New food, New diet, New Recipes? Don't Panic! Try these kitchen hacks to help make Candida Friendly food prep a breeze.
Changing my relationship with food, changed the way I cooked, and ultimately changed the way I functioned in the kitchen. With all the new ingredients, and the necessity to prepare foods from scratch, I needed a way to stay organized.
Function with Ease
Whether your kitchen is old or new, large or small, everyone has a layout of organization that works best in their space.
Once I started preparing foods regularly, and with all new ingredients, I found I needed a way to keep track of things rather than have everything buried in my cupboards. Suddenly, I found myself using multiple kinds of seeds and grains, and always needed my measuring cups and spoons on hand. There is nothing I dislike more than digging through kitchen drawers to find what I need especially when my hands are a mess! I also needed a way to keep track of all my new recipes and have them handy for regular use. Below is a list of ideas found helpful for making my kitchen condusive to Candida friendly cooking.
1. Organize your Recipes
Before starting my journey, I enjoyed cooking a variety of foods and seldom used recipes. But once I started eating differently, I needed some inspiration and ideas on how to prepare a new variety of ingredients! I used the internet as my primary source of information and eventually I found my phone filling up with all kinds of bookmarked meal ideas. Rather than spending time writing recipes out, it was helpful for me to have a screen available in the kitchen. Since my kitchen is very small and I don't have a lot of counter space, I used command hooks to mount an old ipad on my kitchen cupboard! Now I can keep internet tabs open for my favorites and always have the recipes handy for when I need them. For those of you who don't have access to a tablet, there are many other ways to organize recipes: Use a recipe box, post them on your fridge, check out books from the library, make yourself a binder -whatever will keep your recipes easily accessible, will help keep your motivation for food prep higher!
2. Keep Measuring Utensils Easily Accessible
Another great use for command hooks is to organize measuring spoons and cups by hanging them up on the inside of cupboard doors! This helped me keep my drawers clutter free and my utensils always within arms reach -A HUGE time saver when in the middle of a new recipe!
3. Invest in a Few Small Appliances
In order to help make food prep a breeze, there are a few small appliances that I highly recommend everyone invest in.
One of the foods I find extremely beneficial to my diet is celery juice -primarily for its anti-inflammatory properties but also for a host of other reasons which I will take time to write about in my Do or Die-t section. I ended up finding a juicer on one of my local swap and buy sites for $20! Even though there are not many fruits we can consume on a Candida diet, there are several green smoothies and energizer drinks you can make. If this sounds like something that interests you I highly recommend adding a juicer into your food prep space.
One of my absolute favorite appliances I invested in is a spiralzer. The one that I chose came with three different size blade attachments and can be used for all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I like to use mine for making zucchini noodles and spiralizing peppers, cabbage and onion, for salads, as well as apples and carrots for kids snacks -the possibilities are endless! I found this one at my local Walmart for under $20 and I am very happy with it ! Spiralizing can add a whole lot of fun to your food prep and it is extremely easy to do. Regardless of the brand you choose I am positive you will love it!
One of THE MOST IMPORTANT items you can invest in is a good blender. I started out with a magic bullet personal size system , which served me well especially in the beginning for experimenting with smaller recipes to find things I liked. I used it for grinding nuts and seeds and grains to make my crackers, cookies and breads. I was also able to use it with wet ingredients to make things like salad dressings and sauces. After a few months, however, I found that I outgrew the size of the magic bullet and it wasn't grinding the nuts and seeds as fine as I liked. For Christmas I was surprised with a vitamix blender and I can not believe how amazing it is. I have only started unlocking the potential of what I can do with it. So far, I have used to make flour for my quinoa bread, bruschetta mix, salad dressings, nut and seed butters, and soups! There are plenty of blenders out there that range from low to high price points depending on your budget. Regardless what you choose, my primary recommendation is that you find a blender that is able to grind nuts and seeds well, and is large enough to make a family size recipe . This will allow you to make foods in larger portions resulting in less time spent in the kitchen preparing your meals!
4. Organize your Ingredients
Introducing new food into the kitchen can be overwhelming. I started buying ingredients in bulk and soon ended up with a basket full of bags! One of my favorite recipes is for keto crackers which I make sometimes as often as twice a week! Since this recipe requires many different seeds, the best way I found to organize these was to put them in glass containers. I keep these containers on a hutch in my kitchen which I have access to without having to rummage. Labeling ingredients or dedicating a storage space for candida friendly foods, can also be effective ways to stay organized.
5. Make Space for Supplements
The final suggestion I have to make your food prep a breeze, is to make room for your supplements. Part of my treatment for Candida involves more than food and probiotics. I also take several other supplements (under the advisement of professionals at the Martin Clinic) including digestive enzymes, candida cleanse, hormonal support, magnesium and B12. All of these play a part in balancing out my body especially as I rid it of Candida overgrowth and extra weight.
Since these supplements need to be taken with meals and packed with my lunches for work, I like to keep them in the kitchen so I am reminded to take them as I prepare my food. If you end up using any amount of supplements on your journey (please make sure to do your research and always talk to your doctor), finding a place in your food prep space to keep them, will help you stay on track.
When it comes to organization, find what works for you. Make your kitchen a space that motivates you to stay on track and make food prep fun!
Get Inspired
There are a million ways you can organize your space. The important thing is to have fun and do what works for you. This whole idea started as a way to help myself stay motivated to prepare candida friendly foods in a way that wasn't so overwhelming. If you have any more ideas that you want to share I'd love to hear from you! Check out the contact section to send me an email.
Live Laugh Lemons.
Enjoy the journey friends!