Spice up your Cooking!

So as promised, here are a few tips to energize your cooking.  Now, these aren’t “cooking” tips.  You can find a gazillion other sites that can tell you how to organize your cooking, make meals in advance and freeze them, cook in batches, etc. 

BORING.

This is about how to spice up you ATTITUDE about cooking:

Buy cookbooks when you travel – When I was little I used to collect those little touristy spoons or thimbles when I traveled, you know, the useless little things that end up in a junk drawer somewhere?  Now I buy cookbooks.  There is something really special about buying a cookbook with local flavors and recipes (often stemming from the original settlers of that region).  If you can snag a local Jr. League one, even better!  So now whenever I pull one of those out, I also relive that particular vacation with people I love.

Pinterest – this is only for the brave and strong of heart.  You MUST NOT let yourself be misguided here.  Pinterest can incite horrible mommy guilt over all the amazing things that you are not doing for your children.  You must resist this.  You are looking for legitimate, practical cooking inspiration.

Cook naked – the ultimate risk-filled participation sport.  Double points if you are cooking bacon.

Sing while cooking – I had a roommate once who knew when I was singing I must be cooking.  She also knew that when I was belting out opera, it must be Italian food.  Even now when I’m chopping up fresh basil from my garden while noodles are boiling away a sudden belting of “O sole mio” is a sure indicator.

Pretend you are a cooking show host – this is my FAVORITE game to play while cooking.  When I’m really dragging I suddenly imagine myself as a cooking show host, and talk about what I’m doing, why, little food “tidbits”.  Really, I should be winning an Emmy for my work here.  Double points if you can convince yourself that you not only cook like Giada, but you look like her too  ;-)

When in doubt, add bacon.

Don't do too much at once - Serve a fancy meat with simple sides.  Or put all your time and money into an incredible side but serve a simple main dish.  Ok.  So this IS a bit of a cooking tip.  But this is also a warning - overextending yourself leads to burnout very quickly.

Pray over your food – something really undercuts all the mess and frustration if you pray for those who will be eating your food while you are putting it together.  It serves as a reminder of why you are doing this.  If that isn’t your style, at least cook with love.  You can taste it, I promise.  My husband will suddenly say in the middle of a meal, “I can taste the love in this.”  Somehow, they know.

Are you just cooking... or preparing a Meal?

A friend of mine had posted a question on a forum today, about how to make some easy but healthy snacks for her food-driven toddler. After a variety of suggestions (which she appreciated) she made a very interesting comment, “A big part is that cooking and baking I love...however I'm not used to doing it more than twice a day.”

Girl, I feel your pain.

Three years ago – literally THREE YEARS AGO – I was single and cooking for myself. I’ve always enjoyed cooking. My mother once asked me why I never became a chef and I told her it was because it was my artistic outlet and I wanted it to remain that way, not be something I “had to do” to make a living. I had the luxury of choosing when to cook. And that was about once a week. Most of the time I lived on sandwiches, or quick easy things like some chicken and… well, chicken. Sides were a waste of time. Unless you count a glass of wine as a side. But then I would break out with a Stilton Walnut Soup or roasted quail.

Go forward a year and I was cooking for myself and a husband. A year later, myself, a husband, and a child. I wanted to provide nutritious meals on a budget of both time and money. Meals became an endless cycle of trying to figure out what to cook – chicken and side, roast and side, pasta with whoknowswhat, etc. And just to be clear, my idea of a side is a salad of premixed greens, MAYBE cut up a tomato and a cuke just to make it look like I worked at it. And to add further insult to injury, I knew deep down I had little to complain about – lunches were “every man for himself” and my husband often makes breakfast for all of us.

But suddenly, I wasn’t just cooking for dinner. I had this little person who was wanting to eat half a dozen little “meals” a day. Not only that, but I had to keep track of them (that whole food allergy analysis thing, bummer). The energy drain was incredible. Cooking became a drudgery. I felt like I was spending all day in the kitchen. I felt like my food was endlessly dull and lifeless.

It changed, gradually. Children train us in the early days, not the other way around. I figured out her eating patterns and God blessed me with a child who will eat almost anything. But for many months my dinners remained… just food.

Move forward another year and I now have a husband, toddler, and a new baby. Cooking just seemed to become the ultimate impossibility. One day… something happened. I remembered what this was supposed to be about.

Nourishment. Nurturing. Health. Happiness.

Making dinner isn’t about cooking food. It’s about preparing a meal.

Read that again.

Making dinner isn’t about cooking food. It’s about preparing a meal. 

There is a big difference.

Anyone can scramble an egg in five minutes. Not everyone will realize that a few extra seconds (and very few cents can turn something to eat into something tasty, and beautiful, and healthy. That a dash of sea salt and a dollop of pesto can turn that egg into something amazing. Add a slice of tomato and put on a piece of whole grain bread and voila!

My kitchen has exploded recently. I’m not just cooking again, I’m creating. I’m working on my art. I’m recognizing that healthy begins and ends with what we eat but it’s not just about science. A meal nourishes the heart. I want my children to understand this. So if I spend all day in the kitchen, and it’s always a mess, that’s ok. I'm happier. Healthier. Which makes me a better mother.

Another friend of mine posted recently that she was about ready to give up on her own health journey, it was too hard to cook for a variety of palates and tastes.

Don’t. Don’t give up. A healthy body AND soul begins and ends with diet. Just keep saying that to yourself.

Next post I’ll put out some tips I’ve picked up in recent months on how to make things a little easier. :-)