Exclusive

Meal Makeover: Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon's Nutritionist Shares How to Spice Up Your Pantry

Exclusive: Kimberly Snyder, a celebrity nutritionist who has worked with Reese Witherspoon and Channing Tatum, reveals how to spice up your pantry

By Tierney Bricker, Alli Rosenbloom Mar 18, 2020 7:00 PMTags
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So fresh and so clean.

As many Americans choose to practice social distancing amid the Coronavirus, they are working from home. And we all know what that means: stressing over what you are going to have for lunch and not overdoing it on the unhealthy snacks. 

Making sure you have a stocked pantry and healthy, high-quality ingredients can be stressful at any time, so E! News is asking celebrity's to-go wellness sources for tips to help you navigate the kitchen and grocery stores, whether you are someone who could compete on Worst Cooks in America or a person who likes to think they are BFFs with the Bon Appétit team. 

Kimberly Snyder, a nutritionist and holistic wellness expert who has previously worked with Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore, Channing Tatum and Kerry Washington, exclusively told E! News that people shouldn't shy away from stocking up on fresh produce and listed the best spices and herbs to punch up any home-cooked meal.

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New York Times best-selling author and the founder of the lifestyle brand Solluna, Snyder also offered up creative ways to make the most of your pantry essentials, how to amp up the nutritional value of your dishes with easy and cheap tweaks and revealed the smart way to shop to make your buys last for months.

She also shared a recipe for a delicious smoothie you can make to get your day started off right.

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Buy Bulk: A lot of the shelves contained dry or canned goods, such as beans and rice, are empty, so Snyder suggests checking the bulk bins to stock up on quinoa, lentils and other dry staple alternatives, which will also save you some cash.

They are great additions for a hearty one-pot meal, like Solluna's red lentil and carrot stew, or a filling breakfast, like the coconut quinoa cereal. Tip for soups and stews: make big batches at a time to have multiple meals for the week or freeze some to pull out later when you are running low on groceries.

Avocado Toast Every Single Day: Even though you can't go to your favorite brunch spot right now, it doesn't mean you can't have your favorite dish, as Snyder recommends loading up on both ripe and green avocados if you can and making the brunch staple with bread or wraps you can keep in your freezer.

Spice Up Your Life: Focus on adding spices to your meals for flavor and nutritional value. One MVP to utilize is turmeric, with Snyder saying it's "a beauty food that's used inside and outside the body. Studies…have shown the spice to be beneficial when dealing with arthritis, gynecological issues, blood disorders, infectious diseases, cancer, depression, diabetes…the list goes on."

Other spices to turn to that pack a punch are cumin (which is great for digestion) and cinnamon (which is great for boosting immunity). Another great immunity-booster is ginger, which you can add to your cup of tea or soups, and rosemary, which possessives antioxidants and can improve circulation and ease muscle and joint pain.

But Snyder stressed, "A little goes a long way! So be delicate" when adding rosemary to your dishes as it can overpower a dish.

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Whole Foods: There's a reason people are grabbing sweet potatoes, potatoes and spaghetti squash, as they are starchy and nutritious veggies that are a great alternative to refined options (like pasta) that have a long shelf life. Think five weeks in the pantry and almost three months in the fridge. So if you see them, "Don't be afraid to stock up!" Snyder advised.

Treat Yourself A Little Every Day: Snyder offers organic dark chocolate as a way for sweets lovers to satisfy their cravings without "overdoing it," and revealed what she does to curb the chocolate call.

"Tip: I stash my dark chocolate in the freezer - it keeps me from staring at it every time I open the fridge or pantry, which leads to more nibbles here and there."

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Your Daily Secret Weapons: Snyder recommended adding raw apple cider vinegar to your daily diet to benefit your digestion and help speed up your metabolism. After recommending either drinking a tablespoon on its own or adding it your salad dressings, Snyder offered up this tip: "If a recipe calls for wine, you can try using the raw apple cider vinegar instead. It will be a variation for sure, but a much healthier one." And bonus: more wine for drinking!

Other underrated pantry MVPs are vegan protein powder (perfect for a protein and mineral-packed smoothie) and SBO probiotics for gut health.

"The best thing we can do right now is strengthen our immunity with more sleep and probiotics and elixirs," Snyder recommended as her top three things.

Don't Be Afraid to Buy Fresh: "I worry about people just having a bunch of frozen food, that's just not that great for them," Snyder explained. "It's just not living and obviously that's not ideal so I think people are in panic mode right now and just filling their freezers."

And Snyder recommended another green that isn't as trendy as kale, but just as nutrient-dense: "People also don't realize that cabbage is a really great source of vitamin C. It's really inexpensive, easy to find and lasts a long time."

And if you do buy more fresh options than you can use before they start going bad, just freeze them! Today's spinach or kale you were planning on using in a salad could be next week's smoothie base.

Speaking of smoothies, Snyder offered up the recipe to Solluna's Glowing Green smoothie, which is packed with fresh greens, fruit and nutrients and can be made in batches and frozen.

"This is something I've actually always recommended for busy people in general, food crisis or not," Snyder said. "So what I would recommend people do is you can freeze it in three days' worth at a time, and they're in containers so that way you can defrost it. So that way you always have smoothies."

Glowing Green Smoothie:
Serves 4
7 cups chopped spinach (about a medium bunch)
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce (about 1 small head)
2 cups cold filtered water
1½ cups chopped celery (about 2 medium stalks)
1 medium apple, cored and coarsely chopped
1 medium pear, cored and coarsely chopped
1 medium banana, peeled and cut in thirds
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1⁄2 cup minced fresh cilantro (stems are OK) *optional
1⁄2 cup minced fresh parsley (stems are OK) *optional

Directions:
Fill the blender with 2 cups of water. Blend the spinach and romaine until smooth.
Add the celery, apple, pear, and herbs (if using) and blend again until smooth.
Finally, add the lemon juice and banana, and do your last blend.
Pour and eat fresh!