DISQUS

Nicole McEwen · 5 months ago

To eat right, and to do it regularly, you HAVE to learn to cook, at least a little - or have deep pockets to be able to afford healthy prepared food three times a day.

I love to cook - and not just because it's better for my waistline. It's empowering! Being able to whip up yummy dishes is a good skill to have: Not only will it save you money, but it makes life more convenient, being able to quickly toss together ingredients and devour dinner in under an hour. Plus, nothing is more gratifying than feeding a crowd of people good ol' home-cooked food.

lauriesanchez · 5 months ago

Interesting that you use the word "empowering." Never thought of that before. But you're right. ... And there is definitely something rewarding to me about feeling "nurturing" when it comes to my kids, their friends, or anyone younger than me (like younger brothers who visit) -- like you said, the ability to turn around in the kitchen and "throw something together" for them makes me feel very good.

Kat · 5 months ago

Have you ever read "The Side-Tracked Home Executives"? Hilarious books on slob sisters who learn to clean and eventually cook. When they tackled cooking, they planned a YEAR'S worth of recipes! Yikes. But they were women just like me...I would like to have a clean house, nice home cooked meals, be organized but that requires, you know, work and a little bit of know how, but they managed it. So, I like your idea of some good core recipes and going from there.

My mom had me help in the kitchen enough that when I moved out I could actually cook and did not even realized it until I met friends who I would call my version of Miss Garlic Salt and realized they did not have a clue. I guess you do have to know how to cook to eat healthy at home. What I want to know is Mexican food healthy? I love my albondigas soup!

lauriesanchez · 5 months ago

Hi, Kat! No, never read those books, but they sound really funny -- thanks for the tip! It can definitely be overwhelming when you feel like you never really learned how to do it in the first place.

You're lucky you had a mom who showed you some basics in the kitchen. (Actually, in my mom's defense, I was a very kitchen-resistant child! Hated that Easy Bake oven!) But that's really key, I think -- showing your kids some basic skills, like how to assemble some healthy veggie dishes, cut veggies, broil/vs. bake/vs. stir fry, etc. I'm working on that now with my kids!

As for Mexican food -- we had to come up with some alterations. The peppers/spices/tomatoes are so great and almost calorie-free, but we had to alter the way many of the meats were cooked (i.e., no fat or lard!) and increase the variety of veggies.

Rosy · 5 months ago

I agree with everything you say about this issue, Laurie, and something additional occurs to me. If a "truly healthy lifestyle" includes being wise with one's income/budget as well as consuming the least processed foods possible, then perhaps it is necessary to learn to cook. But if a single person or a couple goes to a farmer's market at this time of year and brings back some fruits and vegetables and makes a salad followed by fruit with yogurt or ice cream, do they actually have to have "learned to cook"? I think it's an interesting question.

My experience: Until my kids came along I cooked ONLY for fun. My mother was in her teens during WWII in England, and her assigned task was to whisk powdered eggwhites (rationed) up to make the weekly sponge cake--because she was the one able to do it. She had a policy not to force us to cook, and I started doing it because my older brother did--he wanted to give sophisticated dinner parties when he was still in high school! When I got married, I became pregnant immediately and was very nauseated for most of the nine months. My husband had been a non-cooking bachelor for many years and he simply kept doing what he had been doing... So I never 'had' to cook, and it's always been a hobby.

And ditto on the book club and all my wonderful foodie friends!

lauriesanchez · 5 months ago

Hi, Rosy! Yes, good question -- does concocting a healthy salad and fruit for dessert constitute "cooking"? I guess it doesn't. So maybe we should think of it as "you need to learn to prepare fresh ingredients" to stay healthy? Hmmm ....

Loved your story about your mum in England! Whisking powdered eggwhites? egads. But that's neat that you and your older brother learned to prepare food in a way that was fun and natural for you both. I keep thinking about how to teach my kids. ... I guess keeping it fun and natural (asking for help in smashing garlic one eve, asking to throw some pasta in a pot another, etc.) is probably key.

ElizabethR · 5 months ago

Thanks Laurie for nod as your cooking instructor/foodie summer roommate. I'd forgotten all about our cooking lessons! Since we lived together I've become an even bigger food nut if you can believe that. Seattle has so many amazing restaurants it's hard to get motivated to cook gourmet meals, but I still love to entertain so try to make an effort once & a while to do it.

Healthy cooking of course has become a bigger focus these days...especially with a child and hitting the big 4-0 while not wanting to have the big 4-0” waist size. I liked your thoughts and would add that I no longer use regular table salt. It's a tip I got in a cooking course that made sense: sea salt or course salt doesn't bounce around the same way that regular table salt does so you control it better and don't need to use as much. I find this to be true both while cooking and on the table. I switched to a salt grinder for table use and things taste better with much less salt.

