Stock Up: Three Ideas for a Healthy Start to the New Year

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

Credit: C. W. Cameron

Are you ready for New Year's resolutions to eat healthier and enjoy it more? We’ve got three great tools that will help get you there.

Cut Up Vegetables in Seconds

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

It's likely that carrot sticks, cucumber sticks and radish wedges are part of your New Year's resolutions to eat healthy. Chef'n's QuickStick Preserve Prep Lid makes short work of prepping these vegetables. It's a plastic lid that fits onto a wide mouth canning jar. Screw it on, then insert your vegetable and use the pusher to put it through the blades. The vegetable sticks or wedges fall directly into the jar so you can just screw on a regular lid and you have a portable snack. It's also a great device for making pickles. Cut your vegetables directly into the jar, then add brine. If you're making refrigerator pickles, that's all you need to do. And the QuickStick can go right into the dishwasher. $9.99. Available at Target and http://chefn.com.

Keep it Fresh

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

The tempting display at the grocery store or farmers market makes it easy to purchase an assortment of fruits and vegetables. The hard part is keeping everything fresh when you get it home. The Swag, a produce storage bag designed by a mom in Australia, might be just what you need. The bags are made with three layers of unbleached cotton. You dampen the outer layer, squeeze it so it's just damp and place your produce inside. For produce like mushrooms that doesn't need damp conditions, use the bags dry.  We tested the bags with lots of vegetables and after two weeks, what we stored in the bags stayed crisp and fresh. When you've eaten the produce, just wash the bag and reuse. From $15.99 to $19.99. Available at www.theswagusa.com.

Weigh It Out

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

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Credit: C. W. Cameron

If you're paying attention to what you're eating and you want to know what an ounce really looks like, a kitchen scale is essential. That's why Oprah picked Taylor Kitchen's Weighing Bowl Scale as one of her favorite things for 2017. This new scale comes with a stainless steel bowl that makes weighing things so much easier. No sliced carrots rolling off the scale. No mess on the scale from a raw chicken breast. It all goes in the bowl, and then the curved bowl's rolled edge makes it easy to transfer your ingredients on to the skillet or saucepan. No wimpy scale, this one can handle up to 11 pounds at a time. $49.99. Available at http://amazon.com.