Health Warrior Pro Tip: Choose Your Weapons Wisely

If food is medicine, then our weapons of choice when embarking on a journey towards health and wellness have to be or fork, and our other kitchen utensils.

The number one thing that makes a chef's (or a novice in the kitchen's) life easier is having the right weapons and the right "tools" at his or her disposal.

Cooking is not a difficult art form to master, most people tend to read a recipe online or in a cookbook and almost become paralyzed with fear and anxiety with the daunting task of replicating what is on the page in front of them.

I call that state of mind paralysis by analysis. 

I vehemently subscribe to the doctrine of the K.I.S.S method when it comes to "furnishing" my kitchen with the right "tools".

Keep. It. Simple. Stupid.

People tend to get too fancy and overcomplicate their kitchen, thinking they need all this elaborate equipment to moonlight as an expert chef.

The truth is you can be a restaurant quality chef with only a few, choice, and specific items in your kitchen. A great Health Warrior has an efficient and specific purpose for every "weapon" in his or her kitchen.

What You Will Need:

1. Get 2-3 large cast iron pans.
   • You can cook almost anything on a cast iron pan. Anything.
2. Buy one small non-stick pan.
3. Buy one large non-stick pan.
4. Buy a traditional Wok.
5. Buy 2-3 large wooden cutting boards.
6. Buy a Japanese Knife set – (Shun Fuji is my favorite).
7. Buy 2-3 large pots for soups and boiling grains, cauliflower, or sweet potatoes.
8. Have 2-3 large tin baking sheets.
9. Buy 2-3 spatulas, 2-3 wooden spoons for salad, a ladle or two serving soups and for and metal tongs for the grill or for flipping.
10. Have a Vitamix blender AND or a handheld immersion blender.

Once you build your foundation of tools and weapons in your kitchen, the rest is easy. There is no clutter and there are no messy and disorganized cabinets.

All you now need to do is run to the farmers market, the grocery store, or even just run out to your garden to grab some fresh, whole foods to make a fabulous, healthy and delicious meal.

A Health Warrior has the right tools at his or her disposal, and now you do too!

Health Warrior Pro Tip: How to Declutter Your Kitchen.

It is important to have an organized and mindful kitchen. As stated in a previous blog post, your kitchen is to be your sanctuary, and a haven for your health. 

In order to be the most efficient chef and Health Warrior you can be, you need to have the right tools and equipment at your disposal.

But before we equip you with the right “weapons”, it is important to throw out all your kitchen utensils that you have not used and or touched within the past 3 months.

People tend to hoard when it comes to their kitchenware. Trust me, you can only imagine the amount of plastic cutting boards I have seen!

Yuck!

When you have an organized and clean kitchen, cooking is a joy, and a stress-free activity. Here are some steps on how to efficiently organize your kitchen.

Steps:

1. Donate or throw out any multiples that you have in dishware.

2. Get rid of all plastic cutting boards (they attract more bacteria than wood).

3. Organize each drawer so that everything has a place, and a geographical purpose.

4. After throwing out the junk in your cabinets, organize your kitchen cabinets so that you have all of the food groups in the same place and there is not a sense of randomness to your sanctuary.

5. Create a drawer or cabinet specifically for spices and oils.

It may seem simple, and even a little silly, but organizing your kitchen, and your health sanctuary can make almost all the difference into whether or not you are inspired to take care of your health, and yourself in general. 

When you are able to stack the deck in your favor, the results often sway in your direction. Organizing and un-cluttering your kitchen will only set you up for success on your journey towards health and wellness.