A new year is a great time to start fresh! When it comes to food, fresh means more nutrients, fewer chemicals, and less hidden ingredients. All of these make fresh food healthier. But most of us know that. Perhaps all we need to put a plan to eat more healthy foods into action are some simple steps to follow:
Throw out the packaged foods. I am not suggesting you waste anything. Food prices are too high to be cavalier about trashing food. Instead, consider a pantry challenge to empty your cupboard of many of the prepackaged, prepared foods, and canned foods.
If those items are in your pantry because they no longer appeal, you may be able to donate them to a food pantry, foodbank, homeless shelter, or school. As the need for donated food has grown, so have the outlets that accept donations. I typically donate food to a nearby homeless shelter or a van that delivers goods to homeless camps.
Begin with subtle changes. You don’t have to go to extremes when cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator. If your schedule is too tight to make fresh pasta, keep the dried pasta in the cabinet but make your own sauce using fresh veggies, milk, butter, and cheese. Top homemade egg salad with jarred pickles on homemade bread.
Make it a salad. If you don’t bake bread, skip the sandwich and serve egg salad over lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and green onion. Oven roasted chicken, steak, and baked salmon are other delicious salad toppers.
Shake up some dressing. It only takes a few minutes to create salad dressing or BBQ sauce. Yesterday, I stirred together mayonnaise, spicy brown mustard, honey, and ginger for a creamy salad dressing. I could also have used yogurt or sour cream instead of the mayo.
Customizing small amounts of dressing to fit a specific flavor profile can be less expensive and contain fewer preservatives than stocking up on a variety of bottled dressings.
Switch crunchies. Instead of a bag of chips, grab a red bell pepper, celery, and sugar snap peas to eat with your favorite dip. Sliced cucumber, summer squash, and carrots are also delicious dippers.
Top salads with raw nuts or seeds, toasted coconut, jicama, or apples for crunch instead of packaged croutons.
Cook in groups. Oven roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or cauliflower. While they’re in the oven, prepare and steam broccoli and carrots, and sauté green beans or Brussels sprouts.
Having multiple vegetables available to mix and match will reduce your time in the kitchen later and make it less tempting to reach for something boxed or canned.
Eat fruit. Most fresh fruit can be eaten without any preparation other than washing. Keep fresh fruit handy for those times you may not have vegetables available. Fruit is a great office or car snack.
Make it a habit. Minor changes you can sustain will have more positive long-term effects than drastic changes that only last a week. Start small and expand when you are ready.
The more you eat fresh, the more appealing it becomes. At some point, you may want to consider planting a few fresh items in pots, raised beds, or in the ground. But there’s no need for that in the beginning.
To start fresh for 2023, all you really need is to begin.