Contributed by Angela Cleveland

Eating well is an essential element to a healthy lifestyle. But, it takes more than just good recipes and fresh ingredients to make a healthy meal. The key is organization. With a cluttered kitchen, missing ingredients, and only 20 minutes to prepare an entire meal, even the best recipes can’t come to fruition.

Here are some simple steps to reduce the chaos and reclaim the art of healthy cooking:

Ingredients

Step #1:
Keep the kitchen clean – starting to prepare a meal in a messy kitchen is distracting and nearly impossible. You can also keep the kitchen clean while you cook by filling the sink with warm soapy water and washing the dishes as you go.

Step #2:
Keep your staples stocked up – items like olive oil, garlic, diced tomatoes, flour, milk and so on (everyone’s list of staples will differ slightly) are often called for in recipes. Keep a list on your fridge; when you run out of a staple, write it down and pick it up the next time you are at the grocery store.

Step #3:
Keep track of your spices – if your spice labels aren’t laid out for easy viewing, keep an up-to-date list at hand to help keep track of your essential spices; they can often make or break a recipe.

Step #4:
Keep your favourite recipes organized – whether they are found in several cookbooks, recipe cards, or on the computer, keep them close at hand.

Step #5:
Save your easy recipes for busy nights and your more complicated ones for the quieter nights.

Instructions

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