How you feel when you cook matters. How you feel about yourself all the time matters. How you feel is your energy, and your energy is what sends you crashing into the fade zone or skyrockets you into radical vibrancy. 

I hear so many people say that they're too busy, confused, unskilled, or simply uninspired to cook at home. Whatever your excuse, my new book Make Your Own Rules Cookbook, will show you that you can choose to step confidently into the kitchen. Trust me; you don't need to have tons of time or chef-like precision - or those insane chopping skills- to make delicious food. 

When you make time for creativity in the kitchen, you'll feel better, look better, and have more peace and focus in your life. 

The simple act of getting in the habit of preparing meals with mindfulness and playfulness helps shift into a magical frame of body and mind. When you spend more time in the kitchen, you create the space for awesome vibes in the food you create. It's not simpy what we eat that shapes our health. How we feel during our meals is just as crucial as the nutrients on our plates. 

Before we get cooking, and even before we go shopping, we have to do some cleansing. Don't worry; I'm not suggesting days upon end of lemon water fasts. Instead make a mental and physical space in your kitchen for greatness. A calm mind and clear vision will help create the perfect kitchen setup that takes into account both deisres and actual circumstances. Anyone can do this, even with dull knives and a tiny workspace. 

Creating Space Meditation

Sit however you feel comfortable. Close your eyes and allow your attention to drift inward. Watch your inhales and your exhales as they come and go. If you notice your mind wandering, see if you can guide your attention back. Imagine your ideal kitchen. Imagine yourself in that kitchen with loads of open mental and physical space for exploration. What does the kitchen smell like? How do you feel in your ideal kitchen? 

Allow that feeling to dance through your body. When you are ready, gently open your eyes. I hope you feel spacious, open, and ready to create.

Now that you’ve cleared some space in your mind, it’s time to turn to your kitchen. If you’re anything like me, there are some things living in the back of your fridge that have been there for way too long. Heck, you may not even know what they are anymore! Or perhaps you have cabinets filled with who-knows-what from who-knows-when? All you know is that it’s covered in dust and completely inedible. How is that stove looking? Mine gets pretty messy, especially when it hasn’t been used in a while. What’s in the oven? Baking sheets with old cookie crumbles? Yep, that’s me. We’re all guilty of letting things go, so let’s band together and put a little time into cleaning.

Step One - Clear out the Fridge and Cabinets

The first step of any good cleaning is getting rid of what’s bad. When you’re looking through your kitchen, try to use an “everything must go” mindset (unless it’s fresh and you expect to use it). Are you hanging on to a super-old jar of pickles with a couple of lonely spears floating around? Do you have a half-eaten box of cereal from some time last year? Chuck it. I hear a lot of people say, “But that’s wasteful.” And my answer to them is, “No, it’s not.” If there is the possibility that the food is stale, and not just free of mold, toss it out. And then use this as a learning experience. Take note of the waste and vow not to buy these things again. It’s a good practice—I promise. Better to toss it out than to hang on to what you’ll never use. Trust me; you’ll feel so much more satisfied when you’re not piling new on top of old. Plus, you’ll know what you really have and what you need to get.

Step Two - Clean and Shine

Once your purge of old and bad things is complete, it’s time to put in a little elbow grease and make your space shine. I know it’s not fun, but again, it’ll feel good. Scrub that stove. Pick the sticky stuff out of the fridge drawers. Wipe that old frosting off the backsplash (finally).

Step Three - Healthy Cookware and Utensils

Part of purging and cleaning your kitchen is going through the nonfood items you own to see if there’s anything that could negatively impact your health. If toxins are hiding in your cleaning products, cookware, or any other household items, you should get them out of your home immediately. For a lot of things, I think you should keep what you have; don’t waste your money on new things just to have new things. But there are certain things I’m not going to budge on, because I care about you and I want you to have a fair chance to radiate without getting sick.

For example, many companies that make cookware use perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is a key processing agent in making Tefl on for nonstick and stain-resistant products. However, PFOA has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and thyroid disease in people. It is also in the blood of 95 percent of Americans. Thankfully, healthier alternatives are easy to come by, and they don’t have to be expensive.

The same goes for the rest of the items listed in the table below, which I created based on information from the Environmental Working Group. Check out www.ewg.org to learn more about the impact of chemicals and toxins in your home and tips on greening up your living space.

Now that you have a clean fridge, and a healthy kitchen, you are ready to start a whole new way of eating at home. All you need now is a collection of mouth-watering recipes.

If you order my Make Your Own Rules Cookbook here (limited time only) you will be able to download a super-nice exclusive chill-out routine, to help you de-stress your body and mind so you can fully enjoy cooking and serving up amazing dishes.