Kitchen Makeover: The Ultimate Goal

We cannot have direction without a goal.  A finish line gives us a path to move along, something to strive for, and a place to stop and rest.  Without a finish line, we wonder about aimlessly, expelling energy but never really going anywhere – or worse, jumping from path to path and ending up going round in circles!

The easiest way of getting where we want to be is to emulate someone who is already there.  Do you know someone who is healthy, someone who you admire?  What does their kitchen look like?  How do they organise their food?  What are the basic healthy kitchen habits of healthy people?  These are what I have seen or read about that I feel would be essential to living the healthy life that I want!

1. Simple: KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) is the premise for everything in my life.  Frankly, if a system is based on a complicated and intricate web of ‘have-to-do’ items, them is fraught with potential failure.  I need for my kitchen to be easy to look after, easy to work in, and my meals easy to cook. 
2. Clean: Perhaps the most important aspect of a healthy kitchen, is that it is clean.  You cannot have a healthy kitchen if it is dirty messy, or just plain gross!  I want to be able to walk into my kitchen for each meal and have a clean slate to work from!
3. Healthy:  And by Healthy, I mean fresh!  Fresh food, healthy food, overflowing from the cupboards and fridge!  You cannot eat healthy food if it is not there already!
4. Organised:  All the above things require organisation to work.  To keep things simple we need to know exactly what we need so we can get rid of superfluous items.  We need to stay on top of the cleaning tasks, and we need to plan our meals and shop regularly.  By staying organised we can keep our kitchen simple, clean and healthy!

Now, to break them down further into tasks that I can set and achieve for myself:

1. Simple
• Storage containers need to be minimised
• Appliances need to be minimised
• Cooking equipment needs to be minimised
• Cleaning equipment needs to be minimised
• Recipes need to be simplified and fast!
2. Clean
• Cupboards need to be emptied and cleaned
• Fridge needs to be cleaned
• Pantry needs to be cleaned
• Drawers need to be cleaned
• Sink kept shining and clean everyday
• Dining table set and ready to use every meal
3. Healthy
• Recipes need to be healthy
• Shopping needs to be done regularly
• Fridge needs to be kept up-to-date
• Storage of leftovers and fresh food needs to up-to-date
4. Organised
• Meal Planning with Shopping Routine
• Cleaning Routines
• Recipes organised for ease!

It is easy to see from that list that there is a lot of cross-over happening.  I basically need to clean out my kitchen, tossing what I don’t need, organising what I do need, and setting up a routine to keep things clean and organised.  So easy!  Not!