When most people hear the phrase healthy kitchen, they immediately think of food. What’s in the fridge? What’s on the plate? That kind of thing.
Quote of the day: “One man has enthusiasm for thirty minutes, another man has it for thirty days. But it is the man who has it for thirty years who makes a success in life.” Edward Butler
But lately, I’ve been thinking about something different.
What if a healthy kitchen isn’t just about what we eat, but what we use every single day while we’re preparing, cleaning, storing, and living in that space?
Because if you’re like us and you eat at home a lot, your kitchen isn’t just a room. It’s a daily environment. And I’ve come to believe that those little, everyday tools and products add up just as much as the food we choose.
This is where our “kitchen swaps” come in.
It may remind you of my simple food swaps that I shared last year.
The idea is you don’t need to toss or change everything overnight. Just make small, intentional changes aimed at creating a healthier kitchen overall when it’s time to replace items.
As I post this, I realize we are not perfect. Nobody is. But if you have suggestions, I’m all ears.
This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about healthy living. Here are more articles if it interests you:
–Non-toxic dental products
–Natural health and wellness products
–Healthy grocery store haul
I didn’t wake up one day and decide to overhaul our entire kitchen. This has been a slow evolution, driven by curiosity, learning, and a desire to reduce unnecessary chemicals wherever possible.
People will say that our bodies are created to detoxify, so we don’t need to worry about this. But as a biologist, I KNOW that our bodies are overtaxed. By the time we are middle aged, it’s not as easy to detoxify naturally.
Thus, it could be time to analyze what not only goes into our bodies, but also the environment around our bodies.
What I’ve learned along the way is this:
You don’t need to do everything to do something.
Every swap counts.
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Let’s start with the most frequent task in any kitchen — washing dishes.
One of our swaps has been switching to Truly Free dishwasher soap. We’ve tried many options for our dishwasher soap, but none have worked as well as we want.
This brand seems to clean beautifully without the unnecessary extras, and we’ve been really happy with how well it performs.
While we Love the marketing of the company, we were surprised when checking the ingredients in their hand soap. It had SLS in it, which is something we stay away from.
The moral of the story: Check your ingredients.
This one was hard for my husband. He likes shiny dishes because he thinks they are really clean. But once you research what is in most rinse aids, you need to reevaluate your definition of “clean.”
It’s no different than our laundry. We have been programmed with “fresh scents” that are really just awful chemicals.
Another reminder that sometimes convenience products exist simply because we’ve been told we need them.
A healthy kitchen isn’t just about what goes on your dishes, it’s also about what touches them.
We swapped plastic scrubbers for bamboo dish brushes. Does it really make a difference? We probably will never know, but it was such an easy swap, I figured, why not?
They’re sturdy, feel good in your hand, and don’t shed microplastics.
I prefer the long handled one for dishes and the shorter one for pots and pans because it’s stiffer.
This was a bigger change for us, and one that took time.
We slowly transitioned to non-toxic pots and pans, moving away from coatings that can break down over time. It wasn’t a one-day purge. It was a “replace as needed” approach.
And that’s the key. You don’t need to toss perfectly usable items tomorrow. But being mindful about what you replace next is how a healthy kitchen gets built.
We’ve also been using cast-iron pans. Using these has been a lesson in how I need to get stronger…they are HEAVY.
But I consider that a good thing. Let me strengthen my wrists and forearms while nourishing my body.
This one felt like a flip-flop. We had used wooden cutting boards until there was the bacteria scare. Then we used the plastic ones.
Now we are back, although this time it’s bamboo.
Is there a difference between bamboo and wood? Supposedly.
AI says this: “Bacteria are generally not a major concern with bamboo cutting boards because they are dense, non-porous, and naturally resistant to bacteria, mold, and mildew. Bamboo holds less moisture than wood and is more resistant to knife scarring, which reduces the places for bacteria to hide.”
Insider tip: I use the plastic boards as a clean line when painting.
One recent swap I’m excited about is Super Leaves hand soap, which is SLS-free.
Since we wash our hands constantly while cooking, this felt like an important upgrade. It’s gentle, effective, and aligns better with what we want in a healthy kitchen.
Insider tip: Even if you like a product from a brand, that doesn’t mean ALL of their products are fabulous. We were going to buy the Truly Free hand soap until we checked the ingredients online and saw it had SLS.
One of the most impactful changes to our healthy kitchen has been a RO (reverse osmosis) water filter.
I’m not sure we would have done this except we needed to install a whole-house water system when we moved into this house two years ago.
Insider tip: The water here in Phoenix is not delicious. You NEED a filtration system.
It is nice to have a whole-house water filtration system, so you are bathing and washing with good water. But having RO water to drink is supposedly even better.
We don’t use it to wash our dishes and such, but to nourish our bodies.
Who else grew up using old Cool-Whip, cottage cheese, and those types of containers for leftovers? Not only were they probably not the healthy kitchen choice, but finding the matching lids was an Exercise in futility.
Then came those containers with all the same size lid, but were different sizes, being taller or shorter. Gosh, I loved those. There is a BPA free version (but I’m not sure I’d microwave them)
Until I started learning more and more about plastic.
So now, we’ve also swapped most of our plastic food storage for glass containers. I have to admit, it’s much easier to see what’s in the fridge, too. (As I’ve shared in the past-it’s not perfectly organized, but it works for us).
I am sure there are more things we can do, but the whole idea of a healthy kitchen isn’t to Stress us out or financially break us, right?
We do know of a couple of things we strive to change in the future:
We still use our air fryer. I’m sure it’s controversial. I’ve heard rumblings about non-toxic ones.
I know it can be a hot topic. And while I’m aware of the concerns, our current air fryer is still working, so we will wait to replace it with a non-toxic one later.
A healthy kitchen doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.
Plastic wrap still sneaks in from time to time. Gosh, it’s so convenient. We try to use it less, but it hasn’t disappeared completely.
I know there are other options available, and over time, we will explore them.
A healthy kitchen isn’t about fear.
It’s not about chasing “clean” perfection.
And it’s definitely not about judgment.
It’s about awareness, asking questions, and making kitchen swaps when and where you can.
Especially if, like us, you eat at home often, because those small choices compound over time.
And just like getting dressed, this isn’t about following rigid rules. It’s about creating a space that supports how you want to live now, while staying open to learning more along the way.
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The post Our Healthy Kitchen: The Small Swaps Making a Big Difference appeared first on Jodie’s Touch of Style.
