Revamping your kitchen to an efficient cooking factory.
Learning about healthy eating is only half the story. Now we need to discover how to prepare healthy food in a way that will be efficient in a busy life. Efficient cooking depends on 4 things:
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A well-equipped and efficiently organized kitchen
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Advanced meal planning
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Having all the ingredients ready
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Mastering cooking skills
In this section we will help you learn step 1: everything you need to know on how to set up your kitchen:
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How to organize your cabinets and counter spaces for efficient work flow
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How to store food in an organized and accessible way
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How to equip your kitchen with proper cookware
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And what staple ingredients to always have in your kitchen
Steps 2 and 3: are self explanatory:
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you need to find recipes that you like and purchase the ingredients beforehand.
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best done on a weekend or a day you have time to look up recipes for the week, make a grocery list and head out shopping.
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We have provided you with some basic recipes and some cook book references for quick, healthy and delicious food recipes.
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before cooking make sure you read the recipes 1-2 times to make sure there are no surprises (finding out halfway through that you are suppose to marinate the meat over night is a very unwelcome surprise).
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have all your ingredients ready and on your cooking station before you start cooking for a more pleasant and calm cooking experience.
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and lastly, if you are new to cooking, spend time learning cooking skills as you encounter them on your recipes. Youtube has many great cooking videos. Once you learn a few basic skills cooking becomes more efficient and pleasant.
A well-equipped and efficiently organized kitchen:
Organizing your kitchen is an easy task that will make your life a whole lot easier. There are 3 steps:
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Clean out your pantry, cabinets and drawers and donate or get rid of unhealthy food and anything you will not use (you better have a large bag handy as you are going to be surprised how much you have accumulated).
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Place all the food staples and ingredients you use often in containers and out of their original boxes.
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Arrange the newly boxed foods in a well-spaced and easily visible and accessible area of your kitchen.
Cleaning out your storage space is a very rewarding task. Over the years you may have accumulated many pots, pans, and cooking tools that you have never used. You also may have accumulated many of the same things. So, only keep what you are going to use often. Donate the cooking utensils you have not used in a long time and will most likely never use. And if there are items that you may use once in a blue moon (like decorative holiday plates), store them in a box and put them away in a storage space or those high cabinet shelves where you won't be able to use them without a stool. Then organize your pots and pans in a cabinet close to your stove and your plates and utensils close to the kitchen cabinets. Be sure to leave some space between them to make them visible and easy to reach.
Keeping food in its original box creates a lot of mayhem and disorganization in your cabinets or pantry. So we recommend that you spend a small amount of money and invest in food containers. Be sure they are safe (BPA free). You can go to your local Container Store or buy them online. Be sure they are see through. All of these dry foods should be stored in the containers:
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Nuts, oats, grains and pasta
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Flour & sugar
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Spices (you can keep spices in their original container if you are not buying them bulk).
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Dry snacks and anything else that is dry
Once you have placed everything in visible containers and labeled them, then it's time to arrange them. We recommend that you store your spices and flour/sugar in cabinets close to your cooking space for easy access. Place the grains close to your pots and the snacks and other dry food in your pantry or other cabinets. Again, be sure that you leave some space between them for visibility and easy access.
Another big advantage of having your staple ingredients in visible containers is that you can see when you are getting low. This way you won't buy things you already have, or worse, won't run out of ingredients in the midst of cooking.
Arranging counter spaces:
Counter space is for cooking and storing equipment that you use on a daily basis such as toasters, a coffee maker, your essential cooking utensils, and anything else you need. So, keep it clear of all those extra gadgets that look pretty but are seldom used. They just add clutter and reduce your working space (unless you have a large kitchen). Designate one area for cooking only. This should be as close to the sink and stove as possible and large enough to allow you to place a cutting board and a few plates/bowls in the area for keeping your ingredients. Once you start cooking, you will discover the amount of space you need, but this is the minimum. The cabinets closest to this area should contain your spices, cooking oils and flours. Try to keep your toasters, coffee makers and other electronics in counter spaces away from your cooking area as this will reduce the clutter around your working space and reduce the amount of water and oil that is splashed on these expensive electronics.
