Chef Jodi has dished out some tips for keeping true to those New Year’s resolutions for clean cooking and eating!

Clean eating what’s garden fresh: Cool Beans!

Dried beans are the coolest when it comes to storing! Their shelf life is long-lasting, and they hardly lose their freshness, if they’re cooked just right.

The key to maintaining freshness when making dishes with dried beans is to soak the beans.

Chef Jodi advises: “Submerge the beans in a pot of water overnight, and drain the next day. Refill the pot and boil the beans for a couple of hours, until the beans are nice and soft.”

This technique is universal for all beans! No need to lose freshness when it comes to cooking beans!

Clean Eating Tips: Have no fear, Chef Jodi is here!

A resolution for clean and healthy cooking and eating can seem daunting, sure, but it really isn’t that difficult! Chef Jodi is here to help you start off your New Year with some pointers.

Keep your fridge stocked with colorful fruits and veggies!

Instead of sticking to the fifty shades of (green) lettuce, try branching out and exploring other-colored vegetables in your recipes! Super-vegetables such as Kale, Chinese cabbage, and broccoli are packed with major vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc–all of which are super important to our diets!

With our “simple, healthy and delicious” approach to cooking, we have a number of recipes that incorporate these very nutritious and healthy greens. See our Dishing Out Recipes for those delicious dishes!

Cook at home simple, healthy and delicious meals!

We all know: processed foods are often loaded with unhealthy ingredients, such as trans fats and saturated fats, and excessive amounts of sodium and sugar. The best way to know what’s going into your system is to know exactly what ingredients are being used, which is why we are huge advocates for home cooking.

Cooking at home is super easy when you have an arsenal of simple, healthy and delicious recipes like the ones we post monthly in our Dishing Out Recipes section!

But if you’re feeling lost when it comes to home cooking, Chef Jodi’s cooking classes are extremely informative, fun and delicious. One class with Lajollacooks4u and we’re sure you’ll feel 10x more confident navigating through your kitchen! See what classes we can offer you and your group of friends on our website.

Keep on cooking!

The best way to keep your New Year’s resolution is to load up your arsenal and stick to your guns. Sure, you may have a cheat day…or three, consecutively. But don’t let that stop you from jumping back into the kitchen and pursing your goal of clean cooking and eating!

Finally, we’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and the best of luck in keeping this year’s resolutions!