Returning the Pleasure to Meal Preparation
Reader (and fellow blogger) Christine Simiriglia of Organize More, Stress Less left a comment on last week’s green products post that really caught my attention:
…Eat fresh, whole foods with fewer ingredients. Meal preparation has gone from being an enjoyable activity to a necessary evil in our super busy work days. We now eat frozen, processed or prepared foods for most of our weekday meals. Along with the food we get all of the preservatives, added colors, artificial flavors, excessive sodium, and higher costs that go with the convenience of a six minute dinner from the microwave.
Instead, try buying fresh fruits and vegetables and have them washed and available to grab whenever hunger strikes. Prepare whole grains and beans like brown rice, barley or split peas in larger batches on the weekend, then refrigerate, and heat as needed during the week. You’ll eat healthier while shrinking your grocery bill and your waistline.
Christine’s idea that meal prep, in it’s natural state is an enjoyable activity jumped out at me. Huh. Why hasn’t that occurred to me before? [Head smack.]
Getting Friendly with Your Kitchen
So I set out with my next meal to return some of the spice to the cooking process. To enjoy the experience of preparing a meal, I tried to turn the evening from a series of tasks into… well… a full-on experience. That meant paying attention to the details: the smells, the sounds, the feels, and especially the sounds. (I love a good sizzle…)
I treated the meal prep like the event itself, not the lead-up to the event of dinner. I’m beginning to think that may be one of the biggest hurdles to jump. If we assume that the meal is the event, then it certainly doesn’t make sense to spend an hour preparing for 15 minutes of eating. But if we consider the entire time spent eating and preparing food as the important part, it gets easier to unwind, relax, and enjoy the process.
What it felt like at the end was that I’d spent the evening, quite happily, trying to seduce my kitchen. Before your mind heads straight for the gutter, consider some of my favorite parts of the kitchen experiment:
Fix the Lighting
If the adage that no one looks good in flourescent light is true, then it probably holds true for food as well. I kept the flourescents off and cooked by (safely bright) lamplight and the glow of the stove light. It was amazing how just changing the lighting altered my mood. The “ugh, work” vibe faded into the background to be replaced with excitement and anticipation. Yay!
Set the Tracks
While watching syndicated repeats of Two and a Half Men may help your mind go numb after a long day, it’s not an ingredient of a memorable evening. I pulled out my “Cooking Jams” CD from way back and had a blast shaking my booty in the kitchen. (Think old school R&B and guilty-pleasure pop. Sweet.) Again, the mood changed. I wasn’t trying to multi-task and watch TV, which meant that cooking wasn’t in the way, it was the way. Just be careful with the chopping, folks!
Ply the Participants with Alcohol
A glass of wine in my hand provides instant atmosphere. Whatever your poison is, whether it’s OJ or a Sam Adams, enjoy it while you cook, not after you cook. Plus, it’s a sneaky way to woo others into the kitchen to be your sous chef.
Plan Ahead… But Improvise as Needed
Cooking sucks when you don’t have the ingredients, recipes, or dishes that you need. So plan ahead to make sure you’ve got the components you need so that you can just relax. On the other hand, though, be ready for surprises. Cooking for me never goes according to plan. I’m slowly learning not to freak out when I burn the potatoes or screw the pooch in any of a variety of ways. There’s no point in stressing. The worst case scenario is cheese omelets or pizza delivery. Not a crisis.
Put Your Best Face Forward
Just like in a good seduction, looks matter. And I’m not talking about me. (Flannel pants and my college sweatshirt are my comfy cooking gear.) I had a hell of a time making the plate itself look good when the meal was ready. It added to the feeling that I was trying to rush through meal prep since it was so awful. It was something worth taking the time to enjoy.
In the end, I really didn’t have to change much except for my attitude. I stopped the looped track in my head that shouted, “Get this over with! You have better things to do! Like watching Dancing with the Stars!” Meal prep wasn’t a chore to rush through before it wasted more of my precious time. It was a chance to have some quiet time to myself, some conversation with my husband, and enjoy my home. And while I won’t put on such an elaborate show every night (at least not for awhile), I am psyched to change a lot of my cooking habits.
And One More Thing
On reflecting on the evening, there was one more thing I loved. The enjoyable evening had absolutely nothing to do with how expensive my kitchen was (or wasn’t, in my case). Granite countertops wouldn’t have made the process any more fun, pricey appliances wouldn’t have made a difference, and none of that stuff really even came into the equation. Cooking is equal opportunity fun.
