How Will You Find the Time to Cook? (Part 1)

            I talk about the benefits to cooking dinner at home, but the fact remains that you’re busy and finding the time to cook is difficult.  The extra time will never magically open up for you as if you’ve been given more than 24 hours in a day.  The key isn’t finding the time to cook, but making time by planning it in.

           

            When you vacation, you normally plan to be away for a predetermined number of days and allot a certain amount of money to spend. Because you want to make the most of your time and money, you spend months diligently planning your two-week vacation.  In fact, you plan many things in your life---work projects, visiting your in laws; you even plan a birthday lunch for a friend.  The lesson is this: You can do all of those activities because you plan time for them.  The same is true for cooking.  You’ll have time to cook when you plan the time to cook.

            If you leave your daily meals up to the whim and immediacy of the moment this is what happens.  You

arrive home from work tired and the last thing you want to do is muster up the energy to make dinner.  

Not having a clue what to make at the last minute, you look in the refrigerator. By magic you hope to find something to throw together for dinner. Yet you don’t have fresh ingredients in the house because you didn’t schedule time to go grocery shopping. You’re hungry and the troops are hungry; your son needs to be at practice in 30 minutes and your daughter needs help with her math homework. Even a saint couldn’t cook under those stressful conditions. I don’t blame you for popping something in the microwave, ordering a pizza, or going to the drive-thru. Those options don’t require much decision-making or asking more from your worn-out body.

            However, there is a way to plan cooking into your schedule.  Stay tuned and I’ll talk about it tomorrow.

Cooking is easier than you think and you and your family are worth the time and effort it takes. 

Simple cooking idea: Do not eliminate all fat from your diet.  You need fat in order to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved.