Chapter 5
Kitchen and Pantry Makeover
In This Chapter
▶ Setting up your kitchen workspace for success
▶ Making your life easier with essential utensils and small appliances
▶ Stocking healthy staples for convenient meal prep
A
s you begin this new journey of food and cooking after weight loss
surgery, nothing can be more important than having a kitchen well
stocked with all the correct equipment and staples. Your space may be lim-
ited, but with careful planning you can make the most of the area you have.Whether you’re a cooking pro or a beginner, this chapter guides you through
the details of necessary knives, utensils, cookware, and small appliances.
Each serves a function and makes being in the kitchen more time efficient.
In addition we provide a list of dry, refrigerated, and frozen staples to make
sure the next time you start a recipe you’re not dashing out the door for a
forgotten ingredient.Preparing Your Kitchen:
Purging and Organizing
You’re ready to start cooking and you have no idea where anything is. You
have kitchen gadgets, trinkets, and gag gifts that everyone knew you had to
have to make your kitchen more exciting. But now’s the time to figure out
what you do and don’t need to make your cooking successful. Clean out the
junk and get your kitchen organized!Start with three boxes. The first box is for things to keep, the second box is
for donations, and the third box is for trash. Divide your kitchen into sections,
sorting into the three boxes. Trying to tackle the whole kitchen all at once can
be overwhelming and you may waver over gidgets and gadgets. Get boxes two
and three out of the kitchen before you change your mind and clutter up the
kitchen again.