Moving into a new house is the perfect opportunity to start new and fresh. We tend to think about new furniture, new decor, maybe new linens. Something we don’t always think about is our food and our cookware, and how those are going to be organized in the new home.Lucky for me, culinary and health expert Kristen Coffield, founder of www.theculinarycure.com, came over for her signature “Kitchen Intervention” to help me organize my kitchen for success.  For me, healthy eating is about eating the best I can, while on the go, in a tiny kitchen, and on a tight budget -- something I felt was close to impossible to do. Kristen said it best, “Food should be easy, quick, and delicious. If you dread the task of cooking, you won’t do it.” Her philosophy is all about simplifying the process. We have this mentality that healthy food is costly, time consuming, and hard to do, and I am here to tell you -- thanks to Kristen! -- it is not as complicated or expensive as you think. 

Lessons from My Time with Kristen

PLAN!

 Make a five-day meal plan. In America, food is relatively cheap, so we over buy and end up wasting 40 percent of the food we purchase. Forty percent! That is crazy! By simply planning ahead and only buying what we need, grocery shopping becomes a lot more affordable.Pick a day, Sunday works best for most, and do your five-day meal prepping. Write down the menu, go to the grocery store, and prep the foods that need to be prepped (e.g., wash kale, cut veggies, make a big batch of brown rice or quinoa).After grocery shopping you should still be able to look in and see all your food. If you can’t see it, you won’t use it. At the end of the week, your refrigerator should be empty. 

Tips I Have Already Put into Action

 Simplify! If you can’t see it, you won’t use it applies to cookware, too. Believe it or not, you don’t need that panini press. Put it away in the basement or the garage.Start your day with fat, fiber, and protein. It’s the magic formula.Lemon water first thing in the morning.Make a menu for five days and buy only for that.Use what you have. It doesn’t always have to be a new and fancy recipe.Power/Energy bars are candy bars in disguise. Yes, even the “healthy” ones. Eat and handful of chocolate-covered almonds instead.Shop as local and organic as possible. Go to MOMs or Whole Foods for meat and poultry.  

My Menu & Go-To Recipes

 Breakfast: Chia seed pudding, green smoothies with only enough fruit to make it slightly sweetLunch: I am grab-and-go, so I make my own trail mix, carrots and hummus, quinoa pastaDinner: Kale salad, blackened chicken thighs, zoodles, and shrimp (all recipes on her website!), quinoa fried rice  

Pantry Staples

 Having these will allow you to whip up a meal, even when it seems you have nothing in the kitchen. This post barely scratches the surface of Kristen’s knowledge and passion. A regular cooking host on Good Morning Washington, her website includes more than 160 recipes, the free download “9 things you can do the change your life RIGHT NOW,” and online courses will be available at the end of the month. Sign up for her newsletter and check her out on Instagram, @kristencoffield, for daily tips and motivation!