Imagine it is 3pm on a Saturday and you feel your body telling you it's getting hungry and wants a snack, so you head towards the kitchen to grab something to eat. Picture yourself looking at all of your options for what to eat.
Where are you? Are you standing in front of your fridge or your pantry?
Think about both of these food storage areas in your kitchen for a moment. Think about how different the foods are within them.
The average American pantry holds food items such as chips (tons of chips), sugary snacks, sodas, canned foods, cereal, pasta, microwave popcorn, and boxed meals (mac 'n cheese, ramen, etc).
The average American refrigerator is supposed to hold perishable food and preserve it to have a longer shelf-life; however, the American fridge is usually over-packed and under-used. Did you catch that?
What I mean is that people stuff their fridges with condiments and dips and beverages and leftovers from your gigantic restaurant-portioned meal. After you stuff the drawers full of deli meats, sausage, and cheeses galore, there's little room for anything truly fresh.
Here's are a couple of tips to keep your family eating and snacking a little healthier this year!
TIP #1: Your fridge. Keep your refrigerator full of fresh items and produce! Get carrots and celery and cucumbers at the store. When you get home, wash, peel and cut them up before putting them in a bowl or storage container for easy grabbin! You can dip these in whatever you want if it means you won't grab the chips (one simple change at a time, y'alll)!!
TIP 2: Your pantry. It really shouldn't have THAT much food in it. If you think about it, you probably want at least 75-80% of your food for the week to be whole/fresh food, and that stuff belongs on the counter or in the fridge to encourage quick consumption! So, keep your pantry somewhat "sparce" containing homemade food/snacks or some of the items listed below...
