Do you have a healthy refrigerator?

If our doctor went into our houses and opened our fridge… ahem… I wonder if we’d hear a lecturing?

AHA. Our kids raid the fridge (and pantry) anytime, and what we have in these two places give us clues if we’re serious about feeding our family healthy meals.

Here are four tips to a healthy fridge:

Take stock of what’s inside. Once a month, pull everything out and separate the better-for-you foods from the rest. Next, throw away everything that is expired and clean the fridge with hot soapy water. Then, take note of high-fat, low-fiber, high-sugar foods and replace them with healthier versions in the next grocery trips.

Fruits and veggies take center stage. Instead of hiding easily-spoiled fruits, and vegetables in the crisper, place them on the shelf where you can see and eat them. What to do with the empty crisper? Hide your deserts there!

Have “ready to eat” meals. Pre-cut fruits and vegetables and put them in see-through containers for ready-to-eat snacks. Place left over entrees and side dishes on one plate and cover for the next day’s balanced “TV” dinner.

Make it appealing. Did you notice how well-designed those Lunchables are? Take a hint from those and make our healthier versions more appealing. To make fruits and vegetables more appealing, add just a little indulgent topping or accompaniment. For example, spread a teaspoon of chocolate syrup or nuts on the low-fat yogurt. Cut star-shaped low-fat cheese slices for whole-grain mini bagels.

Freeze food in serving-size portions. Right after grocery shopping, cut your meats and portion them into single-serve portions. For example, a serving size of beef is similar to a deck of cards. Check out this website for serving sizes of foods.

SO… WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE? Here is a challenge for all of us. Let’s all take a stock of our refrigerators this week, clean ‘em out by the next weekend and replace the contents with healthier varieties. Then I’ll wait for comments next week!