You’ve decided that now is the time to start eating healthier. To better set yourself up for success you’ll want to plan ahead with meal prep and cooking. Aside from buying healthy foods at the grocery store, getting your kitchen set up with the space and tools you need for your healthy eating lifestyle is a must. You don’t need to remodel your kitchen to set it up to be a space that can store everything and prepare healthy meals. Adding extra storage can also make your home appealing to buyers who share your healthy eating goals, or at least love to cook.
Declutter
The first step when rethinking any room of your home is to get rid of items that you no longer need. When you are starting on your healthy eating journey then that might mean clearing out your kitchen of foods that aren’t on your new diet and making way for those items that are. You can make room in your cabinets for bulk items like grains and beans and spices that can be staples of a new healthy way of eating. You might find that if you are going to do more meal prep in advance you need drawer and cabinet space for reusable containers and jars to store bulk items.
Organize your storage area
If adding more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is on your healthy eating plan, then storage will be important in your cabinets and your refrigerator. Turning a cabinet into a set of drawers can help you keep storage containers and lids organized, and a bookcase or other set of shelving can keep labeled spices and dry goods within easy reach. Cutting boards and knives will also need to be easily accessible and a horizontal magnetic bar can be used for knives to free up counter space.
Create a dedicated prep area
When fruits and vegetables are added to your diet in large quantities, prep work takes center stage. You may want to add a center island, or a moveable chopping block to bring in more room for chopping and meal prep, especially if you are going to prep meals for a whole week with a food storage container assembly line. The key is to make sure you have easy access to your tools and adequate lighting. If you are looking at houses to buy, you’ll want to make sure your future home has a clearly dedicated prep area.
Make room for appliances
The more you get involved in cooking, the more tools you are likely to accumulate and these tools can take up space. You may find that you need to make use of hard-to-reach cabinets and get a step stool to make what’s stored up there easier to get to. Or, a bookcase can be a useful storage addition to your kitchen for appliances. Ideally, you’ll want appliances off of your counters, but if you need to, try to keep cables organized and appliances stored neatly in a corner.
Make room for lists
Meal prepping means making shopping lists. To make your life easier to write down items as you think of them, you can add a dedicated space in your kitchen for lists. A small part of a wall turned into a blackboard, or a bulletin board with a dedicated list area can help you stay on track with what you need to buy during your next shopping trip.
Making your kitchen work for your new healthy lifestyle is easy with a few small changes.