Looking to start your real food journey with a clean slate?
You’ve found the perfect starting place.
The “22 Days to a Fresh Start” series was originally published in January 2012 and is now available as a complete download for free!
Click on the graphic above to get started!
It seems that as soon as the calendar turns December 26, our minds want to fast forward one week and forget that there’s still six days left of the year. We being to think about the previous year… what was good, what wasn’t so good… and we contemplate some changes so that the next year has a little more “rights” and a little less “wrongs.”
No matter what our resolution or change list entails, the first month of a new year is a prime opportunity to implement them and start fresh. For Crumbs followers, that means 22 days to a cleaner, fresher and healthier kitchen and grocery budget.
Each post will have a specific task for you to complete. Call them mini-challenges if you will. Some will take 5 minutes, some will take longer. Some will be easy, some will be more difficult. It all depends where you are in your real food journey, and how much free time you have at home.
But the bottom line is this: I encourage you to not find, but make the time to complete them all. Tidy kitchens and in-lined budgets don’t happen on their own. And if something is truly important to you, you’ll make time to do it.
Besides – I scheduled the longer ones for a Friday so you had a few extra days to complete them. 
So instead of surfing Facebook or catching up on the latest tweets (after you’ve “liked” me and “followed” Crumbs, of course ), spend a few minutes on the day’s task. It’s an easy way to feel accomplished and “productive.” Write the task on your to-do list and then check it off – because isn’t checking those boxes fun? 
And if you needed even more encouragement, I’ll be in the trenches with you. Each of these steps applies to me as well and I’ll be posting updates with my progress.
Step 1 – Clean Out the Fridge
Sounds simple, right? It is! Spend 10-15 minutes today cleaning out the fridge. At this time of year, who knows what we’re gonna find! Christmas leftovers, New Year’s leftovers, random leftovers in mysterious foil packages… In order to make best use of what we have, we need to know WHAT we have!
Take a look at each and every item – even if you think you know what it is – starting with the fridge door. This means opening leftover containers and even verifying that the bottle of bbq sauce really does hold bbq sauce! Look for the following while you’re sorting through the contents:
- expired foods
- food you know you won’t eat
- spoiled/rotten food
Purge all of the above. Many foods are safe beyond their expiration date, but there’s really no sense in keeping the ones that expired six months ago. I mean, those dates are usually set by the manufacturer pretty far out (for their own protection). If you haven’t eaten that bottle of salad dressing in nine months, you probably aren’t going to. Toss it.
Everyone has food in their kitchen they know they won’t eat. Like the leftover refried beans you made last week for company… except that no one in your own house likes refried beans. Toss them.
We will talk about re-using food and cooking smart later (like not making a lot of something your family may or may not like, lol). For now, we’re focusing on starting fresh and I don’t know about you, but leftover refried beans from two weeks ago doesn’t exactly scream fresh.
Is there a cucumber that’s wilted and molded away in your vegetable drawer? Toss it. Perhaps some condiment that just smells a bit off? Toss that too. There’s always a chance spoiled food will not sit well in even the healthiest digestive system. Skip the risk and get rid of the food. Besides, completing all 22 days will be tough if you’re hugging the porcelain crown with food poisoning.
While I will always encourage you to save your glass jars, do not let the extra time that it takes to empty the contents and wash out the jar deter you. If you simply don’t have those extra minutes, toss the item and move on. The same goes for those who have a plethora of glass jars already.
Once you’ve deemed your fridge door “safe,” wipe down each shelf with warm soapy water. Dry with a towel and re-stock your door.
With the fridge door completed, work through the main area one shelf at a time, starting with the top. Check eat item, decide whether to toss it or keep it, wipe down the shelf and re-stock. Move on to the next shelf and don’t forget to check the fruit and vegetable drawers!
Once you’ve completed the fridge, try to organize it in a way that best suits you. Do you forget about fruits and vegetables that are hidden in a drawer? If so, keep those on a shelf in plain sight so you can use them in your meals. Put milk and cream on the bottom shelf, at the far back (the coldest area of the fridge). Group similar items together (like all the leftovers) and keep them in one location, even if it defies the “rules.” For example, because single zucchini’s and eggplant will slip my mind if they’re in the drawer, I keep those on a shelf. Since I don’t need cheese everyday and it has a longer shelf-life, I store all the types together at one end inside the drawer.
Get to the bottom of the fridge, take out the trash and pat yourself on the back! Congrats! You’ve completed day 1. Check the box and call it done!
