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| My fridge, I swear it looks better in person |
I love a website called Well and Good, their content is smart and they’re onto things in NYC often before we are (and our clients keep us fairly current). They have a feature called Refrigerator Look Book where they look into the fridge of various chefs, fitness instructors or other health professionals. I love this feature as I do feel your fridge says a lot about you (dating ladies, the fridge is the new medicine cabinet) but I have an issue with many of the featured fridges. You see, while I should be focused on what super healthy ingredients are displayed I really want to climb into my laptop screen and organize what I see. I’m a Virgo, what can I say?
As you reboot from summer fun, your refrigerator is a great place to start.
- Purge, I know it’s strange coming from a nutritionist but you need to be able to see what’s in there. If you haven’t used something this summer, it can go. When we do RefrigeRaider sessions we first remove everything a shelf at a time and toss, toss, toss.
- Put items you want to eat at eye level. You’re more likely to eat the first things you see so precut veggies, fruit front and center eye level. Use those middle shelves for a smaller middle. I’ve talked about these ceramic baskets before but I love this vegetable garage (it’s designed for picnics, you can put ice underneath but we repurposed it).
- Have a master fridge list for basics:
Omega 3 Eggs
Organic Half and Half (Ronnybrook)
Organic Vegetables for crudité (radishes, jicama, celery, carrots, cucumbers)
2-3 Fruits
Greens for salads and juicing
Fresh Herbs
Olives
Organic cheese
Organic Sliced Turkey
Applegate Sunday Bacon
Organic Milk (2% or Whole)
2% Greek Yogurt (Fage or Siggis)
Kefir
Harmless Harvest Coconut Water
Almond Milk
Nut Butter
- Success starts Sunday- this is your time to make iced tea, hard boil eggs, wash greens
- Rewrap- I love this cheese paper from Murray’s. Cold cuts paper dry out too try foil, plastic wrap or airtight container in meat drawer.
- Place fresh herbs or asparagus in a glass of water to retain freshness.
- Place eggs toward back, where it is colder and not on the door.
- Label sauces, stock or leftovers so you know when you put them in. I use these, yes I know they’re called Freezer Labels, it’s ok.
- Consider a charcoal odor absorber, I find these work best I use one called Fridge-it.
Your fridge is going to set you and your family members up to eat well. I put the veggie garage on the table when the kids come home from school and they’re excited to see what’s in it. They can come and easily grab organic grapes or a yogurt, they know where everything is.
When’s the last time you organized your fridge? What are your staple items? What sets you up well for the week? Tweet or post a photo, I shared it’s only fair.
