Living wellness: Pinterest in the Kitchen

Eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables daily and support that decision by harvesting a home garden.

Minimize processed foods in my diet.

Cook thoughtful meals at home for me and my family because it is nurturing, contemplative, pleasurable, creative, and delicious!

There, you have it.  The three parts of my wellness prescription that most specifically address nutrition and how I need to live in order to be the healthiest, happiest version of my self.  They might be spot-on, but they can also be daunting- especially cooking thoughtful meals and harvesting a home garden which I love to do but have never quite hit it out of the park because I feel like I am a bit short on garden knowledge and big books about it just don’t interest me.  I want my ability to cook thoughtful meals and to grow a bountiful garden to be effortless, and, this year, that might actually happen not because of anything going on in my kitchen or garden boxes but because of a tool I found on my computer.

Case in point: last night, we enjoyed roasted vegetables and a slow cooker chicken adobo whose recipe I found on Pinterest.  This morning, I had an omelet breakfast muffin whose recipe I adapted from Pinterest.

If you had told me two months ago that one of my best living wellness tools would be Pinterest, I would have said, “Pinta-what?”

I have a running group of pins that all offer garden insight for when it comes time to plant my garden in the next couple weeks.

And, now, I am thoroughly committed to Pinterest and, in turn, it’s enhanced my ability to nutritiously live my wellness. Not familiar with this addictive site?  Here’s the scoop.  Pinterest is an online pin board where users post things—from outfits to recipes- they love and others can then cull through those images and repost things on to their own boards for inspiration or future use.

For months, I resisted Pinterest.  What good could it possibly do? But, during the Super Bowl, I peeked in and found a treasure trove of good ideas.  I started pinning recipes and garden tips and other stuff and, soon, I could see how valuable Pinterest could be in my daily life.  Now, Pinterest is just another tool I have in my organizational structure, especially when it comes to what we eat.

Every Friday, I typically do a menu plan for the next week. Now, I use my usual tools (my calendar so I know what we have coming the next week and what I need to take into account for my planning, paper for the menu and paper for the grocery list that I need to make to go along with my menu plan, pen, coupons, and cookbooks), and I also bring up my “Recipes to Try” Pinterest board.

When I sit down to menu plan, I have a command center around me that allows me to thoughtfully plan the next week’s meals for my family of three, and I end the task on Friday night aware of what we’re having to eat the next week and what I need from the grocery store to make it happen.  This deliberate menu planning really allows us to make thoughtful meals at home (Pinterest has been great at giving those weekly plans some variety), so that we minimize processed foods or dinners out and increase our fruit and veggie intake.

On Saturday mornings, I take off early for grocery shopping or, if the Farmer’s Market is in season, we walk to our local market to see what they have and then I go to the grocery store to complete our shopping. As often as possible, I try to buy what is in season and local.

On Sunday afternoons, I prep what I can for the week.  Sometimes, I go ahead and prepare items for breakfast, lunch, or dinner later in the week and I always prep Monday’s slow-cooker meal (one slow-cooker night a week is really helpful and, for me, the best slow cooker night is Monday after a morning spent teaching).

Then, we’re ready to deliberately embrace nutritional wellness for the week and though there are sometimes changes in the plan, the big picture plan has been thoughtful enough to keep us healthy and our general values around food realized.

Are you using Pinterest?  If so, what do you love it for?  What tips do you have for menu planning and living your wellness?  What are your priorities in living your wellness and what tools have you found to help you?

*Recipe and source for that black bean burger

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One response to “Living wellness: Pinterest in the Kitchen”

  1. Tami -- Teacher Goes Back to School

    i totally mocked pinterest until i started using it and now can’t imagine my life without it. keeps me less scattered and my brain can rest knowing i’ll be able to find whatever i’m looking for if i’ve pinned it.

    such a great idea to use it with weekly meal planning. we’ve been having a hard time planning our meals since ruby came home – we’ve been eating on the fly. pretty healthily, but still pretty randomly.

    thanks for the tip!

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