Refrigerator Look Book: Schuyler Grant

"We always called my mother a 'food fascist' because there was a NO WHITE FLOUR, NO WHITE SUGAR EVER policy in our house growing up," says Schuyler Grant, of Kula Yoga Project and Wanderlust, the music-yoga festival she co-founded with her husband, Jeff Krasno.

"I'm slowly becoming my mother," she says.

Here’s what the New York City yoga instructor and mom of three keeps in her fridge:

It’s pretty clear you’re not afraid of dairy.
[laughs] Yes, I'm not afraid of dairy or fat, true. A lot of the dairy we eat is raw. I’m not dairy intolerant, but it definitely doesn’t agree with me—I get a little phlegmy. But the raw dairy makes a big difference. And it tastes so good. It doesn’t last as long, but everything other than that is awesome.

You’ve also got a lot of gluten-free products in there.
One of my three daughters has Celiac disease, and my husband is not super gluten tolerant. The beer and the non-gluten-free bread are mine. But I do think it’s a better way to eat—not just gluten-free but just low-processed grains in general.

Tell me about all the bottles you’ve got stocked in your fridge door.
That’s where I have my morning, pre-coffee regimen: my greens drink, cod liver oil, probiotics, some kombucha, usually. Some bee pollen. Sometimes I’ll have some Floradix, and sometimes I take a high-vitamin butter oil. It has colostrum in it, which is the life-giving part of milk and, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation, one of the best superfoods in combination with cod liver oil. I just shove all those things in my mouth and then I have a cup of coffee.

Ha! And do you mix the greens powder in a smoothie?
I just put it in some water and plug my nose and drink it. It’s not my most beloved food moment of the day, but I do swear by it. I think if I really had my act together I’d do warm water and lemon juice and wait a half an hour before I had any food or coffee. But I don’t have my act together that well.

Is that homemade stock I see?
That’s chicken stock, taken out of the freezer. I’m pretty good about making stock every time I make a chicken. I just take all the leftovers from whatever I roast with the chicken—apples or garlic or onions—and I throw that and all the bones and the skin in with carrot or onion and I simmer it on a heat-diffuser, super-low, overnight. Then I simmer it for the last half-hour with lemon or celery, which helps to extract the mineral better. I’m a big believer in the healing power of bone broth. It’s a total superfood.

A lot of people might not think eating chicken is as healthy as being a vegetarian for Ahimsa or other reasons. Thoughts?
This requires a much longer answer, but the short answer is that I was a vegetarian for 15 years. When I was pregnant with my first child, I was severely anemic and on the recommendation of my acupuncturist I started eating meat "medicinally".... I now firmly believe that animal protein is important for certain stage of our lives, like when we're growing other humans. I actually think I'll become a veg again some day. But for now it's an important part of my diet.

Do you prefer free-range?
I grew up on a farm. So I am a STRICT free-rangetarian and eat only local, pastured meats. I've come around to the belief that raising and killing an animal humanely is consistent with MY interpretation of Ahimsa. But I also believe that this is a totally personal choice. And that the industrial meat industry is not just inhumane—but should be considered criminal.

Sorry to get super political. How much cooking are you able to do regularly?
Let me be totally frank: I don’t cook a meal every night. I wouldn’t want anybody to think I’m a superperson. When I do cook, I cook really healthy. But I also order in a lot of Mexican food. —Nina Pearlman