For those interested in great entertaining and recipes I, like you, adore Ina Garten's books as well as "Celebrate the Rain," "Simply Classic" and "In the Kitchen with Kids." The first two have great seafood and party options and proceeds fund children's non-profit projects. To order, go to http://www.jrleagueseattle.org/seattle/npo.jsp?... All books mentioned are also on amazon.com.

lauriesanchez · 5 months ago

Hi, Elizabeth! You were such a patient instructor. ... I needed to acquire some patience before I could learn! : )

Anyway, great tips. (As usual!) The sea salt tip is excellent. My MIL taught me that. We use a salt grinder for table and cooking also, as well as a pepper grinder, which really tastes SO much better to me! And you're right -- you use much less.

And thanks for book tips! Bon appetit!

SheilaMD · 5 months ago

I do agree with this statement. One does not need to learn to cook fancy elaborate dishes, just learn some basic concepts. Too many fast food and restaurant dishes are just not healthy.
My personal opinion is that EVERYONE and ANYONE should learn to cook ... sons just as well as daughters. I raised 1 daughter and 2 sons and they all like to cook and are GOOD at it. :-)

lauriesanchez · 4 months ago

Hi, SheilaMD! Yes, good point -- sons as well as daughters. The very first thing I showed my son (when he was about 13) was to make decent eggs, and he later showed my pre-teen daughter one morning (which was kind of cute to watch). Such a basic thing to make, but it has a lot of "hidden" lessons in it (how to break an egg, how to use cooking spray, how to cut cilantro if you want it, etc.). It turned out to be a nice "starter" lesson!

Lisa Sanchez Kelly · 4 months ago

Laurie, I admit: I LOVED my easy bake oven. I have always enjoyed cooking. The problem is I don't always have time to cook. I do agree with your comment to Rosy. I think we do need to learn how to prepare food with fresh ingredients. This is how I grew up & how I learned to cook. I do get lazy and rely on boxed & prepared food. It's so easy to do! But there is an adage about shopping the perimeter of the grocery store for a healthier lifestyle. When I follow this rule, I feel so much better about what I put on the table.
Mind you, I say this after making frozen fish and mac&cheese for lunch.(sigh)

lauriesanchez · 4 months ago

Hey, Lisa! I hear ya on the frozen fish and mac&cheese -- when products can seemingly give us more TIME, we're often willing to trade that for anything. (I'm the same way!) I have to figure out how to balance out my week so I can get the fresh-food chopping, etc. done early and have everything ready to throw together later in the week. Your reminder about shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store is a great one!!

michelle1906 · 2 weeks ago

Hey girl! i think eating to lose weight is different then eating healthy. cooking is better for so many reasons you already pointed out. the diet industry is a 40 billion dollare biz. wow! one of my clients wrote a great book check it out by Michele Carbone called "Friday Evening" creating la doce vita one bite at a time.......talk to ya soon dear! xooxoxox, m

mizamiga · 2 weeks ago

Three cheers for Miss Garlic Salt! My process has been similar -- beginning with the arrival of kids, but really forced on me when I moved to Europe and had less access to American boxed meals. Now when I'm back in the US, I can taste ingredients in soups that don't seem right -- like sugar! I think learning to cook has also taught me to eat better and be more discerning. And that's more fun too! Though my 70's mom seems a tad bit disappointed that I enjoy it so much. In the fight for women's equal rights, we just can't win!

Sonja · 2 weeks ago

I learned to cook because my mom worked 6 days a week and then came home to sew our clothes. So it fell to us 3 girls to have dinner on the table. I started with Betty Crocker’s kids’ cookbook and advanced to other cookbooks, eventually getting my xmas wish--Gourmet magazine. I also watched Julia Child. I wanted to be a chef and wrote to several schools in Europe. On the Today Show I watched the 1st American chef to win the Olympic gold. Yes there’s an Olympic Culinary Competition. I wrote to him and he invited me to the Disneyland Hotel where he was head chef. He told me the field had just opened to women and the best school at the time was the Culinary Institute of America in NY. My mom, however, wanted me to go to college first where I worked as a part time cook. After that my mom again talked me out of chef school to my regret. I swear my husband married me for my cooking! Kids came along and I was reduced to being a short order cook. Bottom line, home cooking is healthier. You can leave out all those bad things like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, MSG……. My kids have grown up reading labels. A foody friend made me watch the movie “Babette’s Feast” that depicts how spiritual a fine meal shared with friends can be. Check it out on Youtube.

Marzena Ziembicka · 2 weeks ago

I learned how to cook when I was in college. I lived far away from home and my mom's home made meals. I really missed them, my mom is a great cook. So one day I decided to learn how to cook. I called my mom every time I was trying to make a meal. After a while I just loved cooking.
I think it's great when someone can cook. You can control what ingredients your using, you can choose organic food, use less salt.