Power To The Pantry: Introducing The Pantry Essentials Guide

Dear Readers,

Perhaps you've noticed that quality, authenticity, satisfaction, beauty and pleasure are all running themes of Real Food Rehab. And perhaps you've been subtly sparked by some of the ideas here and hopefully it's added to your life in good ways.

As many of you know, I began doing in-home kitchen makeovers and cooking lessons this year and it's definitely a life-changing experience for those who can afford it. But since it is my mission to educate and inspire others to experience the pleasures and life-giving effects of Real Food, it was important for me to develop something that could be available to everyone. So, I wrote The Real Food Rehab Pantry Essentials Guide. It's an indispensable tool for stocking your kitchen with an arsenal of high quality ingredients and storage staples for making healthy and delicious meals. The Guide is divided into four sections: Foundation Ingredients, Baking Basics, Perishable Staples and Ethnic Staples and is perfect for beginners and accomplished cooks alike. The Pantry Essentials Guide is also completely committed to sustainable, chemical-free food choices which you'll see reflected in the many suggestions throughout its pages.

The Guide is 9 pages of detailed descriptions and includes recipes, kitchen tips, web resources and brand recommendations. It's designed to create more pleasure, health, ease and satisfaction in the kitchen. It also includes checklists for each section that can be printed out and taken to the grocery store. And I should note, it's a guide to be experimented with over time; It might help to start by stocking the Foundation Ingredients first, along with some of the Perishable Staples and work from there.

The Guide is only $9.95 and can be purchased HERE or by clicking the orange link at the top right of the blog. The Guide is in a printable PDF format and gets sent to you via email.

Lastly, I want you to know how committed I am to what I do: I have chosen time and time again not to place ads and links that don't jibe with the values of Real Food Rehab and equally important, I want your experience on this site to be aesthetically beautiful. I take into careful consideration everything that goes up and that it meets the standards of beauty I preach here so often. Do I want to make money? Absolutely, but I want to do it by being true to myself, to you, and only offering things of value.

I do believe with all my heart that beautiful food is your birthright and I hope that my Pantry Essentials Guide will make a difference for you and those you love and feed around your table.

Thank you so much for being here,

Dana Joy

Real Food Rehab on the WGN Morning News

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 29th, I'll be on the WGN Morning News with Ana Belaval in her Around The Town segment. I'll be doing a Pantry Makeover LIVE on camera from 7 am. to 9 am. The longest segments will run at approximately 7:45 and 8:45. I hope you can tune in.

The woman who's getting the pantry makeover, Stacy, turned out to be the greatest subject one could ever hope for. Both she and her husband were in a place where they longed to eat healthier and get out of their food ruts. They already eat pretty well and devote some time to shopping and cooking but like many people, they eat the same things over and over, rely a little too much on processed foods and lack information on where to get the best local, healthy and chemical free foods Chicago has to offer.

Today I'm working with Stacy to prep the kitchen, the food and the pantry so they look gorgeous, plentiful and TV ready. And, full disclosure, I've also been polishing my message; getting clear on how to best convey the Real Food Rehab philosophy of quality, pleasure and satisfaction. It's live TV, so anything can happen and I'm not going to over-prepare because after all, I live this everyday. It's all in me and I want to be as fresh and in the moment as I possibly can.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

I'll also be posting the resources and information for the products I featured later in the day tomorrow so that they're available to everyone.

Thanks as always for your love and support,

Dana Joy

The Sensualists' Superfood

Figs are so misunderstood. Since we tend to stick with what we know, we often skip over the fig and go for bananas, apples or oranges because figs seem so, well, foreign.

To me, a ripe fig is as alluring and seductive as a woman in her pleasure: sweet, yielding, sensual, mysterious and a gift to all she encounters. The fig was Cleopatra’s favorite fruit and also highly prized by the Sumerians, Greeks and Romans, not to mention the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha, who sat under the Bodhi Tree (a species of fig) to gain enlightenment.

Figs are truly the original superfood. I say screw the $3 bottle of vitamin water or the $15 a pound goji berries and get yourself some figs – they taste so much better.

While I encourage eating for pleasure and satisfaction first, here are some hard facts on figs that might serve as your tipping point to trying them:

•Figs contain very high levels of B6 (seratonin boosting and water retention-helping), calcium (good for bone density) and potassium (stress soother, energy & sugar metabolizing).

•They contain more soluble fiber than any other fruit – these suckers will keep you regular and help control your blood sugar.

Fresh figs are in season through the fall and it’s the perfect time to give them a whirl. The two we encounter most are the dark purple ones, which are Mission figs and the pale green ones, which are Calimyrna. They should feel heavy for their size and have a slight give to the touch. If ripe, they'll last three days (MAX) in the fridge. If left on the counter, they'll get wrinkly and concentrated in sugar, which isn't a bad thing at all.

Ways To Eat Fresh Figs

Breakfast
At my fave brunch spot in Chicago – The Publican, they serve a plate of fresh ricotta with sliced figs and toasted hazelnuts drizzled with chestnut honey. Freaking phenomenal. You can also do Greek yogurt, figs, walnuts and honey.

Snicky Snack
Cut open the top of a fig and stuff with a touch of gorgonzola cheese and a walnut. Meat eaters, take it a step further and wrap with prosciutto. Drizzle with balsamic.

Lunch & Dinner

Make a salad or a pizza with a mix of one or more of the following ingredients that go great with figs:

arugula, red leaf lettuce, walnuts, pine nuts, sheep feta, Manchego, goat cheese, melon, prosciutto, bacon, mint, rosemary, red onions, caramelized onions, walnut oil, extra virgin olive oil, real, aged, balsamic vinegar

There's also a recipe from The Zuni Cafe Cookbookby Judy Rodgers, that I have yet to make but will be soon: Chicken Braised with Figs, Honey & Vinegar. The recipe was published in the New York Times a few years back and it looks like an easy and delicious one pot meal.