How to Stock a Healthy Pantry

" -Hello! I'm Dawn Jackson Blatner, registered dietician with FITNESS magazine and I'm here in the house of Stephanie Liegl. So, are you gonna be ready to show me your pantry?"

" -Yes."

" -Let's go."

" -Okay."

" -First thing I noticed is a lot of good, whole-grain cereals. That's the most important thing when you're choosing a cereal---- whole grain. I also see that you have granola which is a great way to get whole grains. However, it can be pretty high in calorie. So, what's the portion size?"

" -A quarter cup. "

" -So, a quarter cup---- awfully small. So, just be sure when you're going to eat it, measure it so that you're doing yourself, you know, not too many calories in the morning."

" -Okay."

" -And speaking of calorie control and portioning, dried fruit is a very good way to get nutrients; however, you don't get very much. So, that too, just be conscious about portioning. How many prunes do you get?"

" -Five."

" -Yeah. So, eat those nice and slow. When you think about fruits, a lot of times canned fruits can be great but they can also not be so great."

" So, you have a great version here of no sugar added. I think that is fantastic. A+ on this!"

" -Great."

" -I found something I wanna get rid of, though."

" -Oh!"

" -And this is fruit with sugar added, so there are a lot of additional calories here with not a lot of nutrition. So, I'm gonna put that away and have you keep that no-sugar-added fruit."

" -Okay."

" -Now, when it comes to sugary treats and snacks, here is something---- frosting---- which does taste delicious but this has a lot of trans fats in it which are not good for your heart."

" So, I'm going to take this away and ask you to whip up a batch of home-made frosting for all of your birthday parties."

" -Okay."

" -Okay. So, let's talk about snacks a little bit too. I notice here---- this is a pretzel bag. A lot of people love pretzels but they're very processed. They're not a whole grain. So, I'm gonna have you put those away and instead-"

" -Wait, it says fat free."

" -Yeah. Fat free is great but they're not whole grain, so they're not gonna give you a lot of nutrition."

" -Oh!"

" -But I did find something in your cabinet that I absolutely love that is a whole-grain snack----"

" -Okay."

" -that I would like you to eat even more of, and these are corn tortillas. And when you look on the ingredients---- What's the first ingredient?"

" -Whole organic yellow corn."

" -So when you hear that word "whole", you should be embracing it and loving it and know that you're doing your body a good thing."

" -Okay."

" -Just keep the portions. It says about how many chips?"

" -6 chips."

" -Okay. So, keep them small and add dips like salsa to bulk that up or even low-fat bean dip will help those 6 chips go a little bit longer."

" -Okay."

" -Okay. And I also---- in the kind of chip family---- I noticed that you have carrot chips. Now, when you eat these, it is giving you very good crunch but not a lot of nutrition."

" -Okay."

" -So, these are okay to keep----"

" -Oh, okay."

" -But just consider them like a chip instead of a real carrot."

" -Okay."

" -Okay, so good chip, not a vegetable. And the last thing I'll show you is when it comes to crackers. Crackers should be whole grain just like everything in your pantry, and so when I read this box. What's the first ingredient?"

" -Enriched flour."

" -Enriched flour is not whole grain. So, I'm gonna toss these and we're going to the store to get you some whole-grain crackers, okay."