Home Cooking
Over the years there’s been a decrease in the number of families cooking and eating at home. There’s some really great reasons why this is happening like moms working outside the home and contributing financially to the household rather than being stuck in the kitchen. Other reasons may not be as positive, such as how starved we are for extra time to meet all of life’s demands, longer work hours and the everyday struggles of raising a family. Not to mention the fact that many parents just don’t have the skills to prepare food at home. This post isn’t meant to judge parents for not cooking at home, instead its purpose is to give you some inspiration to try, not every day, not entirely from scratch but to give you a little push to get in the kitchen, preparing food for your family and passing on those skills to your kids. With home economics classes disappearing in schools and parents not having the time to cook at home, our kids aren’t getting the opportunity to learn one of life’s most basic, yet most important skills, cooking! We don’t need to feed our kid’s gourmet meals or teach them to become celebrity chefs, but teaching them how to fend for themselves and prepare even the simplest meal is a step in a positive direction. Limited cooking skills and nutrition knowledge has resulted in families relying on processed, convenience and restaurant meals more often than not. These meals are great for filling the gaps on nights when you are strapped for time, as a special family outing or just to lessen the parenting load but best to be the exception rather than the rule. Not to fear, you don’t need to don an apron all day and cook fancy meals for your family every night, but just getting in the kitchen a few more times a week to prepare and share a few meals or snacks with your family can pass on essential skills and knowledge.
Why is cooking at home a great idea?
It teaches kids how to prepare simple meals, a necessary life skill
It brings families together and creates lasting memories
Preparing food and eating at home often translates into meals that have more to give in terms of nutrition and often less sugar, salt, saturated and trans fats
No mysteries, you know everything that goes into it
Here are a few tips to help you get cooking …
Plan to prepare at least two meals per week at home, in your kitchen, it doesn’t have to be dinner, often the trickiest meal to conquer after a long day at work, you can aim for a home cooked breakfast or lunch,
Think of ways to incorporate some ‘convenience’ food items to make it more realistic, think prewashed salad greens, frozen vegetables, a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or maybe a premade pizza dough,
Stock your pantry with essential items that have a long shelf life to help you prepare a simple meal, think pasta, rice, canned beans and lentils, frozen vegetables etc,
Look for simple, quick recipes, 30 minutes tops, those that require few ingredients and don’t use too many dishes, all of these factors will make it that much easier to get going and keep you motivated to prepare home cooked meals. Nothing like a sink full of dishes or a long ingredient list to keep you out of the kitchen,
Or consider not using a recipe at all, simple meals don’t need a recipe, what about rice, chicken and frozen peas, with a side of raw veggies and hummus! Or breakfast for dinner, that’s always a kid favourite, whole grain toast, cheesy scrambled eggs and a fruit salad, a complete dinner with simple ingredients using food items that are easy to keep on hand,
Plan those meals ahead of time and include everything you need on your next grocery list, ask your kids and partner to contribute some ideas,
Don’t compare your meal to a restaurant meal, perfection is not the goal, enjoy the simplicity of something you can prepare for yourself without too much fuss or flare.
Once you get the hang of having a few more meals at home each week and doing the prep yourself, you can add more meals and more snacks to the plan and get more family members involved in the planning and preparation. More hands make for light work, and there’s the added benefit of passing on some essential life skills!