How to Conduct Your Own Kitchen Makeover
So you've made the decision to eat healthier-for the sake of your own health and that of your family. One step you can make to support that decision is to conduct an inventory of the food already in your kitchen and then determine what to keep and what to toss.
Pantry inventory
Divide products into canned and boxed. Separate canned fruits from vegetables. Look at the ingredients on the fruit cans. If you see added sweeteners like sugar (including cane crystals, evaporated cane juice, demarara, turbinado, brown sugar, cane syrup), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, sucrose, cyclamate, saccharin, sucralose or aspartame, put those cans in the "toss" pile. If you have canned fruit without sweeteners, you've chosen wisely. Consider how often you or your family eats canned fruit. Fresh fruit is better than frozen and frozen is better than canned. Consider adding fresh fruit to your shopping list. See how your family responds.
Look at the ingredients on the vegetables and beans cans. If you see sodium, salt, MSG or lard, put those cans in the "toss" pile. Ideally, shop for and cook fresh vegetables. They taste so much better and have more vitality to them. Canned beans are a quick, convenient way to get more protein into your meals. Buy organic and lard-free beans instead. They are lower in sodium and fat than other commercial canned beans.
Most boxed food is "fast" food or "convenient "food. Mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, pasta, instant rice, muffin and cake mix, stuffing, cereal, crackers and cookies. Most of these foods will have hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, corn starch, enriched wheat and enriched flour. ALWAYS READ THE INGREDIENT LIST. If you need a chemistry degree to pronounce the list, it's not real food. Toss it. This type of packaged food short- changes your body of real nutrients. Buy packaged foods that sound like you could make them yourself, with ingredients you could buy easily.
Fridge inventory
Look at the beverages you and your family consume. Consider limiting or tossing juices and fruit drinks with added sweeteners. Corn syrup and artificial sweeteners add empty calories to these drinks. They can cause headaches and sugar rushes. Look for unsweetened fruit juices and dilute them with water. You could also make your own drinks with a vegetable/fruit juicer. Prices range from $50-300.
Packaged meats and deli meats contain high amounts of sodium, usually to preserve the meat. This added sodium can contribute to high blood pressure. Toss the packaged and deli meat. Consider cutting back or eliminating them. Have more fresh chicken, turkey, duck and beef instead.
Look at the ingredients in the cheese and yogurt you have. Cheese might include rennet, a milk-clotting enzyme, but it should not include lard or fat. If it does, toss it.
Low-fat cheese doesn't taste as good because, frankly, fatty cheese tastes better. Try goat cheese and other fresh cheese. If you don't have a farmer's market nearby, ask your grocer to carry fresh cheese without the added lard or fat. Fresh cheese will have more fat than a low-fat packaged cheese but this is a "good" fat. We need a small amount of fat in our diet to help our brain and other organs function properly.
Most commercial yogurt has added sweeteners (see the list above). Toss it. Look for yogurt without sweeteners. Try plain or vanilla yogurt. Add your own honey or no-sugar jam to yogurt. Add Grapenuts®, granola, wheat germ or nuts to plain yogurt for more flavor.
If you have high cholesterol or are trying to limit the fat in your food, consume dairy and other animal products 1-2 days a week, not daily.
Why "live" food?
Ideally, you want to eat fresh food, not food in a box or can. If it's "live" food, it's better than frozen or canned food. With live food, you have more control over how the food tastes-how salty or sweet or bitter or spicy you like it.
Remember the "crisper" section of your fridge? Make sure it doesn't become the "rotter" instead. When you buy produce, prepare it and eat it within 1-3 days of buying it. Fresh food just tastes better-and it's better for you.
What to do with the "toss" pile
Donate the food to a shelter or another cause that suits you. If you feel uncomfortable knowing you're passing off unhealthy food to those less fortunate, consider throwing away the food and volunteering your time at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. You could also offer to cook or create the menus with your new-found knowledge.
