Spring clean your diet

April's a great time to clear out your fridge, pantry & freezer & review your shopping habits to set you up for a healthy summer! It may be easier to run down your fresh food supplies before starting this task.

Refrigerator

• empty everything out (but for food safety don't leave these food items lying out too long)
• check use by dates & discard anything that's out of date
• go through all those half used jars & bottles, check use by dates & decide if you will actually ever finish what's in those jars & bottles
• if not clean them out & recycle the containers
• wash the shelves & drawers with hot soapy water and let them air dry.  Wash the inside of the fridge to clear up crumbs & spillages
• as you put the items you're keeping back in, make a note of what needs used up soon & plan meals around those
• are their items you could buy healthier alternatives: lower fat cow's milk/sour cream/cheese, plain yogurt to flavor with fruit yourself?

Freezer

• discard anything that's been lurking in there for too long!
• discard bags or containers with no label & you've no idea what they once were!
• are there ingredients ready to put together for a quick, healthy meal?  If not, think about what items would be helpful to you to keep in the freezer
• you can help yourself prepare a fast, healthy meal on busy nights by stocking your freezer with your own 'ready meals', such as frozen vegetables, pasta sauce, portions of chilli, soup and so on.

Pantry

• lay everything out so you can see what you have & easily clean the shelves
• check sell by dates & discard anything that's out of date
• do you have items that are still sealed & in date but you bought & now realize you'll never use? Donate them to a local food bank.
• decide how to group items to make cooking easier for you.  Is it helpful to you to have all the herbs & spices together or would it be better for you if the Italian herbs were beside the pasta for example?
• keep items you use often accessible & if you have children decide what items you'd like them to be able to reach or not

Did you find you discarded a lot of food? 

Meal planning can not only save you time but also save you money as you only buy what you need for meals & leftovers to stock your freezer and there's no waste.

Before you go shopping, take time to plan out meals & write a list of ingredients plus a list of items you'd like to have in your pantry to make cooking at home more enjoyable & achievable as you'll have all the ingredients you need on hand!

Are you stuck in a dinner rut?

We are currently painting the interior of our home - I use the term 'we' loosely as my husband is doing all the prep work & the painting & my job is keeping the kiddos out of the way!

The other job my husband has ensured I do while everything is off the shelves is to go through the pile of magazines I have accumulated due to those 'subscribe for one year get another year free!' type deals.  As a result I have many Better Homes & Gardens and Real Simple magazines and a couple of others I received in the mail without ever subscribing too?!

I find clearing out therapeutic & am not a hoarder at all but have kept all these magazines because they are full of useful information and recipes I plan try 'one day'.

So I spent Sunday afternoon flicking through piles of magazines tearing out articles (which I now have to find time to read & file!) and came to 2 conclusions:

1)  I long to live in a blue & white cottage by the sea in New England which is decorated & organized immaculately  just like all the photos in every single one of these magazines!

2) With all the recipes there are in the world I should never be in a dinner rut!

Looking at all the recipes I've torn out it's obvious that by using the same basic ingredients then adding different herbs & spices I can make a different meal every night & travel round the world with the flavors!

~ Toss seafood into my basic stir-fry and I can imagine I'm actually sitting in that cottage on the coast... 

~ Add plums, cinnamon & curry powder to chicken & suddenly I'm in Morocco!

~ Mix chilli & lime into my recipe & I'm in Mexico

~ Add ginger for an Asian experience

~ Basil or oregano will transport me back to Italy!

Recipes don't have to be complicated or include lots of different ingredients but there are so many different flavors to experience! 

 Flicking through those magazines has inspired me to try new recipes & get creative with my herbs & spices.....now if only I could get round to organizing & filing ...!