I’ve spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Being a home educating, work at home woman, that’s where the meals happen, baby!
In between math, music lessons, sports, and Zoom, people gotta eat!
Sometimes, I’ve fantasized about what it would be like to have an in-house chef. We could just take a quick break to eat and get back to all our activities. Imagine how much we could accomplish! But a part of me would miss preparing healthy meals for my family. While this is a fabulous option, on a larger scale, I believe reconnecting with mealtime would help families get a whole lot healthier.
As I was reflecting on the past year and planning for the next, four words kept repeating in my head: Do less. Be more.
It seems counterintuitive to do less and accomplish more. But what if accomplishing more meant doing more of the things that are aligned with your purpose and less “busywork”? How does this apply to reconnecting with mealtime in your home?
In a huge way.
I can see times in my own life where I’ve allowed seemingly important tasks interfere with the time my family shares around the table. For the most part, we’ve maintained a strong ritual of eating meals together. But there have been times where finishing a project or phone call have caused dinner to be rushed.
With many parents so busy working (and so many more now working from home), shared meals around the dinner table are almost a thing of the past. We are all busy doing so much, but somehow we don’t feel like we’re accomplishing a whole lot that truly matters. Like feeling healthy and in tune with the people who are special to us. Cooking and eating together regularly can change all that.
We’ve become disconnected to our food.
In the documentary, Fed Up, medical professionals and healthy eating advocates discuss this disconnect. What struck me the most is the major role food manufacturers have used negative marketing to shift our mindsets about food and meal preparation.
We feel time-starved already and commercials play into this by sending us these messages:
- We deserve a break.
- Cooking is too much work.
- Eating healthy is too expensive.
- Making meals at home is too time consuming.
But is this all really true?
Cooking healthy doesn’t actually take that much time and is far less expensive than eating fast food. Keep it simple, buying whole grains, lean cuts of protein, and fresh vegetables. You don’t need all the fancy powders and potions. Just some onions, garlic, fresh or dried herbs, healthy oils and vinegars to add flavour. The biggest side benefit of cooking simple is that you eliminate sugar. And while most of us are very busy, we should never take a break from healthy eating. Eating well is one of the most effective ways to feel more energy and vitality.
Less is More
We owe it to ourselves and loved ones to question the messages that the food industry is sending. Our health depends on it. An added bonus is that when you carve out a portion of each day to make and eat meals with your family, a few things naturally happen:
- You talk about everyone’s day while you cook together.
- You learn what healthy eating looks like together.
- You teach your children invaluable life skills.
- You share the work so it’s not only one person’s responsibility.
- Clean up time takes way less time.
- **Bonus points for singing and dancing to funky music during meal prep/cleanup.
It’s a fact of life: Eating healthy takes a portion of time each day. So does sleeping, grooming and personal hygiene, but that’s part of being a well-functioning human being! For super-busy people, there are easy ways to make cooking healthy clock less time.
Plan ahead
Jotting down the meals you plan to make the coming week helps when scheduling your time and making your grocery list. Making the decision of what to eat ahead takes less time.
Hire a Home Chef or Food Service
This may sound super-fancy, but if you’re replacing a large number of restaurant meals each month, you may end up saving money and eating better quality ingredients. Not to mention the high you’ll feel at paying a culinary professional to do what they love. Doing a simple online search may connect you with a newly valued member of your household! You can also subscribe for weekly meal boxes from a food preparation service. It all depends on how involved you want to be in the preparation process.
Cook in batches
This is a great option for commuters. Take an hour each week and pre-cut or pre-cook your meals for the fridge or freezer to reheat throughout the week. It’s easy to add a simple, fresh salad to go along with your pre-made meals. A side bonus is that clean-up is quick and leaves more time for chatting over tea afterwards.
Have dinner for lunch
I do this one a lot. I cook extra dinner to save for lunch the next day. It’s easy to toss extra brown rice or quinoa into a casserole dish with whatever protein or veggies I’ve lightly steamed the night before. It doesn’t take longer to cook dinner, but it sure makes lunch prep super-quick!
Portable Food
If you’re a sports family, as has been the case for mine, you’ll find that often games or practices are scheduled during mealtimes. This makes drive through’s seem enticing but only if you let it. Have a selection of healthy snacks like fruit and mixed nuts, or these bars stowed in my car to stave off hunger. This allows dinner to happen at home, where we reenact plays of the game.
Wherever you’re at in your life, single, in a relationship, raising a family, an empty-nester, you share one things in common: You need to eat well to be healthy. I encourage you to take back control over the food you eat and reconnect with mealtime. It’s the one thing you can do to make a huge impact on your wellness.
Tell Me:
What has been your biggest sticking point when it comes to mealtime in your home? What idea from above will you implement to make things easier? As always, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below!
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Blessings,
Sheila
