The A-Z of useful pantry and fridge items

Almonds

Almonds are incredibly useful in a low carb kitchen for cooking (as a partial flour replacement) and snacks. Especially useful for quiche and cheesecake bases. Avoid buying from the supermarket in little bags as it will destroy your budget - instead look for 1kg bags at bulk bin shops or ethnic supermarkets. Expect to pay $15-20 per kg, but they go a long way. A little home grinder is a very useful tool so you can produce your own ground almonds.

Chocolate

Yes, there's even chocolate in my pantry! The best 85% cocoa content chocolates are Lindt 85% ,which is available in most supermarkets ,and Green & Black's Organic Dark 85% which is not so easy to find. Both of these chocolates contain sugar as the sweetener but have carb counts of around 15-20 grams carbs per 100 grams. Frankly, I prefer to eat this chocolate than the sugar-free chocolates that are sweetened with sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, which usually cause some level of gastric distress!

For the purist a 100% cacao chocolate is available in NZ. The brand name is Schoc and it's available online and in several delis and specialist chocolate shops. This can be used to make chocolate bark and in chocolate dessert recipes, and you can add the sweeetener of choice. Then again, if you've trained yourself, you can eat it straight! The Schoc Black 100% chocolate has a carb count of 6.8gr per 100grams.

Coconut Flour

Gluten free, low carb, high in fibre, fat and protein - very handy for baking or thickening or even making batter for fish! It's not cheap but it goes a long way, it can be found on various New Zealand websites with a quick Google search.

Coconut Oil

Used for cooking (frying) although it’s an expensive (but delicious) choice. Can also be added to hot drinks as a daily supplement. It is best to buy virgin coconut oil and the best ones we have found are the Celebes brand, available from John Appleton, and the Zenian brand available from Zenian and possibly New World (to be confirmed). Coconut oil can help in many ways to improve your health.

Eggs

Used as a dietary staple by many of us low carbers for a good protein and fat boost with virtually no carbs. 

Fats and Oils

We recommend avoiding highly polyunsaturated oils (vegetable based) as they deteriorate quickly and are also known to go off once in contact with oxygen as well as promoting concerns around issues such as cancer. Instead aim for oils which can are high in monounsaturated fat. Use extra-virgin olive oil for dressings and go for a less expensive olive oil for cooking with - they have higher smoking points. And guess what - butter IS good for you!

Flaxseed (also called linseed)

Flaxseed is an incredibly useful ingredient with many health properties. Mainly used for bread and muffin style recipes flaxseed is available in normal or golden varieties. The "normal" variety can be bought in bulk dispensers (as whole seeds) or ready ground (Healtheries have a ready ground flaxseed usually found near the flour or baking section in your supermarket). The golden variety has a lighter taste and less strong flavour but usually needs to be bought from a health food shop like Ceres. Ground flaxseed can go rancid in the pantry so is best stored in the fridge in an airtight container once opened or ground, whereas the seeds are long lasting and fine in the pantry. The seeds can easily be ground in a domestic spice or coffee grinder. The whole seeds have little nutritional value as they aren't absorbed. Flaxseed is high in fibre as well.

Fruit and Berries

Fruit and berries can be part of a low carb lifestyle however these are more commonly used as treats rather than everyday menu items due to the high sugar content. Berries are far easier to incorporate as part of a daily low carb diet (for example in smoothies or flaxseed muffins), and the frozen ones from the supermarket offer a brilliant all year round supply. Be very careful of dried fruits as the amounts of concentrated sugars can be horrific. Click here for a quick guide to the fresh fruit and berries most commonly available in New Zealand.

Gluten Flour

A handy baking ingredient to add body with far fewer carbs than flour. There's a good Healtheries version available at most supermarkets - right next to the ground flaxseed!

Herbs and Spices

An essential part of any pantry, herbs and spices are used to lift and impact flavours. They are not carb free though, and it's often easy to overlook the carb content they add to a dish if you are seriously carb counting. Click here for a quick reference guide to the carbs in the most common herbs and spices found in New Zealand (this section will be updated to include fresh herbs and more spices).

