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Empty Kitchen, Fresh Start: How Moving Forced Us to Ditch Processed Foods

Sometimes the most powerful changes come from having no choice at all. When we moved to Wyoming, our kitchen started as empty as our preconceptions about cooking. No familiar boxes of stroganoff, no pre-made meals, no processed comfort foods – just empty cabinets and a decision to make.

I could have easily filled those cabinets with the same processed foods we’d relied on in Utah. You know the ones – just add water, stir, and dinner’s ready in 45 minutes. But standing in that empty kitchen, I saw an opportunity. Instead of slowly trying to phase out processed foods (which, let’s be honest, probably wouldn’t have happened), we could start fresh. Right here. Right now.

Was it an easy decision to make? Not exactly. Our family had been heavy users of processed foods – ‘it wasn’t even comical,’ as I recently told a friend. Our typical weekly meal prep used to involve shopping for pre-made or nearly-pre-made meals, collecting boxes where you just dump contents in a bowl, add some milk or water, and call it dinner.

Now? Our meals look completely different. Take our recent transformation of a family favorite – Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. The old version would have involved several processed ingredients. The new version? Fresh cauliflower instead of tater tots, real chicken, crispy bacon, and a carefully crafted ranch sauce. Yes, it takes longer than opening a box and adding water. But the flavors? Incomparable.

The biggest challenge hasn’t been the cooking itself (thanks to AI helping me transform recipes), but rather convincing the kids that these healthier versions are better than their processed counterparts. It’s a work in progress, but we’re getting there.

A typical dinner now starts with a recipe from my digital recipe box – but the process actually begins days before. Every Saturday, I plan our entire week’s menu, Monday through Sunday. This isn’t just about knowing what to cook; it’s about removing the daily decision-making and eliminating the temptation of processed foods.

Once the week’s menu is set, Monday becomes ordering day. I divide my shopping list between Walmart, Smith’s Food & Drug, and occasionally Amazon, scheduling pickup times for local stores and deliveries for shelf-stable items. This isn’t just convenient – it’s strategic. By avoiding physical stores, I eliminate impulse purchases of processed foods that might catch my eye on the shelves. No more wandering down the boxed dinner aisle and thinking ‘well, maybe just one for a busy night.’

Instead of boiling pre-made noodles for beef stroganoff, I’m searing fresh beef, crafting the sauce from scratch, and serving it over vegetable noodles. Yes, the 45-minute box meal has become a labor of love that takes longer, but the planning system makes it manageable. When dinner time arrives, there’s no question about what we’re eating or whether we have the ingredients – it’s all been planned and procured with purpose.

This advance planning has given me an unexpected gift: time. Those daily minutes (or sometimes hours) once spent staring into the pantry or refrigerator, trying to piece together dinner or running to the store for last-minute ingredients? They’re now freed up for other pursuits. I find myself with more time for writing, keeping up with household tasks, playing games with the family, or working on projects that had been otherwise pushed to the back burner in our previous life. It’s ironic that taking more time to cook has actually given me more time to live.

Here’s what I’ve learned: Sometimes having no choice is the best choice of all. Starting with an empty kitchen meant we couldn’t fall back on old habits. There were no familiar boxes calling our names from the pantry, no processed shortcuts tempting us during meal prep.

Would we have successfully transitioned away from processed foods if we’d tried to do it gradually in our old kitchen? Honestly, probably not. The convenience of those boxes, the familiar tastes, the easy routines – they’re hard to break away from when they’re right there in your cabinet.

But an empty kitchen? That’s an opportunity. An opportunity to fill it with purpose, with whole foods, with new traditions. Sure, dinner takes longer to prepare now. Yes, there are still nights when I miss the simplicity of adding water to a box. But watching my family eat real, whole foods, knowing exactly what went into every meal? That’s worth every extra minute.

Sometimes the best changes in life come from having no choice but to leap forward. Our empty Wyoming kitchen turned out to be more than just empty space – it was an empty canvas, ready for a whole new way of feeding our family.

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The Great Purge: How a 2-Week Declutter Changed Our Lives

“When we decided to move to Wyoming, we knew our 2,100 square foot home’s worth of belongings wouldn’t fit into our new 980 square foot space. What we didn’t know was how quickly and dramatically we’d need to downsize – or how liberating it would turn out to be.

We had just 2-3 weeks to decide what would make the journey with us to our new life. It sounds overwhelming, right? But sometimes, a deadline is exactly the motivation you need to make tough decisions. Our method was surprisingly simple: if I hadn’t touched something in six months or needed it in the past year, it had to go.

The process taught us some unexpected lessons about possessions, stress, and what really matters in a home. Here’s what we learned:

Time Is Your Truth-Teller

Looking at a box or item and honestly asking ‘When was the last time I opened this?’ became our decluttering north star. Six months became our cutoff point – if we hadn’t needed it in that time, we probably didn’t need it at all. This simple question eliminated countless hours of agonizing over individual items.

Kids and Clutter: The Stealth Approach

One of our most successful strategies, especially with kids’ belongings, was what I like to call the ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ method. We discovered that if we sorted and removed items while our children were at school, they rarely remembered or missed what was gone. It’s fascinating how many toys we think our kids ‘need’ when they actually don’t even remember having them.

The Kitchen Reset

Perhaps our boldest move was completely emptying our kitchen. We knew we had a budget from our home sale to replace essentials, and we were committed to transforming our eating habits. This clean-slate approach meant every new item in our kitchen would be intentionally chosen for our new lifestyle. Surprisingly, there hasn’t been a single kitchen item we regret letting go of.

The Fast-Track Farewell

Without time for a traditional yard sale, we got creative with distribution. Local Facebook groups, generous gifts to neighbors, and yes, several trips to the dump helped us quickly pare down our possessions. The time constraint actually worked in our favor – it forced quick, decisive action instead of prolonged deliberation.

The Lasting Impact Months later, this massive declutter has completely changed how we approach possessions. Before making any purchase now, we ask ourselves:

  • Do we really need this?
  • Do we need it right now?
  • Can we find it locally?
  • Could we borrow it instead? (Having family nearby is a bonus here!)

The most profound revelation? The less physical stuff we had, the more our stress levels dropped. It’s not just about having fewer things to clean or organize – it’s about the mental clarity that comes with living more intentionally.

For anyone feeling overwhelmed by their possessions but nervous about letting go, here’s my advice: your life will feel less stressed if you just let go. We’ve experienced firsthand how reduced physical clutter leads to reduced mental clutter, and ultimately, to greater happiness.

Remember, everything you own demands a piece of your attention, your space, and your energy. Choose wisely what you allow to take up residence in your home and life. Sometimes the best path to peace is through the donation box.

Starting fresh in Wyoming with less stuff has given us more of what really matters – peace, happiness, and family connection. And isn’t that what home is really about?”

About the Author: If you’re new here, check out my first post about our family’s journey from Utah to Wyoming and how downsizing changed our lives. When I’m not writing about our adventures in simple living, you can find me in our cozy kitchen, reinventing comfort food classics into healthier versions.

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Join our growing community of intentional living enthusiasts. Get fresh content about our Wyoming adventure, simple living tips, and upcoming recipes delivered straight to your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime - but we bet you won't want to!

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