The Problem

With childhood and adult obesity rates at an all time high, it’s time we get back to cooking at home - where the quality of the ingredients can be controlled, and loved ones sit around the dinner table, and talk about the day.

Cooking is a lost art. Yet, cooking is a metabolic health survival skill in this modern landscape of convenience junk food around every corner. Cooking is a skill we must teach our kids if we expect them to go live in the world and thrive on their own.

The Solution

I call it Home Ec at home.

I get it. It’s faster to get dinner on the table without involving kids. And wouldn’t it be great if schools started teaching cooking again as part of the high school curriculum? But, it can be a great way to spend time with your kids, or nieces and nephews, and an opportunity to talk about the role of nutrition in how we feel, perform, and the best way to avoid obesity and chronic disease.

I grew up watching my mom and dad cook every day. My parents worked opposite shifts, and as one of the older siblings, the role of kitchen helper naturally fell on me. But I loved it. I was one of 6 girls, loved to eat, and it was the one-on-one time I needed with my mom or dad. As I learned more skills, my parents were eventually able to rely on me to get easy dinners together - which I’m sure was a huge help as they entered into the stage of running around every night to pick up kids from after-school activities.

Learning to cook from a young age helped me stay lean, and save money during college. It also kept me out of trouble! I would often host dinner parties in college instead of going out, as most of my friends didn’t even know how to make guacamole.

My boyfriend has twins that are freshmen in high school. Their public school offers a cooking class as an elective. It’s been remarkable to see the kids take what they’ve learned at school, and step up in the kitchen at home. At dinner, they talk about what recipes have worked, and which ones have failed. They are learning life survival skills, and the invaluable lesson that if we want to get better at something, we need to fail sometimes, and practice makes perfect.

Tips to make it fun

• Let your child pick the meal. I guarantee, there will be greater buy-in when they are excited about the meal.

• Don’t get upset if they lose interest halfway through. Even being part of the process, is better than nothing.

• Give them a grocery list, and let them be in charge of finding the ingredients at the store. Again, greater buy-in.

• Take a picture of them cooking. Kids love getting their picture taken.

Recipe of the week

Last week for Valentine’s Day, I made steak au poivre. So. Good. The sauce was indulgent and felt like a steakhouse dinner at home. Chef’s kiss. Make this one for your love.

Coming up…

I have an exciting partnership to share that is in the works. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you want to work with me one-on-one, I offer personalized health consulting that includes virtual check-ins with me, meal plans, and a fitness plan tailored to you: