It can seem overwhelming to start keeping kosher: there ar so many rules and requirements that it can feel like you could never possibly do it, and you will never possibly be “fully kosher.”
The truth is, nobody is ever “there;” we are all on a journey of increased observance and closeness to God, so the key is to take the next small step, and not feel bad that we are “not there” yet because no huma n is ever “there.”
In terms of keeping kosher, I recommend starting with the Torah laws, and moving on to rabbinic laws, maybe in the following order (without pressuring yourself to go farther on the list than you are comfortable).
The key is, celebrate each small step you take! Even if you just make 1 change, that’s an amazing act of moving closer to serving God, and you should celebrate it.
- No pork/shellfish or other forbidden species of animals, birds & fish (in home and out)–maybe cuting out these species one at a time
- Meats: only animals with split hooves, chew their cud
- Fish: must have scales & fins; no shellfish
- No combining meat and milk in a single meal (or use coconut milk insted of milk)
- Using only “kosher” meat or chicken (i.e. supervised and labelled with a hechsher)
- Using only domestic or kosher-certified cheese (commercially available domestic cheeses are generally made without rennet)
- Only eating vegetarian/pescatarian out of the house
- Checking ingredients of packaged goods for milk/shellfish/meat based or mystery ingredients (that mystery food dye might be made of bugs!)
- Using separate cookware for meat and milk
- Using separate dishes and silverware for meat and milk
- Waiting period between eating meat and milk
- Checking for hechshers on packaged items
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