What Are Your Kitchen Staples?

Some people have butter, sugar, and eggs in their kitchen at all times. Some people always opt to have other different items in  their kitchen at all times. These items that we carry or do not carry in our kitchen have the potential to define our kitchen personalities. It also does not hurt to exclude certain items from your kitchen; meaning you can have them in your kitchen temporarily (over holiday seasons) or in one big bulk for an event. 

I will share that we, my family and I, do not have butter, sugar, and coffee in our kitchen for us to devour. We had all three to accommodate family and company, but that is hospitality. There is a fine line between what is hospitable and what is consumed daily. This type of topic flows in to all sorts of conversations on proper nutrition and even grocery shopping. Let me make this one point, and we are done:

Let's say you are a coffee drinker (see: Nutrition Corner - "Nutrition Challenge"; From May 2009 - "Challenge #2")  . But, you would like to decrease the amount of coffee you drink. You realize that your five cups of Joe are derailing you - you are "caffeined" for 30 minutes, crashed for 60 minutes, caffeined for 30, crashed for 60, caffeined for 30, crashed for 60. You resemble a working yo-yo. You also come to realize that you have consumed all of your coffee in the cupboard or on the counter. You say to yourself, "I need to buy more coffee." NOT SO FAST! Remember your goal of needing and wanting to decrease the number of cups of Joe you drink? Therefore, if your goal is to decrease, then do not increase the potential for you to drink more coffee. In other words, do not buy more coffee. The more coffee you buy, the more you will have to walk by the full coffee bag or container that you are trying not to consume. Simply, decrease the self-torture. As a matter of fact, do not be coffee-hospitable in this case. Tell your guests that you have water, tea, and something else to drink. The same type of deal goes for other kitchen vices you may own.

With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS       www.teempt.com     TEEM Performance Training