14 Pantry Essentials From Our Favorite New Wellness Destination
Forget flour and sugar. These are the ingredients you should always have on hand.
Published Jan 26, 2017 5:00 AM
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A year ago, Laney Crowell left the corporate world to start her own company, Crowell Lane Creative, where she strategizes and creates content (social media and otherwise) for a wide range of brands. It’s a growing field, and to say she has her hands full would be an understatement. Still, she felt like something was missing.
“I love working with brands, but I wanted to have an outlet for something that was purely my voice,” she says. Simultaneously, she found herself more and more interested in wellness. “I became very concerned with what was going into my body,” she explains. “When I started looking into it, I wanted to know more about every ingredient—who was making it and where it was coming from.” These ideas synergistically combined, and The Moment was born.
“It’s about looking at ingredients, food, and wellness through the lens of a thoughtful, elevated life,” she says. And the site certainly feels luxurious and curated. There’s beautiful photography, simple yet enticing recipes, and captivating videos—all focused around carefully sourced ingredients. Here, Laney shares the ingredients you will always find in her pantry—and, of course, the story behind each one.
Meyer Lemons
“Lemons are great for detoxification. My favorite way to start the day is with a warm glass of water and a big squeeze of lemon. Meyer lemons are great because they’re sweeter than regular lemons, so the flavor is more graceful.”
Medjool Dates
“Medjool dates are the best natural sweetener and my go-to workout snack. I’ll put them in a smoothie to balance out the flavors or stuff them with raw cashew butter for a quick bite. Bonus: They’re high in calcium and phosphorus, which are super important for bone health.”
Creative Women Towel
“This hand towel is from a fair-trade company called Creative Women. They work with women-led small businesses in Africa and are committed to sustainable practices. I adore the color and texture of their patterns.”
Mary’s Honey
“Where to start? I’m in love with Mary’s honey for so many reasons. She makes this honey so that she can take care of her bees, which is such a beautiful story in its own right. The bees’ needs always come first, hence the name of her company Bees’ Needs. Since so much love and care go into making this honey, it’s like nothing you’ve ever had before. The flavor is like a soft symphony, and the thickness is so decadent. Such a huge contrast from commercial grocery story honey! I drizzle Mary’s Honey over toast, and I have one big spoonful before bed to help me sleep. Honey helps your body produce melatonin and supports your liver so you can sleep through the night—it works wonders!”
Raw Goat Cheese
“I grew up in Paris so I love really good cheese. Goat and sheep cheeses are much easier to digest than cow’s cheese so I try to stick to them, and I eat raw as much as possible (more flavor, more probiotics, more goodness). I use a microplane to grate it over roasted vegetables or brown rice pasta.”
Ginger
“I’m addicted to ginger tea. It’s stomach soothing and easy to make. I peel and slice a bunch of ginger, cover it with boiling water, and let it steep. Sometimes I’ll add a spoonful of Mary’s Honey if I’m feeling like I want something sweet.”
Turmeric
“Turmeric is an incredible anti-inflammatory. From gluten to high-impact workouts to cell phone use, there are so many things that inflame our sensitive systems. I like to add turmeric to my smoothie in the morning or juice it with an orange for a wellness shot to start the day off right.”
Flake Salt From Meadow
“If you live in New York and haven’t been to The Meadow, you have to go. It’s a store all about salt! The owner Mark Bitterman, is the author of Salted: A Manifesto of the World’s Most Important Mineral, and his collection of finishing salts is impressive, to say the least. He has salts from all over the world, different flavors, colors, scents and encourages you to taste them right there. The sodium levels of unrefined salt is much lower than table salt and the flavor is so, so much better.”
Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks
“If I get my way, we eat dinner around 6p.m. So by 9 or 10, I’m usually a little hungry and ready for something dessert-like. That’s when I’ll make a night-time elixir with fresh nut mylk, Tocos, and cinnamon (or Golden Mylk). Try to find Ceylon cinnamon (instead of Cassia cinnamon). It has a sweeter, delicate flavor, and more importantly doesn’t have coumarin, which can be toxic for you liver. Ceylon cinnamon is also great for balancing out your blood sugar levels.”
CAP Beauty Coconut Butter
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t know how to cook unless I have CAP Beauty Coconut Butter on hand. It has a richness that I can’t find anywhere else. It’s raw and stone ground so the texture is really creamy. My favorite way to use it is to melt it with a little olive oil and use it to saute some kale with chili flakes and Maldon salt.”
CAP Beauty Matcha
“This matcha is ceremonial grade matcha, certified organic, and sourced from Shizuoka, Japan. Matcha creates a relaxed alertness, which is so much better than the jittery caffeine high I get from coffee. I usually make mine in my Vitamix in the morning with a little nut mylk, honey, and a spoonful of Tocos.”
Tocos
“Tocos is a magical ingredient. It’s made from Rice bran solubles and is a digestible source of Vitamin D and E. When I eat Tocos regularly, my skin goes from dry to super soft. Since I use these so often, I like to have them in a mason jar in my fridge for easy access.”
Organic Shredded Coconut
“I recently went to Surya Ayurvedic Spa in Los Angeles. The incredible ayurvedic teacher there told me not to eat anything out of a can. Since I love to cook with coconut milk, I now make my own. It’s really easy to do actually. I try to buy as many ingredients as I can in the bulk aisle to cut down on waste (a tip I learned from Trash is for Tossers) so when I get home, I put the coconut in a glass mason jar for storage.”
Nutiva Non-GMO, Fair Trade Chia Seeds
“We all know that chia seeds are a superfood. They are packed with Omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. I put them in my smoothie every morning.”
Laney’s Favorite Places to Shop for Pantry Essentials
Provisions in Sag Harbour