Real Food Challenge: Week1

So the first Real Food Challenge went out this morning. We are challenged to clean out our cupboards. Since I live with my husband and don't force him to subscribe to my way of eating entirely, except for the dinners I cook, I obviously can't get rid of everything on the "bad" list. But I can take stock of it and determine where I can appropriately trim things down.

Taking Stock of My Cupboard:

Vegetable oils: I have only extra virgin olive oil, and extra virgin unrefined coconut oil in my cupboards

Sugar: I have a bag of "raw" sugar, two bottles of Karo syrup, and a can of apricots in light syrup.

Stevia: I've always been put off by non-nutritive sweeteners. So no stevia.

Margarine/Shortening: Same as stevia. Give me butter or give me death... or coconut oil, I guess.

Cornstarch: Used the last of it over a month ago, and keep meaning to get arrowroot at the store.

Soy Foods: I found out empirically that soy foods were a bad move for me, a while ago.

Dried Pastas and Noodles: One box of dried pasta

Iodized and Refined Sea Salt: Nope.

Meat and Dairy Replacements: Nope.

Processed Cheeses: Just local cheeses for me. Preferably made with raw milk, but I do have a ricotta salata, which doesn't say, and probably isn't.

Skim and Low-Fat Dairy: Why bother? The full-fat stuff is tastier anyway. Oh, and our milk is non-homogenized and from pastured cows.

Boxed Cereals, Crackers, and Cookies: My husband's granola and a box of Ryvita sesame crispbreads.

Wow, so far I'm doing okay. I have trashed the Karo and apricots, as no one needs those, and they're all really old anyway. I'm keeping the pasta for dinner emergencies, but I won't use it this month, and after it's gone, I'll switch to rice pasta for my occasional pasta fixes. The Ryvita will go to work with me, and the raw sugar will go into Super Bowl goodies next weekend.

That's all for my cupboard clean-out.