Best Kitchen Tips
I started cooking late. I used to watch my mom in the kitchen who made everything from scratch, but once i got to college, i was lost. It took me years of trials and failures to get a set of recipes i felt proud of and like i had any hope of being a mediocre helper in the kitchen. Then some training as a chefs assistant part time (after work at Sur La Table, to make some money to take the classes rather than pay for them), a winery tasting associate (on weekends), Wilton cake decorating classes (something fun for some structure), helping make holiday bourbon soaked cherries with a bunch of retired chefs (family friends), traveling cooking classes, and reading countless books on nutrition, and i finally feel like i have what it takes to be a force in the kitchen.
One of my favorite things is to remake recipes to what i feel is a nutritious meal. I want to make it easy for me, on a bad day, to be able to get up and make something healthy and simple. Then on the days i can be on all day, put on a movie or good music and get lost in several hours of some more complex recipes. Either way, my favorite recipes are on this site, with many more to come.
Below are some timeless tips ive learned along the way! Starting small, continually expanding as i continue to grow.
If you want to maintain a healthy weight, FOOD MATTERS. i always said i work out to eat what i want. But that always gets harder every year, every day. I can only push myself so hard, only have so many hours in a day, and while movement will always be an important part of my life, nothing made me lose weight faster and maintain consistently than fixing my diet.
If you have time to lean, you have time to clean. Do all your dishes before you start, and as you go. Wipe off the counters, have a plate or single bowl to place dirty spoons and measuring things you go. Have a bowl for food scraps to freeze or compost.
Prep materials ahead of time. This means pick out and measure the ingredients you need before the heat turns on. This is so you are not scrambling later when stuff is burning or your ADD kicks in. I love muli-tasking, however i tend to overextend myself most of the time, and a little prep goes a long way. Also helps you realize if you have all your ingredients.
Stripping my shelves of foods that i would otherwise devour without restraint (and feel guilt and end up with tummy ache and headache and extra pounds). This means not buying my trigger foods, and learning to say no when they are in front of me.
Ingredients matter. A chef is only as good as the ingredients given. Fresher the better, and the organic, happy ones are the best ones. This hopefully means they may have the most nutrient soil and least preservatives, (organic when you can). I can only assume this since the cheaper ones def will not be using the good soil and best practices unless they charge more. They may be pricey, but not more than the offset costs of health bills. The same bowl of spinach today has about 1/20th of the nutrients of a bowl 50 years ago. Scary!
Know your body. Try a cleanse and slowly re-introduce known “trigger” foods or typical allergens. Sometimes something you’ve been eating your whole life is actually causing a bad reaction. Allowing yourself to reset your palette give you invaluable insight. Cut out gains, dairy, sugar, eggs, processed foods, alcohol for a month, and slowly add one of these back in alone for a day and allow 3 days in between. (if you can, avoid sugar and processed foods as much as possible forever). Mental clarity, acne, moods, allergies, mucous build up, are just a few side effects that you may have been living through as normal.
Try to avoid toxins, fragrances, etc in lotions, soaps, makeup, house cleaners, womens tampons and pads. Do not microwave plastic.
Try to get some fresh air whenever possible. Breath, take your shoes off, jump in the ocean. Be grateful for what you’ve been given. Be nice to yourself. Allow breaks and dont guilt yourself. Allow and embrace failures.
Include your friends. Plan dinner nights regularly. You can offer to host and cook the main meal, then have someone else bring dessert, veggies, appetizers, drinks, etc. Rotate and swap roles.
A good chefs’s knife is priceless. Learn to use knife basics to save yourself lots of prep time. Should teach you how to hold it. Youtube, sur la table or other cooking class in person, whatever.
Vitamins and powders do not replace real nutrition. Full post on this coming soon, but main point - your body has thousands of processes and we only know and understand a tiny bit of that, as well as the vitamins real foods provide. Having a shitty diet and popping a vitamin will not solve anything. That being said - do find a good quality multi-vitamin and probiotic to round out your diet. Do some research and find whats best for your individual needs.
Sparkling water is a great replacement for alcohol. Add some lime and ice in a fancy cup
If cooking for a group, as about food allergies/sensitivities ahead of time. Don’t be annoyed, consider it a challenge!
Allow yourself the privilege of saying no. Don’t be guilted into a beer (for example) or food you don’t like. I used to be worried i would look uptight if i said no to a beer, but i dont like feeling bloated, plus i lost 4 pounds once i gave it up without changing anything else. Feel free to try new things, but give yourself an out if you want one.
Get rid of the plastic. Somehow everything looks and feels a million times less cluttered by just getting rid of plastic bags, tupperware, cups, etc. Same for paper. Replace items in pretty glass jars (and they dont have to match to be pretty!)
Have some fun!
