>For today’s post I thought I’d take you on a tour of [what’s in] my kitchen. As I was putting together pictures, I thought about what my kitchen looked like 5 years ago. In my former college kitchen you would find:
– (Preservative loaded) Lean Cuisines and other diet-y frozen dinners
– Huge bag of frozen raw antibiotic-loaded chicken
– Frozen pancakes (no idea why I loved these so much)
– Fat-free yogurt sweetened with splenda
– Diet energy drinks (Tab Energy Drink was my vice. Any else?)
– Diet soda (Diet Coke for days and Diet Sprite/Ginger Ale for mixers on weekends)
– Sugar-loaded granola bars
– Fat-free Kraft Singles (how disgusting! Why did I enjoy eating plastic??)
– Fat-free/sugar-free Jell-O and pudding
– Deli meats (never opted preservative/filler free versions)
– Lots of ready-made dressings, marinades, toppings
Do you get the picture? If it was”diet” I was all over it (well, except maybe the frozen pancakes, ha). I was never full, suffered from constant headaches, and constantly obsessed about my diet. Since switching to a lifestyle of eating real, whole, and clean foods, my life has dramatically improved in the following ways:
1) Bye-bye migraines (went from 1-2 per week to maaaybe 1 every other month)
2) Feel full, for much longer
3) No longer obsessing over diet foods
4) Huge energy boost
5) Ironically, when I stopped “dieting” I got into the best shape of my life
So here’s a look in my current kitchen. Keep in mind, this is not all my food (I have roomies). Y’all know I have a cheese allergy. I might dream I could divulge in the smoked Gouda deliciousness you will see, but sadly that is not the case.
Cabinets
A lot of my lunches and dinners are eaten at work. I love doctoring up healthy soups and sauces.
Protein bars, natural condiments (dressings, ketchup) quinoa, oyster crackers (love these!), brownie mix
[Some of] my spices. Definitely needs some organization.
Oatmeal and smoothie mix-ins. I keep this eye-level cabinet stocked with items I regularly use (raw honey, almond oil, apple cider vinegar, mesquite, maca powder, spirulina, oats, nutritional yeast).
Baking essentials. Newest favorites: Coconut flour and flaxseed meal.
Refrigerator
Top shelf
Low-fat cottage cheese
white wine
PB (can you guess which are mine?)
Fruit (strawberries and golden(!) raspberries)
Off-limits cheese (dang belly)
Deli stuff
Deli turkey (think we know who that’s for)
light shredded cheese
Light Laughing Cow cheese
Whole grain bread
vegetables (tomatoes, kale, peppers, zucchini)
lean ground turkey breast
OJ varieties (Mafriend is obsessed)
Soy (or almond milk), for me
1% milk, for them
hummus
Greek yogurt
egg whites
Fruit/Veg draws
Spinach
cucumbers
butternut squash
brussel sprouts
cauliflower
broccoli
more peppers
apples
Freezer
Frozen veggies
lean turkey burgers
Tip: We organize opened bags of frozen veggies in large freezer bags. Convenient for throwing into soups, egg scrambles, stirfryes when crunched for time
Bread and bananas
I don’t eat bread every day so keep mine in the freezer. I also always have a large bin of peeled bananas for easy usage in smoothies, oatmeal, etc.
Meat
Frozen shrimp
organic free-range chicken
Meatless meatballs (Quorn, soy)
Fruit shelf
Top of fridge
We keep a big clear bowl of unrefrigerated veggies handy for easy viewing. Tip: If you can see your produce you’re more likely to use it!
And quite possibly my favorite part…
Krups + Keurig
Coffee varieties
caramel syrup (for ma sistah, I hate the stuff)
Truvia packets
Not pictured
Protein Powders (SunWarrior!)
Cooking oils and vinegars
Tofu
* * *
How has your kitchen changed over the years?
What’s most random item you have in yours?
Biochemista 
>I'd love to steal all that stuff haha! Seriously, you have so much good stuff in there!! I especially love the veggie drawer!
>Oh gosh my kitchen has done a complete 360 over the years! My most random item is probably a bunch of opened dark chocolate bars! haha I just like to have a few squares a night and then I end up opening tons of different ones! 🙂
>I love the idea of this post! right now my fridge and pantry are pretty much 50/50 'diet' food and 'whole' food (which is 80% because of the roommate, but I do enjoy some of that junk too). also, I love the idea of putting your frozen bananas in Tupperware – I've been using a Ziploc bag, but they usually end up freezer burned. so thanks. 🙂
>First off, congrats on the healthy transition to non diet foods!! Second, can I please have your kitchen toys?! Holy moly!
>I think the biggest difference in my freshman dorm kitchen to my "grown up" kitchen now is not only that I have tons of fruits of vegetables, but I actually have FOOD at all! I ate out 3 times (sometimes 4!) a day for my entire first semester…hello 25 pounds. So glad those days are over!
>My kietchen has DEFINITELY changed over the years. I used to love the lean cuisine meals too (yuck) but now what's in my fridge is mostly produce, tofu, and condiments.I still drink diet soda, but nearly as much as I used to.
>My kitchen has changed so much -for one, since I discovered I was intolerant to gluten, chicken eggs and dairy, my staples of spelt bread, greek yogurt and eggs from the farmer's market are gone, along with cheese. We do have a bit of cheese in the fridge for my husband, but that is about it. I was never big on packaged products, but I have even fewer now – ie all my kashi bars are gone, but i don't really rely on gluten-free equivalents. You are totally reminding me I need to get a shelf thing for our freezer.
>I love this post! It's so fun seeing what other people have in their fridge.I have gone through a similar transition over the last two years – – going from all diet foods to mostly whole, unprocessed foods. What a difference!
>I love to see other bloggers food in their kitchen!!!!I store my bread in the freezer too, Im not a huge bread eater, but its good to have when I want it!Hope you are enjoying your day off! xoxo ❤
>Great post, love seeing all the goodies! Great idea with the bananas! I need to start doing that!
>@Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin Such a difference. Once you go off the 'diet' foods you no longer even have a taste for them!
>@Valerie @ City|Life|EatsHow did you discover you were allergic to all of those? I can't handle most cheeses but I do love my Greek yogurt. Can you do goat's dairy no dairy at all?
>@cookingwithcarly Same here! My idea of cooking was microwaving a frozen dinner then having a skinny cow dessert. haha
>I also used to have TONS of Lean Cuisine meals. It's amazing the money we spent on them. I would rarely cook anything from scratch. When I was cleaning out my kitchen and getting rid of anything that could cause migraines (I feel you on that one), I was amazed at the preservatives that were in all my food. I also ate lots of fat free and sugar free foods. When I did that and when I started using more whole foods, my migraines also decreased dramatically.
>I just noticed how you organize your freezer with big ziploc bags. That is so smart! Mine is jam packed and things are always getting lost or flying out at me when I open the door. I may have to try that!Overall your food supply is so much healthier than it was before! What a great post
>My kitchen has a evolved similar to yours! I survived off of highly-processed cereals and lean pockets, healthy choice meals, and diet coke in college.Now our kitchen is chock full of fresh, natural ingredients. We always have a few sweet potatoes lying around. I agree with what Beth said, wish our freezer was as organized as yours! Thanks for the idea! Love your blog!
>This is amazing and so fun to see what other people have going on behind their fridge doors. I definitely was on the same lean cuisine train during college, but realize the portions weren't pleasing to my eye, the product tasted as if it was a week old, and it simply drained my pocket on cardboard and plastic. Love love love the frozen banana idea!