Cooking at Home

Huffingtonpost.com recently added a Food section to their site. One of the first articles was written by food writer Micheal Ruhlman. I’ll let you read the article here, but the basic gist of it was that we ALL have time to cook at home!

I’m the father of 2 1/2 year old twins and since my wife gets home from work later than I do, I’m responsible for making dinner for the family. We sit down and eat together as a family every night but I have to admit that I too cut corners and often complain, “I don’t have time to cook”, especially since the kids were born. Over the past few years we’ve resorted to more simple meals where we are heating food more than actually cooking it.

So there I am sitting at my desk, reading Mr. Ruhlman’s article and it dawned on me. ‘I do have time to cook.’ I remembered seeing a recent episode of No Reservations (a must watch show for any foodie) where Thomas Keller showed how to make his favorite recipe, roasted chicken. I found the recipe online at Epicurious.com and decided that THIS is what I was going to cook. Was it organic, farm-raised chicken? No! We are on a budget after all! But regardless, this simple roasted chicken which was served with quinoa and fresh corn was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had and not only because it tasted great but because what happened during the meal. We got eat on the patio since the weather just started warming up. Sitting outside in the evening sun with my wife, watching our kids eat every morsel of food on their plate and licking their fingers with a smile was a priceless memory I will hold on to forever.

So take the time to cook. Make it a priority, even if it’s just once a week. Not only will you feel a great sense of accomplishment, but by cooking whole foods and choosing less processed or ready-prepared foods is a great way to start to limit your sodium intake. And who knows, you might create your own priceless memory.