The REAL Foods Guide

 
 

Once you’ve decided to shift your eating habits, it can be challenging to know what to eat or buy at the grocery store.

This is our guide to help you get started. Know that it will get easier as you continue to practice this way of eating and see the benefits of doing so!

Real Foods Include:

  • Fresh fruit

  • Fresh vegetables

  • Legumes (black beans, pinto beans, lentils, garbanzo beans)

  • Grains (quinoa, brown rice, rolled oats, buckwheat)

  • Starches (potatoes, yams, plantains)

  • Seeds (flax, chia, hemp, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)

  • Nuts and nut butters (walnuts, almonds, macadamia, cashews, pistachios)

  • Proteins (organic meat and seafood, organic eggs, organic tofu, spirulina and algae, pea protein, hemp protein)

Breakfast Ideas:

  • Smoothie made with fruit, nut butter, leafy greens, and pea protein powder

  • Chia seeds soaked overnight with fresh fruit and clean almond milk (recommendations below)

  • Steel cut oats with cashew milk, fruit, cinnamon, and raw honey

  • Avocado toast with sprouted grain bread (no preservatives), garlic, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper

  • Organic tofu or eggs scrambled with chopped onions, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes, cooked in coconut oil and topped with avocado and fresh salsa

  • Smoothie bowl with your favorite smoothie base topped with banana, chopped nuts, bee pollen, and hemp seeds

  • Apple with almond butter

  • Banana with peanut butter

Lunch Ideas:

  • Quinoa salad with chopped vegetables

  • Any salad base with avocado, tomato, onion, organic protein, olive oil & vinegar

  • Black beans with brown rice, fresh salsa, avocado, vegetables, and your choice of protein

  • Lentils cooked with curry paste, BPA-free organic coconut milk, and tomatoes

  • Raw vegetables with fresh hummus and a side of fruit

  • Nori wraps with microgreens, avocado, sauerkraut, cucumber, and hummus

Dinner Ideas:

  • Zucchini or sweet potato noodles with tomato sauce and cooked veggies

  • Cauliflower rice cooked with coconut oil, garlic, lemon juice, mushrooms, organic protein, and topped with avocado

  • Any salad or grain bowl base with chopped vegetables, hummus, sauerkraut, and your choice of protein

  • Baked sweet potato and beans mixed with salad or sautéed veggies

  • Vegetable stir fry with coconut aminos or coconut milk + green curry paste

  • Portobello mushroom caps filled with pizza sauce, chopped onion, spinach, basil, and cashew nut cheese (baked at 450 degrees for 20 minutes)

Sauce and Seasoning Recommendations:

  • Lemon juice and olive oil

  • Olive oil and vinegar

  • Coconut oil for stovetop cooking

  • Garlic powder for lots of natural flavor

  • Coconut aminos or liquid aminos for stir fries

  • Nutritional yeast for cheesy texture

  • Raw tahini and lemon juice

  • Hemp seed dressing: blend 1/4 cup hemp seeds, one full squeezed lemon, 1 tbsp olive oil, raw garlic, a dash of water, sea salt and pepper

  • Homemade hummus: blend cooked chickpeas with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and a pinch of sea salt (add other seasonings or herbs to mix it up)

  • Tahini dressing: blend 1/4 cup tahini, raw garlic, olive oil, lemon, and honey to taste

  • Almond butter dressing: almond butter, coconut aminos, lime juice, raw honey, cayenne pepper

  • Ceylon cinnamon

  • Himalayan sea salt

  • Cacao powder and cacao nibs

Products we Trust:

  • Sunwarrior Organic Protein Powder, Natural

  • Wildwood Organic Tofu

  • Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Bread

  • MALK Almond Milk and Cashew Milk

  • Forager Unsweetened Cashew Milk

  • GT’s CoCoYo Coconut Yogurt

  • Tessemae’s Organic Lemon Garlic Dressing

  • Tessemae’s Organic Green Goddess Dressing

  • Wildbrine Saurkraut

  • Roots Original Hummus

  • Majestic Sprouted Hummus

  • Rao’s Homemade Tomato Sauce

  • Hemp Hearts Hemp Seeds

  • Navitas Organic Cacao Nibs

  • Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos

  • Braggs Liquid Aminos

  • Vitamineral Green Powder by HealthForce Superfoods (Amazon)

  • Chipotle Bitchin’ Sauce

  • Cilantro Chili Bitchin’ Sauce

  • Majestic Hummus & Dips

Recipes:

Recommended Superfoods:

  • Spirulina powder

  • Organic frozen wild blueberries

  • Fresh celery juice

  • Bee pollen

  • Hemp seeds

  • Flax seeds

  • Coconut oil

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Ceylon cinnamon

  • Chia seeds

Real Foods Tips:

  • Always aim for fresh foods. When you buy something packaged, aim for products with no more than five (natural) ingredients.

  • Cook batches of sweet potatoes, quinoa, and beans to have on-hand for the week.

  • Try to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables to your meals as possible.

  • Don’t be afraid of natural fats (avocado, nut butter, coconut oil).

  • If you buy something packaged, avoid ingredients like “sodium nitrate,” “artificial flavors,” “carrageenan” and even “natural flavors.”

NutritionMarina Harmon