New you new kitchen time to clean up

New you New kitchen time to clean up

Today is the day to really focus in on what is in your kitchen and to help set you up for success as you learn how to live a healthier life style. 

Every kitchen needs the right tools you can't "get the job done" with out the right tools as my husband would say.  Each Tool I suggest is basic and should be easy to reach while you prepare your food. 
-Paring Knife
-Vegetable Peeler
-Measuring cups
-Food Scale
-Snack Size plastic bags

-Plastic 1 cup size reusable containers

So we all know if you buy a bag of something and don't portion it off into the proper portion size we will eat more then we think we did.  So to prevent that here is what I do:
Buy in bulk! Say you buy a 1 lbs. of raw almonds you want to portion those almonds (12) into your sandwich bags.  When you come home from grocery shopping take a little extra time to portion up your food in the correct sizes.  Use plastic bags or storage containers to organize your food right.  Say you bought hummus portion the hummus into 2 tablespoon servings and place in your fridge.  By doing this it makes it simple to grab in a hurry as the week goes on.

A recent Cornell University Study shows that we consume 90% of our food mindlessly.  We simply eat because it is in front of us.  I know for me this is so true and when my little baggy of snack is gone its gone. 

Now its time to do a clean or of your kitchen.  What does that mean- Well start by opening up your fridge and pantry and look and see if a professional football player came into your house what would he eat?  If he needed to be in tip top shape what foods would you throw out or donate? If that means getting ride of the captain crunch because you may be tempted to grab a handful as you walk threw the kitchen in the afternoon then get ride of it.  Make it easy on yourself to have healthy choices by eliminating the tempting foods that would cause you to make poor choices.

Time to purchase food
Super markets spend millions of dollars each year playing into your impulse buys.  They put the name brand food items at eye level, why do you think all the sweet cereals are placed at chest level? Because when your cute little ones stand beside you it's at their eye level.  They got you!

So now its time to talk about your own "eye level"
When we stand in front of the fridge we grab whatever foods take the least amount of time to prepare.  So we need healthy items weighting for us as we open the fridge for a "quick" grab.  So after going grocery shopping clean your fruits and veggies and place them at eye level so its easy to grab.  If you don't want to spent the time cutting up the veggies buy them pre cut. Arrange your Greek yogurt by the berries, place your hummus and veggies together.

When working out and replacing fat with muscle, Eating hard boiled egg whites will leave you full longer and give you a 5 grams of protein per egg.  Purchase 12 eggs on Sunday cook all of them and then peel and place in fridge.  /the only thing needed is to take the yolk out before you eat it.  Now when you find yourself in the kitchen and you may mindlessly be eating you will be snacking on food that your body will use for healthy fuel to your system. 

Replacement
Look at your fridge and see what are your go to items the things you use weekly.  Now really think about what items in your kitchen that will hold you back from meeting your goals.  For me the biggest item that can not be in the house is ice cream.  What items will hold you back or be a temptation?  So as far as buying cheese maybe instead of buying a big block of cheese buy the string cheese. That way its already portioned out for you.  In our house having frozen chicken fingers was a staple in the freezer.  Now I wait till chicken goes on sale and I buy in bulk saving money and making my own.  I then now what I'm feeding my husband and kids.  Here is the recipe I like to use homemade chicken fingers. 

So I still buy diced tomatoes from the store but I made the simple choice to buy no salt added.  You will find after clean eating for a month of so that foods taste so much different.  We really don't need all the added sugar and salt that is placed in our foods.  What about trying lower sugar or organic version of many of your regular condiments.  I replaced sour cream in most recipes with Greek yogurt or maybe buy Dijon mustard with no sugar added.  It's making all these small adjustments to what you eat that will add up and leave you feeling full longer.  It won't take long and you will be reading labels before buying,  you will know what to stay clean of.  I was always using butter often in my cooking I simply replaced it with olive oil.  Replace peanut butter with almond butter.  Buying ketchup that is fructose corn syrup free is simple change but worth it.  When you are in the grocery store and need help on what brand is better then another use the app Fooducate which allows you to scan the bar code of two different products and pick the better choice between the two.  Each item is given a score on based on the nutritional content. 

Your fridge is the go to
The best foods you will be eating will be coming out of the fridge.  So not its time to hit the pantry! First you look at what you normally would grab from the pantry a crunch of some type or something sweet.  So lets create a healthier choice for you.

First make sure you put the items you will grab in the pantry in a easy place to reach.   You don't want to grab a step stool to grab a healthy choice use the eye and chest level for placement.  Anything bought in bulk never stays that way time to switch those items for single servings.  To keep things organized buy see threw containers and put your items in their.  So what is sitting on my shelves?
-brown unsalted rice cakes
-instant rolled oats
-Shakeology
-canned low sodium black beans
-canned low sodium diced tomatoes
-dried fruits like raisins, berries, craisins
-salsa
-almonds
Will you find mini chocolate chips in our house?  Yep but they are hidden that way I really would have to think about eating them before just grapping a big handful. 

Lastly for the most part I stock the same items and put them in the same place so the family knows where to go to get those items.  I keep the same list and if something runs out I replace it.  No mystery! My husband comes home from work opens up the cupboards and will always find the same items.  Boring!! Yep!!! But hey it works and the entire family eat better because of this system.  Lets face it we eat only to fuel out body and by that we need to eat foods that don't stick around long in our system.  In and out!  Yep if the items can sit on your shelf for months then its not something you want to be eating often. 

Things to do right now to get started
-divide snack into individual servings and arrange in the front and center of your fridge and pantry
-Remove high fat or high sugar temptations from the kitchen
-Arrange prep tools for the kitchen in easy to reach places
-Stock up on small bags, snack containers, and clear fruit bowls.
-Survey the refrigerator for frequently consumed foods that need to be swapped out by lower fat and reduced calorie foods.
Taking the time to do these small steps will be great to help you get on the right path to a healthier family and having more energy to keep up with the daily taste at hand.