The Chris P. Chronicles

If any of you have the CrossFit Journal, you know it's a worthwhile investment. For $25/year, you get access to a ton of great PDFs and videos about everything ranging from how to deadlift to interviews with firebreathers like Tanya Wagner. You also are probably familiar with CrossFit HQ's Pat Sherwood's "Zone Chronicles." These are a series of videos where Pat tapes his meals and explains why he eats what he does. I'm always fascinated by these because as much as people will give guidelines on how to eat, I want to see how REAL people eat and WHAT they are eating. This inspired me to take pictures of our fridge and cupboards to show you what KDitty and I eat. So here we go.

THE FRIDGE

 

Top shelf, l to r: heavy cream for dessert, lemon juice to add taste to water, homemade almond butter,  apple sauce, greek yogurt, and olive oil mayonnaise

Middle shelf, l to r: tilapia, coconut milk, beef stew, stir fry with beef, cheddar cheese, and walnuts

Middle shelf, l to r: 4lbs top round beef for homemade jerky, 6lbs. ground beef for chili and tacos

Drawer, l to r: nitrate free bacon and regular bacon (nitrate free is amazingly better but also more expensive), mozzarella cheese sticks (we'll bring 1 for a snack at work), garlic

bottom shelf: 90 eggs from costco for egg muffins, coconut pancakes, regular scrambled/over easy/etc. eggs, and other recipes

Top drawer: typically bring a couple of clementines or an apple to work, avocados (usually have 1 for lunch and/or dinner), and head of lettuce (we use lettuce leaves instead of shells for tacos)

Bottom drawer: spinach and a LOT of carrots. That's what you get when you shop at Costco.

Top to bottom: butter (not the best since it's made from canola oil), teriyaki sauce (for marinating), ketchup, raw milk (this gallon is from Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting but we usually get raw milk from Farm to City), bunch of alcohol, condiments (mustard, relish, bbq sauce, etc)

THE FREEZER

Top shelf: plenty of fish oil (try to keep this refrigerated or frozen), ice packs for recovery

Middle shelf: bag of green beans and some frozen cuts of beef and pork loin. I think there's some ground venison there too.

Top shelf: coffee (drink it black if you can), chopped spinach

Middle shelf: a bunch of frozen pork loin chops, hamburgers, tilapia, and mozzarella cheese. Most from Costco.

Bottom drawer: More coffee, frozen berries and blueberries for smoothies/dessert, and frozen sausage patties for the egg muffins

Top to bottom: big bottles for grease and fats, 90-100% chocolate for dessert (100% is bitter so we will melt this for recipes), butter for baking, mozzarella cheese, fondue chocolate

COUNTER

L to R: knives (essential for preparing food), diced tomatoes and tomato paste for chili (will use about half of each can and then freeze the rest), coconut oil (used for frying eggs, greasing pans, etc. Will also just have a spoonful for good fats!), spaghetti squash, avocado, butternut squash, dried cranberries (lots of sugar in those, but used in homemade protein bars so only a few per serving)

CABINETS

Top to bottom: agave nectar (used instead of syrup for pancakes), apple sauce (for post wod fuel), cups and plates, more agave, lots of olive oil, vinegar, plastic baggies and spray oil (good for greasing paper muffin liners)

Top shelf: taco seasoning, vodka sauce (good way to change up chicken/pork taste), pumpkin (for pumpkin muffins), dice tomatoes, tuna (good for a quick snack or lunch)

Middle shelf: tomato sauce, coconut milk (for drinking straight up or in recipes), old pancake mix, pasta (yes we do have pasta! Very infrequently, but we do)

Bottom shelf: spinach dip mix in the back, plenty of gum, rolled oats, sardines (for a quick snack), mustard

CHEAT CABINET

My disclaimer is that we rarely use the things on these shelves. Those boxes of muffins and cake mix on top I've had for over a year. But you never know when you might have to bake someone a cake!

Top shelf: coffee mate, coconut flour, sprinkles, unsweetened cocoa powder, cake and muffin mixes

Bottom shelf: white flour, coconut flour, vanilla, syrup, marshmallows, baking powder, muffin liners, white sugar, brown sugar, salt

PLASTICWARE

Essential if you're going to buy in bulk and/or prepare meals ahead of time for the week. I'm a big fan of the Ziploc Twist and Lock containers. They are truly leakproof and can carry soup, chili, stews, yogurt, etc.

On the bottom are my tools for making coffee. My favorite way is to grind whole beans and then use the Aeropress. Makes an amazing cup of coffee: better than drip and even better than French Press!

ISLAND CABINET

Top shelf: food mixer and George Foreman (if you have a grill, even better)

Bottom shelf: sweet potatoes (for post wod fuel and sweet potato fries)

Mixing bowls, food processor bowl, onions. 

(not pictured: slow cooker. Although not essential, can make life easier for throwing in a few ingredients and having a stew, soup, or chili ready for you when you get home at night)

Hopefully you can see that we are not totally Paleo/Primal, but have moved away from bread and food that doesn't perish. It's definitely a journey that we are still working on; I still remember having a hard time giving up pasta every other day! Also, it is much easier to stay on track at home vs. going out or staying late at work. But by eating the best way we can at home, we can afford to splurge every once in awhile following the 80/20 rule. My advice is to keep educating yourself and find out both the WHY and the HOW of eating for health and fitness. If you have any questions, post a comment.