Easy Changes to Make in the Kitchen for a Healthier Lifestyle

Living a healthy life starts with healthy eating. Healthy eating starts with a well-stocked and organized kitchen. If your kitchen contains readily available foods that are nutritious, you will be able to prepare meals and snack easily.

Pantry: Starting in the pantry is a good idea. Many unhealthy foods lurk in here. Learn to read nutrition labels. Crackers, potato chips, breakfast cereals and popcorn may contain a lot more fat, salt and sugar than you thought. Swap out these unhealthy snacks for wholesome nuts, raisins, high fiber breakfast cereals and oatmeal (not the kind with a lot of added sugar and artificial flavorings). Air pop your popcorn so you can control the amount of butter and seasonings.

Peanut butter can also deceive you. The reduced fat versions usually contain trans fats in the form of hydrogenated vegetable oil. Your peanut butter should contain peanuts (and salt if you are not on a low sodium diet). For more information about picking your peanut butter check out the following article.

Picking the Perfect Peanut Butter: Beyond Crunchy and Smooth

Refrigerator: The refrigerator is a great place to rid your diet of unnecessary fat. Replace your milk with a lower fat version. Skim milk is the best option. Cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products can be found in reduced fat and fat free versions. The nice thing about dairy products is that they just remove the fat they don't replace with something else unhealthy. Jams and jellies can be replaced with fruit preserves. Sodas can be replaced with juice or water.

Take a look at the types of oils you use in cooking. Saturated and trans fats should be replaced with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. This means avoiding shortening, lard and palm oils and replacing it with sesame, olive, walnut, flaxseed and canola (for high heat) oils.

Stock your fridge with ready-to-eat snacks. Pre wash and peel fruits and vegetables and store them in serving size containers. They will be ready to grab to take to lunch or for snacking on during the day. Vegetables that are cut and ready to go can be thrown into salads and stir fry dinners quickly and easily.

Freezer: Use your freezer for something other than ice cream and frozen pizzas. When you prepare a healthy meal make two at a time if it is easily frozen. Store the extra batch in your freezer for a day when you don't have time to prepare something from scratch.

Frozen vegetables contain more nutrients and less salt than canned vegetables. Frozen fruit is also great to have on hand as long as you buy the kind without added sugar and syrups. Throw frozen berries, peaches and mangos into smoothies and shakes with some of that fat free yogurt you now have available in your refrigerator.

Freezers are also a great place to make snacks. Freeze grapes for a candy-like frozen treat. Buy ice pop molds and make your own Popcicles out of fruit juice.

Overall Kitchen Tips: The main goal to creating a healthier kitchen is replacing good foods with better foods and better foods with the best foods. You can make your changes gradual and add more as you get used to them. Processed foods are generally lower in nutrients and quality than whole and natural foods. Take more time at the grocery store to read labels and get familiar with what is available. Visit a whole foods store to see what is available. You may even become interested in growing your own herbs and vegetables in a garden. Get the family involved and have fun becoming more healthy.