nourish . leaning into whole(ness)
words gathered in the studio
As I hammer words into metal, I can't help but think about the meaning behind each one and wonder a bit about why each person was drawn to the word and what it means to them. Some of the words stick with me and become part of my own practice.
Yesterday, I spent some time journaling about my word of the year (whole) and how I want to live from wholeness this month. One theme that keeps coming up is wanting to feel like I am nourishing my body and my family by cooking. I love to cook and I love to eat what I cook, but I haven't cooked much during the last few years. But during the week of Thanksgiving, I was moved to look through a few cookbooks and print out some of Tracy's fall recipes. And I cooked. (hello beef stew. hello roasted butternut squash + apples + potatoes + cranberries.) And it was awesome. And I can't stop thinking about how much I enjoyed cooking while Jon and Ellie and Millie played and talked to me.
As I look to this year, I want to continue to spend time making things from scratch (or from kinda scratch with the help of Trader Joe's) and sit at the table with my little family (or by myself while Ellie naps) and take the time to practice this important piece of self-care (and family care).
But I know that I am going to need to really push myself to do this. So I am writing about it here in the hopes of checking in and maybe getting some support from you about how you do it.
Here are a few of the things I am doing to get started:
1) I reorganized my studio so that my packaging and shipping station is now in the studio and not on the kitchen table.
2) I am choosing one cookbook to really sink into for a bit, and I'm starting with The Barefoot Contessa at Home. I have enjoyed cooking her recipes in the past, and now that I have a Cuisinart (Christmas gift), I feel ready to tackle some of I have looked at with longing in the past.
3) I am asking for help. My mom is visiting later this month and we are going to spend some time talking about what she cooks (she and Steve cook together every night) and put together some "go to" recipes for me. (Does this mean I get to buy a new binder? I hope so.) We are also going to work on making the kitchen a bit more user friendly. Today, we had a long talk about the shifts I want to make with cooking and living in the house I've always dreamed of (meaning a lot less clutter), and I am feeling deeply supported by her and really look forward to her visit. And then my friend Jen is planning to visit next week, and I asked her if we could cook while she is here. (She is a great cook who always uses yummy fresh ingredients and I know I can learn a lot from her.)
4) For Christmas, I gave my dad Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life. I love this book so much, and while reading it a few years ago, I kept thinking about how parts of it were such a beautiful love letter to her dad. I asked my dad if he wanted to read it together and cook recipes from the book with me...kind of like a year-long book/cooking club. This is the first time I have asked him to do anything like this, and I think it will be a really neat way for us to connect across the miles. I am hoping there might even be a meal or two shared via Skype but that might be a little too modern for him (insert big smile here).
5) My mom gave Ellie a little toddler play kitchen for Christmas. It is really fantastic and the perfect size for her. I love that she will be able to begin to imitate me (and Jon) cooking or just enjoy stacking her blocks in the play oven while I cook. I am also thinking about investing in something like this toddler stool with sides. I know it is oh my goodness expensive, but I can't help but think that it would be so awesome for Ellie to be safe while at the kitchen counter playing or coloring or helping me as she gets a bit older. (Hey moms, do you/did you have something like it?)
6) I created a "the year of cooking" pinboard over on Pinterest where I am pinning photos connected to links to recipes I find at sites like Shutterbean and Orangette and Smitten Kitchen and my tried and true favorite Betty Crocker. And I am finding that so many other people have recipe pinboards too so I am checking those out. This feels really motivating because it is such fun to have the visuals of all the possibility that awaits.
As I think about this year of leaning into whole(ness), I am trying to stay really open to the truth that I choose...each day...I choose. And I do hope to check in about this often...maybe there will even be some recipe posts coming up as I learn and eat and nourish.
cooking, whole(ness) in here
Reader Comments (13)
I have two little ones (1 & 3) and I definitely cook less than I used to—and I miss it. Here are some things I find helpful:
1) Planning what I want to make ahead of time to make sure I have what I need on hand without extra outings to the store—a good time to think about what you want to cook next is when you are getting ready to go grocery shopping.
2) Starting much earlier than I think I need to (I often do prep early in the day when my girls are napping or playing well) so that come late afternoon when everyone is a little cranky and needing to eat I'm not frazzled and frantic and wondering why I'm not just ordering pizza
3) Choosing things that aren't fussy—things with a long cook time but not a lot of active time are ideal (soups, stews, chilis are great for this)
4) Making big batches—we do this with sauce, chili, lasagna, shepherd's pie (try Alton Brown's recipe—I do it with beef, so technically cottage pie), chicken pot pie . . . some of it is best freshly cooked, but it's still really good later and when we need a quick meal we have something we made that we know is good and has good stuff in it.
I've seen variations on the toddler tower. We simply use a chair. Not as safe, I suppose, but it allows my daughter to watch and participate in cooking and we are working with her if she is working at the counter. We also do some work on the kitchen table or even sit on the floor with her so she can mix. She loves to help.
Have fun in the kitchen!
Sara has given you some great words above-- I second all of them. Especially the planning part, since meal planning is essential around here for me to enjoy the actual cooking, and doing some prep work earlier in the day.
You have chosen a wonderful cookbook of hearty and un-fussy favorites to begin with-- that is my favorite of Garten's cookbooks.
I love reading about all the support you are getting, and your willingness to ask for it. It is so wise to recognize that planning, kitchen organization, and brainstorming all have their role.
