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Cooking in the Kitchen {Day 37}

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Cooking in the Kitchen: food plays a vital role in the health of your family! @ AVirtuousWoman.org

From Chaos to Calm: Day Thirty-Seven

Cooking in the Kitchen

Scripture Memory: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” Philippians 3:19 (NIV)

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Do you enjoy cooking? I love to cook. I am always on the hunt for new recipes to try. My favorite shows to watch on TV are on the Food Network! Cooking for my family is very time consuming. Of course, we have five children living at home. The bigger they get the more food they eat. I also regularly feed my step daughter and her family. They live right down the street from us, so we are always asking them to eat with us – sometimes 4 or more times a week! So, there are ten of us regularly around the table. Holidays and other family get-togethers mean cooking for up to twenty– five people!

I suppose it is a good thing I enjoy cooking! I think that part of enjoying cooking is knowing how to cook. I mean, it wouldn’t be much fun if I was always ruining a recipe or burning the food. I love to eat, and I know what I like to eat. I am not afraid to change a recipe if I don’t have all of the ingredients.

When I left home, years ago, I really didn’t know how to cook very much. I had to learn. If you struggle with preparing food for your family, or if your recipes are the butt of many family jokes, perhaps it is time you really took the time to learn to cook.

The foods you prepare and serve to your family – and friends – will leave a lasting impression on them. Food that is lovingly prepared stamps a seal of love on the hearts of those eating it. When people come to my house, they know they will enjoy the food and get plenty to eat. I don’t want anyone to leave hungry!

Food is also about tradition. Traditions play such an important role in the day to day interaction of family members. Children thrive on tradition. During the holidays, I always make the same recipes – wonderful cheese crackers, date balls, snowball cookies, spiced pecans, and pumpkin pies. I also incorporate new recipes each year and favorites are repeated. But it is not just during the holidays that your family can enjoy food traditions. Make Saturday night “Taco Night” or invite family and friends over for Dad’s Famous Salsa and Monday Night Football can be a treat. It doesn’t really matter the food or the reason, just that it is familiar and comforting.

As a wife and mother, food also plays a vital role in the health of your family. If your children are overweight, if you and your husband are overweight, or even if you were blessed by the “skinny gene,” your heart and health and their heart health is directly related to the foods you choose to serve. If you eat healthy but your husband doesn’t want to, you can greatly improve his health by learning to cook foods he likes in a healthy way. It is possible!

Cooking in the Kitchen: food plays a vital role in the health of your family! @ AVirtuousWoman.org

Today, I just want to encourage you to really consider what you are preparing for your family every day. It is up to you to teach your children to eat healthy! Whole foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains are essential to good health. You want to serve indulgent foods in moderation. Processed foods give very little in the way of good nutrition, and should be avoided as much as possible. I recommend learning to cook as much as possible from scratch.

If you are unsure of what to do, get a good basic cookbook. Just start practicing! Schedule time each week to learn a new recipe. List areas that you might need to change:

  • Cooking from scratch
  • Eat more vegetables
  • Eat less fat
  • Eat less food
  • Eat regular meals
  • Cut out snacks
  • Cut out late night eating

Now, you may be saying, “This is too hard!” I know. It can be a great challenge to change our patterns of eating. Today, I just want you to begin thinking about it. But for now, just think about it. Pray about it. Ask God to help you overcome any struggles you have with your appetite.

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 Do love to cook? Do you need to improve your cooking skills? How can you better serve your family in the kitchen?

P.S. I’d super appreciate it if you’d share the image above on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter! Thanks!!

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7 Comments

  1. I love the Pioneer Woman's cookbooks...another favorite is The $5 Dinner Mom...once you start cooking from scratch it's amazing to see how much money you save!
      1. I read this and felt like I was reading my own stuff. I love to cook. Always cooking for my family and others. It makes me happy! I am always looking for new recipes and trying them. I love to cook from scratch. It's better for my family and it's an art to cook. No two people can cook something and it taste the same. They both can taste great but they will not taste the same. This is because you put yourself into each dish when you cook it. I had to learn how to cook in a hurry when my mother died. With that said I had to learn a whole lot. One thing that I learned is do not cook when you are not happy. You will taste it in the food. Really! I guess that's what they meant by soul food,lol. I have five children as well and I homeschool them. My first grand baby will be here in September. I am so excited. More family to my table everyday. Sweet! Just wanted to say it brings hope that theirs more like me out there in this microwave fast food world. God bless you!
  2. Wow what great insight. I have never thought of it that way before. I dread cooking because I am not very good. My husband did it for years and is an amazing cook. Thanks for the encouragement, I will keep trying. We switched to eating all natural this year and it is much more difficult but I can't believe the difference in health benefits. I have lost weight for the first time in years simply from cutting out processed food. And I think my new brisk walk every morning is helping as well. Thank You!!
  3. I quite enjoy cooking, but doing it every day can get tiring! I'm more of a habit cooker - make the things that I know, that we can eat. I know I ought to be putting more care into it and more attention into it, but a lot of the time, we just need food! But this is definitely something I need to work on.
  4. Wow, this is so on time. I have 3 little ones and want them to be healthy along with me and my husband. I grew up not knowing how to cook. My mom is a wonderful cook, but I didn't learn much. My husband is an amazing cook and he always encourages me, but I get so intimidated. Everyone laughs at me cause they've known me not to cook. So, I want to change that. I want to love to cook. Thanks for this post.

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