We all slip.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been eating well, how good your intentions are, or how much you genuinely love the way clean food makes you feel. Life has a way of nudging healthy habits to the back burner — and sometimes shoving them there entirely.
Maybe it was a summer of vacations where you ate what was easy and fun and didn’t think twice. Maybe it was the holidays, when food became celebration and every meal was an occasion. Maybe company came to town and your whole kitchen routine went out the window. Maybe it was a busy work season, a family obligation, a travel stretch that turned into six weeks of figuring it out at the airport. Maybe it was just life — unpredictable, full, beautiful, exhausting life — and somewhere in the middle of it, eating well quietly fell to the wayside.
And then one day, you feel it. That moment of clarity — the one where you look at how you’ve been eating and you think: it’s time to get back on track.
If you’ve ever had that season in your life, please keep reading. After twelve years of eating this way, I have some tips I’m confident will help you jump right back in.
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been off track.
What matters is that you’re ready to come back.”
Here’s what you’ll take away from this blog: the two things I actually do to reset my kitchen and my healthy eating habits after any season of backsliding — and the one gluten-free dairy-free recipe that anchors it all every single time.
The First Thing I Do: Check My Anti-Inflammatory Staples
Before I think about a single recipe or meal plan, I open my pantry and my fridge and I just look.
Am I stocked with the things that make healthy eating automatic? Because when those things are there, I cook. When they’re not, I reach for whatever is easiest — and easiest is rarely the best choice for my body.
As a nutrition chef who has been eating and cooking this way for twelve years, this is the one habit that never changes. The recipes evolve, the seasons shift, life gets loud and then quiet again — but the foundation stays the same. A well-stocked anti-inflammatory kitchen is what makes coming back easy instead of overwhelming.
“When the right things are in your kitchen, healthy eating stops feeling like a decision.”
A few of the staples I always make sure I have on hand:
- Elmhurst Cashew Milk — two ingredients, no gums or additives, works in everything from smoothies to soups to sauces
- Organic full-fat coconut milk — [Eve: hyperlink to Whole Foods 365 organic full-fat coconut milk — confirm current product URL with Shelley before publishing] — always a few cans deep, essential for dairy-free cooking
- Raw cashews from Costco — [Eve: hyperlink to Costco raw cashews green bag — confirm current product URL with Shelley before publishing] — bought in bulk because they disappear fast in my kitchen
- Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Mayo — the only mayo I use, made with clean ingredients and good fats, goes into almost everything
This is just a small window into what I keep stocked. If you want the full picture — every anti-inflammatory pantry and fridge staple I personally rely on — it’s all inside my Inflammation Fix guide. It’s the actual list, not a generic one.
The Second Thing I Do: Make One Batch of Something That Works All Week
This is the move that changes everything — and it is not a full Sunday meal prep situation.
I’m talking about one thing. One batch of something flexible, nourishing, gluten-free, dairy-free, and already done before the week starts. One less decision to make when life gets full again — which it always does.
For me, it’s my Spreadable Chicken Salad — and I want to tell you why this particular recipe earns a permanent spot in any kitchen reset.
The technique is everything. Instead of the dry, chunky chicken salad most of us grew up with, this one goes into the food processor with a creamy, tangy base — coconut yogurt, Chosen Foods avocado oil mayo, a little mustard and apple cider vinegar — until it becomes smooth and spreadable. The kind of thing you want on a cracker at 3pm just as much as stuffed into a pepper for dinner. Naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, made with a rotisserie chicken so there’s almost no actual cooking involved.
I’ve made this recipe for four corporate virtual cooking events and the response was the same every time — people couldn’t believe how simple it was or how good it tasted. I eat it almost every single week myself. And the reason it works so well as a healthy eating reset is what I call the freezer trick.
Make a double batch. Portion the base — before you fold in the fresh vegetables — into freezer cubes and freeze half. Next week’s lunch is already done before next week even starts. That is the kind of quiet, low-effort win that keeps anti-inflammatory eating going when your schedule fills back up.
“One batch. One less decision. That’s the whole strategy.”
The Through Line
Here’s what twelve years of eating this way has taught me:
It’s never about the perfect plan. It’s about removing the distance between you and the good choice.
When your anti-inflammatory staples are stocked, you cook. When you have something already made in the fridge, you eat well without thinking. When you have one anchor recipe that never fails you, you always have somewhere to land.
That’s the whole setup. Not a program. Not a thirty-day challenge. Just a kitchen that’s ready for you — even on the days when you’re not ready to think about it.
The slipping is human. The coming back is the habit. And the easier you make the coming back, the shorter the time between the two.
“The slipping is human. The coming back is the habit.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What foods should I keep stocked for anti-inflammatory eating?
The foundation is clean proteins, healthy fats, dairy-free alternatives without additives, and anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric, ginger, garlic, and cumin. I put my full personal staples list together in my Inflammation Fix guide — it’s exactly what I keep in my own kitchen
What’s the easiest way to get back on track with healthy eating?
Start with your kitchen, not your willpower. Stock your anti-inflammatory staples first so the right ingredients are already there. Then make one batch of something flexible — a protein, a spreadable, something that works across multiple meals. The Spreadable Chicken Salad is the perfect starting point. One batch, fifteen minutes, and you’re already back in your rhythm.
What’s a good gluten-free dairy-free recipe to start with when resetting healthy eating habits?
The Spreadable Chicken Salad is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, made with rotisserie chicken and a creamy avocado oil mayo base. It comes together in about fifteen minutes, freezes beautifully, and works on crackers, in wraps, stuffed into vegetables, or straight from the bowl. It’s one of the most versatile anti-inflammatory meal prep recipes I’ve ever made — and the one I come back to every single time I’m resetting my own kitchen.
After twelve years on this anti-inflammatory eating journey, I’m always tweaking, improving, shifting — and I love taking you along with me. Sunday Simmer is where I go deeper. Every Sunday, straight to your inbox, I share what I’m actually doing in my own kitchen to stay consistent — the real strategies, the whole-food recipes, and the accountability that makes healthy habits actually stick. It’s not just recipes. It’s the thinking behind them.
That’s what I’m here for.
— Shelley
