Over 900 Delicious Healthy Recipes

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Tips and Reviews

As well as recipes and meal plans, we also have some useful tips and reviews to help you on your journey.

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Slimming Eats Reviews

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Slimming Eats Staples and Essentials

If just starting on your weight loss journey or maybe you are looking for some new ideas for staples to add to your kitchen, well this section is just for you.

Below is a list of the basic foods I always make sure I have in my pantry cupboard, freezer and fridge.

There are obviously things I sometimes buy outside of that list, but these are some of the basic which are good to start with, obviously I don't buy all these items every week, it depends on the meals planned.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Apples (my fav’s are Jazz, Fuji, Pink Lady’s and Lady Alice varieties)
Bananas
Grapes
Watermelon
Oranges/Lemons/Limes
Berries - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries
Seasonal Fruit
Onions (red and white)
Garlic
Ginger
Tomatoes (Roma and Cherry varieties)
Courgettes/Zucchini
Mushrooms
Peppers (Red, Green and Yellow)
Salad Leaves (usually romaine or baby spinach/baby leaves)
Kale
Fresh Herbs (basil and cilantro/coriander are my main ones, occasionally Italian parsley)
Potatoes (sweet and white)
Butternut Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Parsnips
Rutabaga (swede)
Cucumber
Broccoli slaw mix (great in stir-fries)
Sugar Snap Peas

BAKERY

Sprouted Grain Bread
Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat English Muffins
Rye Bread
Whole Wheat Wraps
Pumpernickel Bread

DAIRY/FRESH

Eggs
Butter
Greek plain yoghurt
Quark
Low-Fat Cream Cheese
Mozzarella
Cheddar
Parmesan cheese
Feta
Milk

MEAT AND FISH

I always make sure I have a good stock of meat/fish products. I often buy big packs and then portion up and freeze, that way I can take out what I need without any waste.

The below are meat/fish items which I usually always have a supply of in my fridge or freezer:

Prawns/shrimps
Salmon fillets
Smoked Salmon
Extra lean ground beef/turkey/lamb - I typically don't like to use any leaner than 5% fat as otherwise it can be a bit dry, exception to this is when using in things like chilli
Stewing beef
Pork Loins
Chicken (breast, thighs and drumsticks), plus whole chickens come in handy too
Lamb Loins
White Fish - tilapia, basa, cod, haddock, halibut
Sea bass fillets
Pork Shoulder Roasts
Low Calorie sausages
Canadian bacon
Ham
Cooked Chicken

FROZEN ITEMS

It is handy to have a supply of the frozen vegetable bags so that you can always get that speed food on your plate, at times when you need to put together something quickly.

I always have a supply of the below speed food items in my freezer, as they can come in really handy when you need some quick speed foods:

Broccoli Florets
Cauliflower Florets
Carrots
Green Beans
Spinach
Frozen Berries
Stir Fry Veg-Mix

Sometimes if I have onions and peppers that are close to spoiling, I chop them up into slices and freeze in freezers bags. You can do this for a whole heap of vegetables and is a great idea for homemade oven chips (check the link for how to prepare those for freezing) too as these need parboiling if you want to free, otherwise they will turn black). I also add fresh chilli's, whole bulbs of garlic, and peeled ginger root into ziplock bags and freeze, as you never know when you might need some.

and then also the following:

Sweetcorn
Garden Peas
Edamame Beans (great for snacking)

STORE CUPBOARD INGREDIENTS

Rice (various kinds, brown, arborio, jasmine)
Pasta (penne, spaghetti, lasagne)
Broth/Stock Cartons (I prefer these over stock cubes, fresher tasting and cleaner ingredients)
Couscous
Bulgur Wheat
Quinoa
Lentils (brown, green and red)
Dried beans (chickpeas, kidney beans, haricot etc, super cheap to buy and handy for cheap meals)
Weetabix
Plain Oatmeal
Coconut oil
Ghee
Olive oil
Spray Oil (I pick varieties where the ingredients is 100% oil, no preservatives or emulisifiers)
Baked beans
Chickpeas
Butterbeans
Soy Sauce (tamari for gluten-free or coconut aminos for soy free)
Fish sauce
Sesame oil
Coconut milk, canned
Thai pastes
Mirin
Tabasco
Rice vinegar
Organic Turbinado Sugar
Balsamic vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
Passata
Chopped Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Marmite
Honey
Maple syrup
Tea and coffee
Arrowroot powder
Cornstarch
Tapioca flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Almond flour
Coconut flour
All-purpose flour
Extracts - vanilla, almond etc
Tuna
Sardines
Canned salmon
Selection of raw nuts and dried fruit
Unsweetened applesauce
Good quality dark chocolate
Almond butter
Peanut butter
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot
Sukrin Gold - brown sugar type natural sweetener with no aftertaste
Sukrin:1 - granulated sweetener with no aftertaste

HERBS AND SPICES

Far too many for me to actually list, oh boy you should see my collection. My advice would be to start with the basics and each week or fortnight buy a new one until you build up a good selection. Spices are what add all that lovely flavour to your food.

Here are the basics I really do recommend getting:

Sea salt
Black Pepper
Ground Cumin
Ground Coriander
Chilli Powder - mild and hot
Curry Powder
Paprika
Mixed Herbs (Italian Herbs)
Cinnamon
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

then a more extensive list of spices I like to have on hand are:

Cayenne
Garam Masala
Turmeric
Smoked Paprika
Sumac
Cumin Seeds
Mustard Powder
Dried Herbs - Oregano , Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, Parsley
Ginger
Cloves
Green Cardamom Pods
Cinnamon Bark
Bay Leaves

Start off with those and go from there. You can gradually add to those as you start cooking my recipes.

SNACKS

For snack type items, I try to have a selection of things around the 100 calories mark. Here are some of my favourites:

Cereal Bars
Popcorn
Chocolate
Crisps/corn snacks
Meringues - mix with fruit and yoghurt for a dessert
Pizzelles - these are an Italian wafer, great for topping with fruit
Flavoured Rice Cakes - again great for topping with fruit or peanut butter for a snack
I will also sometimes buy flavoured yoghurt that is not fat-free - I prefer the taste of 2% fat
Ice Lollies
Yoghurt
Hummus and Dips
Olives
Pickles/Gherkins
Fruit
Icecream and then I buy small icecream cones to serve it in, it make you keep a reign on the portion as I will just enjoy a small portioned scoop.