Yes, I actually do cook in this time-warped kitchen from the ’70s, so if I can cook for a family in an environment such as this, there’s no excuse for the lucky ones who have more recent appliances.
This is my goal: Let others know that it is possible to cook GOOD food while also maintaining the status of a working parent. I can’t offer specific recipes, as I am not a chef. However, I can read, as well as follow directions, so I can guide others toward the plethora of published cookbooks that work for me. In addition to judging others, cookbooks that is, I have personally developed, (okay, my husband helped, a lot) a system for meal planning that lets us enjoy our lives during the week at a calm pace as opposed to a frantic, toddler screaming, no-food-in-the-fridge, papers needing grading, dogs needing walking, I am definitely too tired to cook week night.
So let’s be frank: We knew what we were getting into when we opted to conceive. Did we actually think we could go our whole lives without having to cook for our kids? Or in my case, without having to cook anything besides stir-fried veggies and tofu? And let’s not fool ourselves, the Carrie Bradshaw, “I never use my kitchen,” or the 1950’s male, “Cooking is women’s business,” cannot apply here. Unless you absolutely LOVE to cook, you’re going to want help doing it, or you’ll get burned out super fast. And besides, what better way to bond with your spouse and / or your children than by unwinding in the kitchen while one of you cooks and the other occupies your offspring or both of you cook and the offspring entertains himself (wishful thinking).
This is all you need to know: Accumulate, Search, Shop, Prepare
More to come…
Great site!
By: Emily Chalut on March 8, 2008
at 7:11 pm
I love to cook. I grew up in a family that spent a lot of time together, cooking. I’ve met very few foods or recipes that I don’t love. But I married a picky eater. This has been a challenge for me since very early in our relationship. My husband grew up in a family that lived on fast food, ramen noodles, mac and cheese and frozen pizza. As a result, he never developed much of a palate for variety.
My opinion is that picky eating is also psychological (in many cases.) If you have kids, we have two, you know that sometimes getting them to try something new is challenging. My four year old sums it up best, “I’m a little afraid to try it.” Once they get over the “fear,” they usually enjoy the food. My husband is the same, he will often make up his mind that he doesn’t like something before he tries it. Last summer at a family picnic my mother in law loved a Mediterranean Pizza that her neice brought. “What’s in it?” she asks. “Well there’s smoked salmon…..” “What, I hate smoked salmon!” And she refused to eat anymore. Yes, mental picky eating is apparently genetic! This is the reason I try very hard to expose my kids to as many flavors and varieties as possible. Early intervention is key!
I have discovered ways of dealing with a picky eater without punishing the rest of the family. Just about any recipe can be altered. In my house I often omit onions or leave sliced onions very big so they can be removed later. One dish meals can be seperated or split into two smaller pans. I can make things like soups or chillis and leave beans, vegetables or whatever the less popular item may be out to be served on the side. Sometimes I just make what I like and figure the rest can fend for themselves.
I do also worry about health. I like the idea of sneaking vegetables into foods that my husband already likes. I’ve made Chocolate Beet Cake, carrot dinner rolls, marinara with carrots and celery, cookies with apples….. sometimes you have to be creative.
Back to the point. Anyone can cook. Even if you have the difficult task of preparing meals for a stunted palate. Don’t give up! I have easily quadrupled my husbands list of acceptable meals in our 10 years together. And if it’s a lost cause, don’t deprive yourself. You have to enjoy what you eat, too!
By: Rebecca on March 10, 2008
at 5:28 pm
Cookbooks are something I love to have on hand if I have the time to sit down and look through them to plan a weeks of meals- or just a family get together I do.
If I don’t have the time to plan & prepare a week out.. what I’ve been doing lately is going on the websites food network, all recipes etc.. at lunch or the night before- finding something that sounds great for dinner and heading out to the local store on my lunch hour and grabbing the fresh ingredients to make that nights meal. If I have time I’ll grab stuff to make the next 2 nights dinners- this way I avoid buying something on Monday that I don’t feel like anymore on Friday.. Plus it forces me to get out for a minute during the day and not stay glued to my desk.