Nuts

Used as snacks - but judiciously! Also added to cooked dishes and can be used in ground form for cheesecake and quiche bases, etc. Raw nuts are best, so check the carb count tables for the lowest in carbs. Peanuts are not nuts but are legumes and are best eaten rarely if at all. Shop around for the freshest nuts you can find as you don’t want them to be rancid. Store in the freezer to keep them at their nutritional best. Click here for a quick guide to the carbs in the most common nuts found in New Zealand.

Protein Powder

Used for making protein shakes as meal replacements, snacks or protein top ups and also used in some low carb cereal recipes and baking recipes (like pancakes). Check the carb counts on the nutritional labels and look for whey protein powders rather than soy protein powders. There are various online suppliers and prices can vary widely so consider a bit of research time well spent.

Psyllium Husks

A great high fibre natural product and a useful filler for low carb bread recipes. Known for laxitive properties too - used in commercial products such as Metamucil. You'll find psyllium husks at your local health food shop.

Sauces

It pays to be aware of the carb counts of the common, and not so common sauces lurking in your pantry. For some of the higher carb rated ones (eg: sweet chilli) look at your supermarket for sugar free or low sugar options. Click here for a quick guide to some of the more common sauces found in many pantries.

Seeds

Used in ground form as part of an LSA mix (ground linseed, sunflower seeds and ground almonds) for baking. Healtheries and Ceres both have LSA mixes which should be available at your local health food shop or supermarket. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are both great to add to salads or have as snacks. As with nuts, look for the freshest source and keep refrigerated.

Shirataki Noodles

Shirataki are traditional Japanese noodles which are very low in both carbohydrates and calories. Made from the konjac plant they are largely composed of water and glucomannan, a water-soluble dietary fiber - they have little flavour of their own. You can find them usually packed in a liquid in a sealed plastic bag - the liquid can leave quite a strong smell so parboiling, draining and rinsing once or twice is often required to get rid of this. These are available at Japanese supply shops. Use for stir fries, Asian soups or even where you'd normally use spaghetti. We even have a dessert recipe on our site.

Sugarfree Syrups

Used where you don’t want a bulky sweetener. These are notoriously difficult to find in New Zealand. Da Vinci caramel flavour is sometimes available from Cerebos online. The Italian Syrup Company also supplies some supermarkets with small bottles and sells them online too.

Sweeteners

Used as sugar substitutes. Ideally, we try to not depend on these artificial sweeteners too much. There is plenty of research about the possible side effects of using some of these sweeteners, in particular aspartame - also known as Equal or Nutrisweet.

Note: Be aware that granulated Splenda (in the box) is bulked up with maltodextrose which can have weight gain effects for some people. However you can crush Splenda tablets sometimes to use in recipes instead.

The better sweeteners to choose are Splenda, stevia or the sugar alcohols xylitol and erythritol. Xylitol and erythritol are available online from Annie's.

Takeaways

Ok, these aren't really part of our pantry but in a busy life are likely to be an occasional choice you have to make or work around. So to make it a little easier we've done a quick summary of 4 of the main takeaway choices (burgers, chicken, pizza and made to order sandwiches). We have stuck to those who have on their websites an official nutritional information fact sheet just so we get it right and will add to it! Click here for our recommendations so far.

Vegetables

Being low carb means a rethink of the vegetables you eat. Click here for a quick reference guide to carbs in vegetables commonly found in New Zealand.  

Xanthum and Guar Gum

These are forms of water-soluble fibre, extracted and purified. These are used extensively in many processed foods you may already buy. Low carbers can use these in small quantities for thickening soups, casseroles and sauces. Take a pinch and sprinkle finely over the surface of the hot dish and stir in briskly. A little trial and error is necessary but I find a good pinch will thicken a sauce or gravy. If you'd prefer not to use then thicken your dishes using the reduction method.