How to Set Up a Healthy, User-Friendly Refrigerator

A sure way to sabotage your plans to eat healthier is to have a refrigerator that doesn't have easy access and isn't properly stocked. With some basic pre-planning and a single day to put it all in order, your refrigerator can be the gateway to a successful, healthy diet.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garbage bags
• Plastic stackable food containers
• Plastic baggies
• Frig magnet and printable shopping list

1. If you're trying to bring better foods into your diet, your refrigerator will either be a help or hindrance. All busy moms and working people know the feeling of staring hopelessly into the frig for a snack or meal idea, only to walk away and settle for pizza delivery. It isn't because there's no food. It's because there's no organization and it all looks like more trouble than it's worth. Changing what you see when you look inside is the key to having a user-friendly refrigerator that is inviting and beneficial to a healthy diet.

2. Start by doing a thorough cleaning of your refrigerator. Get rid of all those half-empty condiment bottles that you haven't used in months. Junk foods will win over healthy foods every time if both are available, so eliminate all negative temptations. Keeping in mind the direct link between diet and health, ask yourself, am I going to be able to incorporate this into a healthy diet? If the answer is no or not likely, toss it. You want to start with a clean slate. There should not be a single item in your refrigerator that isn't part of your dietary goals.

3. Now that you've got a clean area you can more easily make a shopping list of items you'll need. Section your shopping list into the 5 basic food groups: Breads, Rice and Pasta; Vegetables; Fruits; Meat, Poultry, Eggs and Fish; Dairy, Milk, Yogurt, Cheese; and Fats, Oils and Sweets. Print out a copy of the Food Pyramid so you can understand how many servings are suggested in each food group.

4. Use stackable plastic food containers with different colored lids for the various food groups. Blue lids could be fruits, green could be veggies, and so forth. When you bring foods home from the store, you should wash them, prepare them and store them whenever possible. Lettuce should be unwrapped, washed and prepared for salads or sandwiches and put into containers. Wash fruits like strawberries, peel melons and cut them up, and store them in stackable containers. Clean and cut up items like celery and carrots for quick, easy snacks. When you look inside your refrigerator at the end of a long day, how much nicer will it be to see prepared foods that you can have ready in minutes instead of a jumbled up mess that doesn't appeal to you?

5. Store your fresh herbs, chopped onions and garlic in storage baggies with a good seal. Store them in a frig drawer together where they're already prepared and easy to find. Be sure you press as much air as possible out of the baggies to keep items fresh.

6. Keep a shopping list on your frig at all times so you can make a note of items you'll need to shop for. Before going shopping, make sure your storage containers are clean and ready for use. Soon, you'll find that your prep work is actually saving you time in the long run and your new functional refrigerator is helping you stay in control of your diet.

Tips & Warnings

• Frozen fruits and vegetables are very high in nutrients. Once you thaw them, store any leftovers properly and plan to use them very soon so they will still be nutritious and fresh.
• Canned items can easily be opened, washed and stored in containers in your frig if you are planning on using them relatively soon.

Resources

• Food Guide Pyramid
• Printable grocery list
• Rubbermaid food storage containers
• Create healthy eating plans

[joyful327]

on 5/15/2008 Wow - great article!!! :)

[ladym33]

on 4/7/2008 This was very well done. Thank you

[Wildscribe]

on 2/7/2008 Wonderful advice! Thanks for the great article.