Here’s a look ahead and a guide to the rest of the month:
Day 1: Clean Out the Fridge
Day 2: Eat Leftovers
Day 3: Create a Grocery Budget
Day 4: Ditch Hydrogenated Oils
Day 5: Clean Out the Freezer
Day 6: Eat a Simple Meal
Day 7: Make Money
Day 8: Bake Bread
Day 9: Plan Meals for One Week
Day 10: Clean Out the Pantry & Cupboards
Day 11: Create a Signature Company Dish
Day 12: Use Food Twice
Day 13: Budget Check-In
Day 14: Try a New Fat
Day 15: Make Something from Scratch
Day 16: Ditch High Fructose Corn Syrup
Day 17: Create a Back-Up Plan
Day 18: Save Money
Day 19: Make Yogurt
Day 20: Address Medications
Day 21: Go Meatless
Day 22: Don’t Give Up
Are you following along with the steps? Find any “strange somethings” in your fridge?
So excited you are doing this! I have been reading your blog for a few months now and really enjoy it. Three of my goals for the new year are to work on getting more organized/efficient in the kitchen, consistently meal plan and cut out ingredients that aren’t great for my family. Thanks for these challenges, I am looking forward to them!
Thanks for joining Tara! I think you’ll find just what you’re looking for to help you accomplish your goals.
Hmmm. My fridge doesn’t have too much junk in it but it certainly needs to be wiped down…
That makes two of us!
Just finished today’s task – and it didn’t even take very long! I feel much more organized (and cleaner) already!
Ditto!
Excellent. I will get on this as soon as I get home from work. I had to get real with my jar situation over the last few days. I have gravitated towards my favorites, and others were just taking up space, so into the recycling bin they went. I have to admit, it felt really good. (And I still have more than enough jars!)
Love that – “getting real with the jar situation!” Strange how we even have favorite jars!
I really enjoy reading your posts. I love the list you made- I’m glad you included it. I think I will follow along and complete these tasks! I need a little focus in the kitchen right now. I’m tired of the junky food in our lives from the holidays. I already dumped the cookie plates(they were stale anyways!) Off to clean the fridge!
Thanks Amy! Your cookies and my cheesecake are officially goners!
I found that when switching to real foods my fridge stays clean. The food in their cycles out within a week, by the time the weekend comes it is pretty empty.
I am so doing this tomorrow. When I went to make dinner tonight I found a questionable eggplant hiding out in the back of the fridge. To late tonight but the kids are all home to help tomorrow. I was very excited to see the menu plan on the list. No matter how hard I try I can’t get the hang of that. Ugh. That is one thing to work on this year.
Hopefully we can get that meal plan issue worked out for you Heather!
Oh, I like a good kitchen challenge! I will have to join in here.
Glad to have you Jamie!
I definitely feel the purge. I have been cooking more simple vegetarian meals lately and trying to finish up foods in the freezer and pantry. Thanks for your great recommendation.
Thanks Diane. Heavy holiday meals drive us to vegetable soups and fresh bread. Not a bad combo though!
It is my deep freeze I am cleaning out — have collected on-sale meats for so long it is time to make what I have rather than buy more. What a great, encouraging list to get things on the right track. Thanks for sharing on Hearth & Soul Hop.
This is a great idea, to address one task a day to help yourself get organised. It’s definitely an excellent way to start off the year.
Cleaning out the fridge is one of the tasks I always enjoy (strangely enough!). I try to do it at least once a month (depending on our travel schedule sometimes it happens more often). It really helps me to stay organised and not over-buy.
Thank you for sharing with the Hearth and Soul hop!
I just found your site and I am loving everything I have read so far! I may not be able to keep up with one/day with my weird working hours and shifts, but I have big plans for my days off now. I am just starting to switch things to a healthier way for my family. We have had a few bumps along the way–homemade peanut butter traumatized them this morning, “it’s bumpy Mommy!” and “I’m just going to lick Nana’s jelly off it.” Sigh. Oh well. One change at a time, right? lol. Thanks for the blog and I look forward to reading much more.
Aw, that comment from your child just makes me want to give you a big hug! Yes, one step at a time. There will be things that we’ll want to stand up and fight for, and then things that just aren’t worth the effort. Maybe peanut butter falls into the latter category.
I look forward to seeing more of you Tasha!
[...] healthier around here especially when it comes to plant-based foods. I decided to follow her “Fresh Start” series that she ran in January. Nevermind that it’s mid-February. The first assignment was [...]
[...] why I created the 22 Days to a Fresh Start series. I wanted others to learn from my mistakes and know that it IS possible to eat real food by [...]
I clicked the box to download the PDF, and it directed me to subscribe to the email list, which I did. But then after I confirmed my subscription through the email, it just sent me back to the website. How do I download the PDF? Thanks!
oops! never mind
just got the second email with the download link. thanks so much, looking forward to journeying through this, even if I am getting a late start 
[...] http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/01/were-starting-fresh-in-january-day-1-clean-out-the-fridge/ [...]
[...] Day 1: Clean Out the Fridge Tuesday, Day 2: Eat Leftovers Wednesday, Day 3: Create a Grocery Budget Thursday, Day 4: Ditch [...]