“Food as medicine” is one of my strongest #BadAssMedicine mantras.
For me and my family, health starts in the kitchen. The kitchen isn’t just a room in the house, it is a culture. It is where we connect, talk, argue (read: “debate”), share the food preparation duties, taste, laugh and eat. It’s always a mess. Leaves, stems, peels, water, pot lids, food for the compost heap… it’s a living and loving room.
Here are 13 rules of our kitchen culture at home:
Good quality, unprocessed foods only
No sugar ever
We all know our oils, even my four-year-old: We know which to never touch, which to use on salads, which can be gently heated, which we can fry with, and which not to heat
We almost never make use of the microwave (Ryan occasionally cheats at lunchtime if he has a meeting to get to – but I’m not happy about it)
Make BIG, inventive salads that are generous with the olive oil
Add seeds, nuts, herbs and spices as much as possible
In terms of red meat we stick to grass-fed venison and organic liver as much as we can
Greens, greens and more greens (broccoli, lettuce, watercress, rocket, green beans, kale, spinach, cabbage)
Recycle as much plastic as possible
Everyone contributes… the kitchen is a place where we can all be creative and thoughtful, not just mama!
Never put warm or hot leftovers into plastic Tupperware. Use glass storage as much as possible and never re-use plastic water bottles. In fact avoid plastic water bottles as much as possible
Never plate-up in the kitchen: Always put all the food in the middle of the table and encourage the kids to take the quantity that their body is needing on the day, with gentle salad and vegetable reminders
Always phone close friends and family and ask them to remind us about good recipes that they have made us, on the phone, while we’re doing it
There are more that I have forgotten I’m sure. But these are the ones that form the basis of our kitchen culture.
What’s your kitchen culture? Are there any that you would add to this list?
Thanks so much Rav.
Hey Rav - great tips - can you elaborate on the oils........which to never touch, which to use on salads, which can be gently heated, which we can fry with, and which not to heat. I hear such mixed things about frying with olive oil.