My 30-day cleanse has been interesting so far. I find myself craving raw foods and head to the market daily to stock up with copious quantities of fresh vegetables and fruits. I come home with arms full of fresh produce and nuts and quickly realize that my kitchen is short on storage space. The cupboards are full of pastas I no longer eat but keep on hand for my honey-man. The pantry is full of the canned soups he likes to eat and multiples of things like pancake mix that he always comes home with on the rare occasions he heads out to the grocery store (we have three unopened boxes of pancake mix in the pantry!).
So I set to re-organizing my kitchen. For the next 30-days (at minimum) canned foods and pancake mix have been banished to the downstairs kitchen. Pastas have been moved to make room for a few mason jars full of nuts and seasonings. And the coffee maker that does not get any use has been stashed away to make room on the counter for my blender. Ah… I feel better already.
If you’re experimenting with the raw diet or just want pointers on how to better organize your kitchen, the following article by Karen Knowler will help get you started.
Your Raw Kitchen Checklist
By Karen Knowler
Setting up a raw food kitchen is exciting and uplifting, especially when you are new to raw foods or taking your diet to a new level.
The following check points, taken from my “How to Get Started with Raw Foods” eBook, will help ensure that your raw food kitchen is as easy and functional to use as possible, making your chances of staying with the lifestyle much more likely and much more simple.
1) Keep your key pieces of equipment in a prominent and clear position, next to a plug point, plugged in and ready to go for whenever the need strikes!
2) Next to each piece of equipment keep the relevant foodstuffs and/or ingredients that you are going to be using with that appliance. For instance, I keep all my smoothie ingredients and a big bunch of bananas next to my blender, my fruit bowl next to my juicer and a chopping board next to my food processor (which is next to my juicer so serves them both).
3) Keep as much of the counter space completely clear as possible. This not only looks and feels better, but it means there is never an excuse not to make something because of lack of space or having to clear up first!
4) Group your foods into different places. For instance, I keep all my dried herbs, spices, sea veg and misc. other in one cupboard, my superfoods, flavourings and sweeteners on a shelf next to my blender, my salts, oils and sundried tomatoes in another corner where I may go to season dressings, dips or salads, and all of my nuts, seeds and dried fruits are kept in my “Lazy Susan” (the rotating half- moons that sit behind cupboard doors and are usually used to keep saucepans on!). Any cooked food items that I keep for my son or visitors I keep out the back in my utility room, so that they’re there for emergencies but are never the first things I see or easy to get to. All the rest of my food is kept in the fridge, with a few frozen fruits and/or raw ice-creams kept in the freezer.
5) Keep a good clean supply of water in a prominent location so it’s always close to hand. There are many ways to obtain good quality water, but this is probably something for later on. For the short term I advise NOT to drink tap water and at the very least invest in a basic jug water filter or investigate other more effective pure water systems.
6) Keep your sharp knives in a drawer, a knife holder or on a magnetic wall hanging as close to your chopping board as possible. This way you are always ready to chop and go!
7) Keep a notepad and pen, chalk board or pinboard with blank paper and pen attached close to hand so that when you start experimenting you can make notes or write down your new recipes as you go. Also great for making sure you know what to buy or order in when you run out of a certain ingredient, of course.
Keep your bowls, jugs and Tupperware containers all in one cupboard so that you know exactly where to find them when you need some containers.
9) Keep one drawer purely for housing miscellaneous tools such as salad servers, a hand held citrus juicer, your zester and grater, you measuring cups and your spatulas and any other utensils that you use as part of your fresh food prep.
10) Find a safe and a clean place to house your favourite recipe book/s and any other useful literature, but avoid the temptation to create clutter. Best to choose one or two frequently used books and keep the remainder filed safely elsewhere.
When you have made the necessary changes to you kitchen taking all of the above into account, run it past the all-important final check…
Final Check Questions
* Is my kitchen functional?
* Does it look spacious?
* Are things easy to get to?
* Are my most important accessories and appliances in clear view and/ or super-easy to reach for?
* Is my food well organised?
* Are my cupboards clear, clean and well organised inside?
* Are my “less healthy” foods and kitchen appliances harder (if not impossible!) to get to?
* Does my kitchen inspire me to take care of myself?
* Does it look beautiful?
* Have I made the most of this space?
* All things considered, have I set my kitchen up for success and does it inspire me to get creative?
This is just a tiny fraction of what you can do with your kitchen for making it the best it can possibly be. If you want to be hand-held and given my latest and most potent raw food kitchen secrets than Let’s Get Rawganized! will give you all you need and more!
© 2009 Karen Knowler
WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes “Successfully Raw” - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you’re ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.
It is an unfortunate fact that most people do not know what “hunger” feels like. Hunger is as natural as sex. It makes sense that the feelings we associate with it be positive. Due to heavily intoxicated bodies, a lot of people have learned to associate headaches, dizziness and general irritation with the need for food and call it “hunger.” These symptoms are more commonly associated with signs of detox. When the body isn’t burdened by the demand of the digestive system, it can afford to start directing some of its resources to processing and eliminating toxins. That’s when headaches and irratibility start to show up. Hunger feels good! It pulls, it salivates and persists even after you drink a tall glass of water and wait a little while.
They say that people manage their objects like they manage their thoughts. Looking around my office right now, I believe it! YIKES! 
Few things settle a restless spirit as well as clean dishes and a counter that’s been wiped clean. If your physical environment is “weighing” you down, then it won’t be hard to predict what your eating habits will be like. If you’re stuffing papers in all the wrong places, what are you shoving in your face that you’d rather not tell us about?