Wishing you many wonderful culinary adventures!
Liz, I'm so encouraged by this post! My "one word" for this year turned into two words when I settled on "bon appetit"! So many of the same leanings and intentions as you... toward a more functional kitchen, cooking more health-fully and creatively, trying new things, getting the kids involved, using all the (million) cookbooks and recipes I've clipped over the years. I need to work hard on the health side, too, and renew my commitment to real food, veggies, whole grains... and getting rid of processed stuff (eating "well" as well as "good"!). So thanks for sharing--I love your plans and need to settle down and clarify some for myself.
My now grown sons still talk with great fondness of the cooking and baking (and clearing and washing up - especially this, as children love to get wet!) that we did together, AND they are both amazing cooks now. So enjoy every minute of it. And as important, if not more so, is the eating - sitting at the table together as a family is such an important part of growing up; this is where children learn how to have proper conversations, where they learn table manners, sharing, politeness, listening skills.....
Have fun! x
I so love your idea of reading/cooking through a book with your dad. I'm wondering if my dad would go for this.
My mother was a chef and so we grew up on really good homemade food. I have always cooked from scratch, never even thought of any other way to eat. Now that I have my own little family and life is soo busy we have simplified. Our fast food is soup. Seriously, this is so easy. The secret to soup is great broth. And great broth is easy with a slowcooker and some bones (add water, leave overnight, strain, store in the fridge or freezer.). I can make soup in minutes using broth, some vegtables and maybe some meat or beans. I've learned that every meal does not have to be a gourmet feast, and simple food leaves space for other things in my day.
I love this. All of it. I've become converted to the church of food preparation...not that I wasn't already a member in good standing of the church of Food Loving. But then I learned that they are not necessarily the same and have since fallen totally head over heels with the ritual of planning, the colors, cutting, cooking, smelling, seeing, tasting (ahem), combining, and finally sitting with the beautiful bounty with a prayer of thanks in my heart.
Big hugs to you and all your cooking buddies! :)
xo
Oh, I love your post and intention, Liz. I am on this path, too. I'm reaching for simplicity--same as last year, but I seem to be a slow learner (heh-heh). In that, I share the goal of being present with food and food preparation, of being in the tasks (walking meditation in the form of kitchen duties, I think) and savoring the food--simple pleasures that mean so much to me and my heart.
I feel resonance with your word, too: Whole. You see, I'm just embarking on a project towards wholehearted living (in the sense that Brene Brown describes). I'm starting with something that I like to think of as a heart map--diving headfirst (or heart first?) into my value system, the roles I believe define me, and a coming to terms with what I've captured as truths from my past (but may not be). It's heady, it's scary, it's exciting all at once. My hope is to land on my feet with a feeling of being whole and of living in a wholehearted manner. My simplicity/simplify/simple intention is there as a compass to guide me and keep me from landing in the weeds.
Anywho, I am so move by your post and wish you many good things in 2012 and with your intentions. And, I'm wishing you and your family loads of love and joy!
=) Liz
I just read your post about cooking and loved it :-)
I also love smitten kitchen (Marshall just baked me her yellow cake recipe for by birthday - yum!). Another great website is: http://simplyrecipes.com/
I'm going to e-mail you the easiest chicken recipe ever!
Cooking is truly blessing you and your family and a great form of daily creativity. Make friends with a crockpot-a lifesaver on busy days!
I keep thinking about this post and garlic chicken soup. (You're not a vegetarian are you?)
Get a chicken. Fill the cavity with half a lemon and as much garlic as you can stuff into it, then try to squeeze in a little more. Slip more garlic under the skin. Rub the skin with butter or olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with coarse salt, black pepper, and rosemary. Bask in the smell of roasting garlic and rosemary while the chicken cooks. Have chicken for dinner.
When you are done, take as much meat off as you want for leftovers. Put the bones and the lemon and all the garlic in a stockpot. Cover with water. Add a couple of chopped carrots, a couple stalks of chopped celery, a bay leaf. Simmer for a long time. Strain out the bones (make sure you strain into another pan!) and the lemon rind. Leave the garlic and bits of carrot and celery. Kind of mash it all up. Put the soup in the freezer until a winter cold sets in. Then pull out your garlic chicken soup. Add chicken and veggies if you like or just heat the garlicky broth. (Sometimes I add a hot pepper too to help with congestion.)
i like the idea of picking one cookbook. thank you for that idea! i am gonna do that too. then i can get an idea if i really am needing to hold onto it.
hi liz!
it sounds like you are on the right track! i think just getting in the kitchen and cooking is the best thing, and sometimes...it won't come out edible and sometimes it will be amazing and there will be a lot in between but it's all part of the process - enjoy it!
happy new year liz!
i've been contemplating my word for the year-- it's hard to come up w/just one! :) once i do i will let you know.
my husband & i both enjoy cooking although he seems to do the most of it. for me, having an organized kitchen is key. pots, pans, lids all together & in the same place; i'm lucky to have floor to ceiling cabinets in my kitchen so again, the shelves are organized so i can see everything and things are grouped together. i LOVE ina's books-- her recipes are well done. i'm sure you will enjoy cooking from her book. we also love to use our crockpots (we have 5!) they are great to make just about everything. easy clean up too. i also believe in using fresh spices & organic foods whenever possible. i really think it makes a difference. you can't go wrong at trader joe's! looking forward to hearing more about your cooking adventures & your year of "whole" living. xo alane