First don’t start throwing everything in your fridge away. This will be a process and try to start slowly. First is convincing everyone in your family to go along with this clean eating challenge. If you throw out their favorites, its going to be a lot harder to get them on board. I still don’t believe in throwing out food, even if it is bad for you. Learn how to start to slowly stocking your fridge by replacing their favorites with homemade clean eating versions instead. This will gradually help everyone get on board. Once they adjust to the new fresh clean taste, the other version will start to taste bad. Your pallet will change over time and you will enjoy the new clean version better.
How to Stock a Clean Eating Fridge
Start with the top shelf of the refrigerator. What do you have on here that could be thrown out or replaced? Do you have any sugary snacks or treats? How about any leftovers that need to be thrown out? This is time to educate yourself on what ingredients are in each product. Take time and read the labels. If it has ingredients you can not pronounce or do not occur naturally, it is not clean. Here is an easy printable I have made to help you write down items for your clean eating refrigerator list.
Clean Eating Refrigerator Door
Now turn to the door. What condiments like mayo, dressings, jellies or jams can be replaced? Read the labels on each. You will be amazed at how much sugar and other weird sounding ingredients are added to these to make them taste good. Try making homemade mayo, homemade ranch dressing or homemade freezer strawberry jam, to replace these items after they have been used. I have found doing this gradually will help with the transition into clean eating. This will be a slow process and easy to adjust to have a clean eating fridge over time.
Usually in the bottom of our fridge are healthy fruits and vegetables. Our bottom drawers in our fridge are filled with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Try replacing fruits and vegetables with healthy organic versions for a healthy clean eating fridge. Generally if it has a peel you cannot eat like oranges, lemons and bananas, then you can purchase non organic and be OK, if you are trying to stay on a budget. Here is a list of the dirty dozen fruit and veggies you should try to buy organically.
Download your clean eating Fridge worksheet.
Dirty Dozen to Replace for a Clean Eating Fridge
Apples, Strawberries, Grapes, Celery, Peaches, Spinach, Sweet Bell Peppers, Nectarines, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Imported snap Peas, Potatoes
For a complete list you can visit the EWG list of 48 fruits and Vegetables with pesticide residue.
If you are having a hard time getting the kids on board with eating more vegetables? I have great resource tips to get kids to eat more vegetables. These are a few simple tips and tricks to get kids used to the idea of eat healthy veggies. You can try these tips and tricks too. This will allow your pallet to change to enjoy all the new fruits and vegetables you will be stocking your clean eating fridge with. Follow my 31 Day Clean Eating Challenge Pinterest board for daily inspiration to start clean eating. Follow Mainly Homemade on Facebook for additional help from others.
Are you ready for a clean eating fridge?
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