Okay, so I took Christine’s great advice on a bit of a tangent. But that’s what great advice is about: finding what works for you and making it work hard. So thanks, Christine. And I’ll think about replacing the linguica breakfast burritos with something non-artery clogging next time…
And because you made it to the end of this post, a slice of fresh pumpkin pie, from my kitchen to yours:
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This post has 15 comments
October 7th, 2009
Loved this post, because it reminded me of the “a ha” moment a few years ago when I decided to stop dreading various forms of “housework” and simply enjoy the process, whether food prep, closet clearing or doing laundry or even doing dishes (dishes to clean? Still alive and eating! Woo-Hoo!)and not focus on anything else.
Doesn’t matter what you are doing, if your mind is filled with “I’d rather be doing X.” or “I don’t want to do this.” or “I’m too tired for this.” you can’t really just enjoy yourself and the process of creating and maintaining a home and of creating a positive experience/environment for others. The more labels you stick on something (Drudge work, etc.), the more difficult you make it by creating this mind block.
When I do dishes now, I’m like: Wow. Dishes in sink. I’m so lucky. They are here because I have food and can create a great meal. (The alternative? No dishes, no food. Oh, my, how lucky we are.)
You have to be realistic about how much energy you have (and time) on a daily basis, but even the simplest things–steaming veggies, cleaning lettuce, etc.–can be pleasurable if you simply don’t judge them, or label them.
Sometimes, I’m just so thrilled that I can create a yummy meal by casually picking from the pantry and fridge and freezer. It’s like a mini-challenge: What can I make? What tricks have I learned to spice it up, fast?
And it certainly is a constant reminder of how lucky I am, because I have food to eat. I have food to choose from. This is not something to take for granted, yet we pretty much all do unless something drastic has happened. (And you’re right. You don’t need fancy food or kitchen or supplies.)
My real Yippee has always been doing the laundry, although it has been tempered by the HE machines in our apartment building, which no longer really give the same level (IMHO) of cleanliness. And oh, how I’d love to line dry in a clean environment (I can line dry some things in the apartment, but the air in NYC? You could never hang things out wet to dry. THey’d only get dirty.)
I seriously enjoyed filling the top loaders and sorting the clothes, and measuring out the appropriate detergent, bleach, etc. and then sorting the dried clothes.
And I even love putting stuff away.
There’s something about drawers of clean underwear.
When I have the physical strength, I still hand wash some antique linens.
And oh, do I love to iron, although not very often (physical issues). There is nothing like taking wrinkled cotton or linen and just busting those wrinkles. There may be nothing more wonderful as transforming wrinkled fabric into something worthy of hanging on the wall.
FYI: I always loved ironing. In high school and college, I ironed to relax. It still is relaxing, provided I’m not ironing at the last minute before leaving. And no, I don’t iron all that much (mostly in summer).
Now, I’m single, work from a home office and live alone and entertain modestly. I don’t know how I’d feel if I worked out of the home, had kids and a spouse all waiting on me for dinner, etc. Something tells me I’d be trying to inspire them to learn and enjoy these processes. Because really, if you make it seem like drudgery, you can’t be surprised when they balk. But I’ve seen families who can make any of this fun, including toilet cleaning.
It really is all about your attitude towards it. It helps that we have a concrete outcome (cleaner room, clean clothes, tasty meal)but even if that is less than perfect, it’s OK. (I always give myself permission to cook without a guarantee of the outcome. Yea, I want something I want to eat but sometimes I just want to play and see what happens. Some awful food at times, but also some surprisingly wonderful discoveries from other experiments.)
October 7th, 2009
Hey Sara, these are some interesting ways to cook in the kitchen. When I was in college, all I really “cooked” was cup of noodles… I think I need to brush up my skills a little bit. Thanks for this post on eating healthy and cooking. It makes doing this seem a lot more fun.
