A GLIMPSE INTO MY KITCHEN!

As a result of chatting with a friend this week in regards to what we eat, I realize that most people have a kitchen full of 'goodies' that do not set them up for success. And your meal preparation is a little 'old skool, w/ all the butters, gravies, a starch for EVERY meal. Here's a glimpse into my pantry & fridge this morning:

Few things to point out in my pantry that I hope you can see in the pic: It does NOT have sugary cereals, in fact the only cereal we buy is oatmeal and Cheerios (which we're out of today). And I only put a little bit of honey on the oats, no sugar on the Cheerios for my kids. I use Pam spray to cook with no oils/shortenings. You can see some tuna in there, black beans, and dressings. We use salad dressings w/ 50 or less calories per serving - preferably 35. Dave and I drink Almond Milk (40 cal./cup). Not sure if you can make out the mini-bagels. These things are 110 cal./bagel....a lot less than a regular one that is about 300 cal. or more. When we have rice, we have the brown rice and always measure out 1/2 cup cooked. (MEASURE YOUR FOOD.) The noodles and potatoes in the picture - those are for my boys. They are not on a diet. In fact, I feed Daniel fattier foods just to keep him at 32 lbs. You'll also notice: NO CHIPS. No way! For a snack, we may have pretzels from time to time, or popcorn (not the 'movie - buttery - high calorie' kind, but the light). We eat carrots sticks or pickles w/ our lunches for that little crunchiness that we want.

Here's my freezer & fridge. Let's start in the freezer, I've got skinless/boneless chicken breast (10 lbs. for $19.99 @ Costco), frozen veggies (broccoli medley, corn, peas, etc.) frozen blueberries, and some ground beef for the boys. And those popsicles are Chocolate Shakeology pops (only 30 cals. each).

In the fridge we have fresh veggies (asparagus, tomatoes, salad mix), nonfat plain yogurt (that we use as sour cream, or mix w/ stevia & the blueberries for a dessert). I try to keep boiled eggs handy for a quick protien snack (minus the yolks). Not sure if you see the cottage cheese - lowfat, always measured out. We use turkey lunchmeat, low-carb high fiber tortillas for wraps (throw in tomatoe, lettuce, pepper rings, pickles - a flavorful alternative to a reg. sandwich). And then you see my door full of sauces. I try to find sauces that don't have a ton of sugar and I measure most of these out (especially salad dressings) to give our lean food some variety, flavor, and to change it up. Teriyaki, bbq, salsa, low-cal balsamic, low-cal italian, and good 'ol Cholula. (Love Cholula on a quick cottage cheese wrap for a pre-workout meal (only 180 cal.), or something to eat before I head out the door.)

I always have fruit handy. Right now our peach tree is giving scrum-dum-delicious peaches. I have a banana before I work out. Just can't seem to make it thru one w/out a snack. Apples are easy to slice up and take on the go for the Daniel. When I come home from the grocery store, my fruit bowls also has some pears, plums, and there are grapes on the counter. I always come home w/ strawberries, but we eat those the day we buy 'em (WinCo's have been sweet lately.) Fruit is a great healthy snack.

Instead of reaching for crunchy chips, grab an apple. Get some carrot sticks out of the fridge to eat. Pop up the light popcorn.


It's not hard to eat healthy. You just have to buy the healthy stuff. If your family usually goes w/ you to the store - next time, make them stay home so that you can control what goes in the cart. Don't let that sugary, high saturated fatty, junk food junk in the cart & your family won't have it to eat. If you keep providing healthy choices, they'll have no other choice. The one who does the shopping and cooking is really in control of what goes in the mouths of the family. Just say to them, "We're going to start eating healthy so that we can have a better, longer life". Who doesn't want that?