By: Doree on March 12, 2008
at 4:14 pm
Wow, how wonderful! I am not ANY kind of cook, and my only real hope, is to use a recipe… And, even that needs to be pretty basic. So, to have someone to help decipher between the zillion cook books out there, will be great! Not to mention, I am also someone who has a large family and is trying to ‘do right’ by the environment… So, thanks!
By: Caroline A. Bruno on March 18, 2008
at 3:22 pm
What I want is about 12 recipes I can use that are easy, tasty and healthy. I hate hate hate cooking, did NOT grow up in a family that cooks at all- both my grandma and great-grandma did not cook a thing, and passed that down to my mom so whatever I learned I learned from my husband. I just hate spending all that time making something and then my kids not eating it- so anything that can ensure tasty kid friendly food that is not difficult would be great.
By: EC on June 20, 2008
at 2:46 am
It wouldn’t truly be me if I wasn’t completely honest, but let’s be realistic. When we all decided to have unprotected sex, we knew the consequences: We’d have to spend money on diapers, cheap baby furniture, ridiculous amounts of clothing, and toys that now bombard my once pristine living room. We also knew that the day would come when our precious babes would outgrow formula and require something a bit more substantial, so it’s really no shock that we are now required to cook for a family.
I’m not a picky eater, my husband is not picky, and, thank goodness, my toddler is not picky. I told Cal once that I’d never be able to handle a picky eater because I couldn’t deal with cooking separate meals. Of course, this was before I realized that at one point in Ethan’s youth, I was doing just that: I was feeding him food that I certainly wasn’t going to eat for dinner. We used to buy a pound of hormone free ground sirloin, season it, shape multiple little patties out of it, rest them between strips of wax paper, put them all in a plastic bag, and toss them in the freezer. Then, for dinner, I’d whip one out, toss it in a frying pan, boil some organic corn or peas, and PRESTO, dinner for my boy! Bottom line: There’s no miracle food out there for kids. You have to decide what your child WILL eat, and then get creative from there. And be aware, a child picks up on a parent’s picky habits.
I would never make the rest of my family suffer because one parent or child was a picky eater. Cal suffered this fate as a child growing up with a picky older brother. Can’t have this for dinner ’cause Stuart won’t eat it, can’t have that for dinner ’cause Stu will cringe at it, and so on and so forth. Not in my home, baby! Cal would have to fend for himself if he refused to eat my meals, and Ethan too. That’s how crazy I am about everyone eating the food I prepare for them. After all, I’m not cooking for the freakin’ joy of it!
Enlisting spousal help is essential if cooking makes you crazy. And you can go about it in several ways:
1. Have him cook, everything. It works for Bobby Flay and his wife.
2. Make cooking dinner an enjoyable experience that involves the entire family. View it as a time to unwind from the stress of the day’s events by sitting back, a glass of red in one hand and a measuring spoon in the other, while discussing the idiots at the office or the brats at the park.
3. Have him prepare all the ingredients during the weekend, so all you have to do during the week is assemble and cook.
4. Have him occupy the kids during the weekend while you prepare AND assemble the entire week’s worth of meals and then store them in the freezer. Yes, the entire week. It’s called Freezer Cooking and you’ll need a cookbook specifically dedicated to it to know exactly how to do it. Don’t fret, there are plenty out there.
5. Most importantly, stop viewing cooking as a chore. Do you really want your son or daughter to grow up disliking cooking so much that he or she goes into a panic every time the dinner hour roles near? Determine the foods YOU like to eat, and find recipes that incorporate them because if you don’t like what you’re eating, you’ll never want to cook. Or, find a few good cookbooks that incorporate quick & easy meals, like Giada and all her busty glory.
Final bottom line: Hire a personal chef. But if that doesn’t fit your budget, quit your griping and just think of making dinner as one more accomplishment you’ve achieved for the day, until tomorrow roles around.
By: powermama on June 21, 2008
at 4:47 am