26 Dec After Christmas shopping list: healthy kitchen items

The Christmas rush is over and it’s the day after the most religious, and magical of days for many people. Hopefully, you get some time to relax and aren’t rushed right back to work.
If you are called immediately back to the daily grind, then at least it’s good to know the weekend will be here soon. This is a shorter workday and some more time off for New Year’s Eve and Day may be coming, too.
Whenever you do get a break, take stock of your Christmas experience, the gifts you received and start thinking about 2013.
If you didn’t get quite the presents you wanted, here are five ideas for after-Christmas shopping to help you start 2013 off on a healthy note in the kitchen:
1. Blenders – Whip up a healthy fruit smoothie for breakfast or a snack. Smaller hand blenders are great for whisking or blending food ingredients such as eggs, salsas or soups.
2. Salad spinner – Great way to clean lettuce or other vegetables and get them ready to eat quickly.
3. Vegetable steamer – Allows you to prepare healthy vegetables and recipes with ease.
4. George Foreman Grill – This is one of the simplest, most effective ways to prepare all kinds of meats in the kitchen. It doesn’t take up much space and is easy to use clean. It makes meat healthier by allowing grease to drip into easy-to-clean tray at the bottom.
5. Healthy recipes cookbook – You can get lots of great ideas for healthier eating from a cookbook. I especially like local cookbooks available through area business, libraries or bookstores.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com