2025 skips, swaps & splurges, plus food news to start the New Year
because flame retardants in cookware is so 2024
While I am not one for hard-set resolutions at the start of a New Year, it is a great time for a bit of a reset. For many, areas to refocus and reset include their food, nutrition, and general wellness. Despite the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all list that will magically ferry you to completion of your 2025 goals, it is my hope that these skips, swaps, and splurges can be a useful launch point, or at the very least, spark a little joy (looking at you, French butter).
Skip
Products containing phthalates and parabens (e.g., lotions, soaps, etc)
Plastic in the kitchen (more on that below)
Ultra-processed vegetarian options (or really anything ultra-processed, but the vegetarian options seem to hide behind a false veil of “health”)
Expensive veggie washes (ALWAYS wash your produce but a simple sodium bicarbonate (aka, baking soda) and water soak is all you need to reduce pesticide residuals by 66.7–98.9%)
Artificial food coloring (if Red 3 is illegal in cosmetics, why is this carcinogen allowed in our food? Some history here)
Swap
Black plastic kitchen utensils - High amounts of carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting flame retardants were found in the majority of black plastic household items tested in a recent Chemosphere study. If you have black plastic cookware at home, it may be time for an upgrade.
Healthier Swap: wooden or metal cooking utensils. I just purchased these for under $40 (paid link).
Spray cooking oils - Did you know that silicone is added to spray cooking oils to prevent foaming while frying? I didn’t either until recently. As silicone is not something I’m looking to add more of to my diet, using store-bought spray oils is a no-go.
Healthier Swap: get a glass dispenser for your preferred neutral cooking oil (e.g., canola or grape-seed oil) in lieu of nonstick spray. This $7 glass container is an easy, reusable swap (paid link).
Conventional flour - I will go into this in a future post but the short of it is that most commercial flour is “refined,” and thus, stripped of the nutritious bran and germ. What is left is often chemically bleached so I’ve been exploring better options.
Healthier Swap: I’m opting for more locally milled options and mixing my flours for a better nutrient load (e.g. if a recipe calls for 260g of flour, I’ll do 200g of AP flour and 60g of rye). I use this AP flour (paid link) and my Rye flour is from Seylou, a lovely bakery & mill in D.C.
Plastic cutting boards - After an orange plastic cutting board of mine grew mold, I started to do some more research on the degradation of plastic cutting boards. Needless to say, the only shavings I want to see on my food are shavings of parmesan. As a “potentially significant source of microplastics in human food,” plastic cutting boards are no longer welcome in my kitchen.
Healthier Swap: wooden or metal cutting boards. This four-pack has great reviews (paid link).
Single-use towels - In effort to reduce paper towel usage and excess waste, I searched for other options to mop up kitchen spills and clean the nozzle off my espresso machine every morning.
Eco-Friendly Swap: Swedish dish towels are both reusable and fun to look at, get a multi-pack here (paid link).
Splurge
La Fermiere yogurts - while recovering from a surgery this summer, I was only able to consume easily chewed foods. That’s when I decided to splurge on the cutest little French yogurts in (reusable!) terra cotta pots that taste as good as they look. The rich creaminess and straightforward ingredients keeps me coming back. I am taking suggestions for what to do with my containers.
Finishing salts - Maldon sea salt has long been my go-too. The flaky, pyramid-like crystals just add that pop of flavor that makes even the simplest weeknight dish feel a bit more elevated. A small box goes a long way (paid link).
French butter (especially Le Buerre Bordier) - one of the highlights to studying in Paris this summer for my Masters degree was getting to do a butter tasting. After consuming a disturbing amount of butter, my clear favorite was salted Le Buerre Bordier. Baguettes seem incomplete now without it.
My butter tasting plate, the vivid one up top is the exquisite Le Buerre Bordier.
At-home hydroponics - as a recent recipient of a larger hydroponic system (paid link) for home-use (RIP to my Aerogarden), I’m looking forward to planting a myriad of greens, herbs, veggies and even flowers at home. My ultimate goal is to reduce my grocery store produce purchases as much as possible but with apartment living, I’m keeping my expectations measured.
In Other News…
The U.S. Surgeon General issued a new advisory on how alcohol consumption increases the risk of 7 types of cancer, even with as little as one drink a day
Strava and Chipotle are teaming up, in a collaboration no one saw coming, with The City Challenge, giving out Lifestyle Bowls to Strava users across 25 cities that complete challenges.
The list of recalls seems to grow by the day, with Costco receiving the FDA’s most severe designation for salmonella in eggs and most recently, risk of listeria for pre-washed broccoli sold at Walmart.