Tristan Lee´s last blog ..Important Reasons Why You Should Cut Your Time
October 7th, 2009
Tristan, I *still* love cooking ramen noodles. I’m lucky that my partner still thinks they’re gourmet cuisine…
October 7th, 2009
I loved this post too. A few years ago I was in my kitchen chopping vegetables when I realized I was actually getting ANGRY at the vegetables because they were taking so long to cut up. I wasn’t in process at all, and I knew I needed to work on that. Cooking is such a sensual experience, as you say, and we’ve lost a whole lot by neglecting that. Now I try to savor every moment from beginning to end. Most recently I spent a week at a vacation house, and vowed to cook a complete healthy dinner every night. (One night we did end up in a restaurant, though). It turned out to be one of the most meaningful weeks I’ve ever had, and the cooking had a lot to do with it. Many of the meals were quite simple, but the act of preparing, sharing, and savoring our meals together grounded me like nothing has in a long time. Thanks!
Patty – Why Not Start Now?´s last blog ..Welcome to the Party Called Life
October 8th, 2009
I’m not sure when I realized it, but cooking is one of the main forms of “entertainment” my husband and I enjoy. Almost every Sunday afternoon, we share our (tiny) kitchen (along with the not-so-tiny dog!) and collaborate on a soup or a stew for later on, along with planning and prepping meals for the rest of the week.
It’s a relaxing, enjoyable afternoon for both of us, and we usually end up with some of our most time-consuming work out of the way for the week. Plus, you know, some awesomely wonderful soup.
Kris´s last blog ..October’s Hobo: The Blockhead Italian
October 8th, 2009
Oh man, pumpkin pie…yummy.
This was an inspiring post. I’ve been reading for a while but have never commented. I’ve always loved to cook but do feel like there’s never enough time or I’m stressed about it turning out well. I hope to be able to enjoy the process more in the future
October 8th, 2009
You have some really wonderful tips here, but I just wanted to add one thing.
Cooking is much more enjoyable when it’s done socially. I fondly remember the days of my childhood when my entire family gathered around the kitchen table to wrap Chinese dumplings. Even though my younger sister and I were not as skilled in making the right shapes, we still participated and did the best we could. Now that we are all adults, we still joke about how my sister made dumplings with no meat inside when she was too young to make anything otherwise.
Nowadays, I find cooking much more enjoyable when it is done with my husband. It’s time to share together. I prep and he works the stove. It helps develop communication skills and teamwork to get the job done.
Vi´s last blog ..Shopping
October 8th, 2009
cooking is a simple pleasure when you know what to do and how to do it, so the whole process results in a (physically, mentally)satisfying meal. try this site: http://www.savingdinner.com/ .. and check out a few sample menus. this makes weekly menu planning and grocery shopping(the most tiresome parts of cooking daily) so easy.
hope this helps.
October 8th, 2009
You hit the nail on the head for me when you said make it an experience in itself. I have a friend who loves to cook, healthy. That’s what it is for her an experience and pure joy.
I went there Sunday for dinner and was actually having this conversation in my head about how I need to change my attitude. The only time I like cooking is when I’m having a party!
Please pass the pumpkin pie, it’s my favorite!
October 9th, 2009
What a wonderful post, and love the comments too, especially Stella’s. So true that attitude is everything – I just forget that part too often…!
Sarah Klass´s last blog ..A public service announcement of sorts…
October 9th, 2009
We can have such better relationships with ourselves, others, and the food we eat when we really ENJOY it and make it an experience in and of itself.
Sagan´s last blog ..Poll: How do you like your bananas?
October 10th, 2009
food really brings people together… thanks for the pie.
hailey´s last blog ..Mail Came today from our 7-year Old
October 12th, 2009
I think the idea of “making the plate look good” is what I’ve been having the most fun with lately. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Hell’s Kitchen and Food Network, but I’ve finally figured out that you don’t have to be some hoity toity chef to have fun with presentation. As adults, we get so caught up in being afraid to do it “wrong,” we don’t even try. Even if you’re just arranging your bacon and eggs into a smiley face, a little fun goes a long way — for the cook and the “eaters.”
October 12th, 2009
Love your point of view, Jason. All those fancy sauces dribbled artistically on your plate at fancy restaurants? That’s just professional scribbling.
My husband rolls his eyes every time I put the mustard on his sandwich in the shape of a “B,” but I just can’t resist…
October 24th, 2009
I find it relaxing to cook.
It’s not even so much that it’s healthier or better, it is also CHEAPER.
If I tried to get the same meal in a restaurant, I am sure that it would cost me three times as much, and be of a lesser quality.
I also get a huge sense of satisfaction from getting a big hearty plate of something that *I* made, and relishing in its taste.
The Everyday Minimalist´s last blog ..Saturday Project: Type Faster without actually learning how to type faster
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