Cooking

Today's farmer's market haul

I know how to cook, but I don't. Not during the week, at all. Hope springs eternal, I shop on weekends, but each week night I do not cook.  I often cook on weekends, and can heat up leftovers during the week. But I may have a very simple task laid out for me during the week, and still I don't do it.

I'm convinced that cooking more often is something that would be very good for me. It will be healthier. It will save me money. It will better lower impact.

I also have experienced times when I did cook.  Most notably, I did the "Whole 30" diet a year ago, and the only way to stick to that extremely restricted "no additives" diet is to cook from scratch regularly.  So it is physically possible for me to cook, duh.

I also have a history of sticking to shorter-term clear-deadlines efforts. Sometimes those efforts result in more lasting changes, sometimes not, but I can make myself focus and do things I wouldn't normally as long as there are clear rules and a deadline.

I've signed up for another short-term very clear rules with a deadline project:  The Foodist Kitchen.  It is a set of 30 emailed cooking lessons by my favorite Summer Tomato, Darya Rose.  The whole point is to walk through building a habit for a month, with the hopes the habit will stick and turn into complete routine.

Like I said, I know how to cook, but I clearly don't know everything and I need the coaching and encouragement. So, I'll let you know how it goes. One note: we're on day 7 and today is the first day she is actually expecting us to cook. So far, I've had a week of coming home from work and going into the kitchen and getting out a frying pan, cutting board and knife - and then not actually cooking.  This is meant to build a habit. We'll see.