Thoughts On
Cooking, Kitchen Gadgets, Recipes and More
Congratulations! You have hosted a glorious and delicious Thanksgiving meal. (Or, hey, maybe you just barely survived — that deserves props too.) And hopefully, the dishes are almost done. If you are like us, it takes a few days to get caught up on all the dishes and cleaning and leftovers.
But you're not quite "done" with Thanksgiving.
If you hosted or cooked anything at all for Thanksgiving, there is one additional task that I'd like to recommend from one home cook to another.
I'm going to level with you: Lately, I just haven't had the energy for cooking. My workdays have been long. My son was sick a couple of days. I've had several evenings where it's just my son and me — and it's really hard to cook for two. So, yeah, I've taken a bit of a break from the kitchen just to catch my breath.
Here’s something interesting, I’d think, holding a vegetable we haven't had in a while or a tempting marinade or sauce. Then, I'd consider different preparations ... pasta, stir fry, tacos, the grill. Followed by: Who cares? It’s not like my boy will eat it anyway.
Between my son’s allergies and his pickiness about food (yay, toddlerhood!), I get into rut after rut.
While there would be food at our destination, I was nervous about it. Typically, before we go out to eat, I try to vet a restaurant and review the menu to ensure there is indeed something on the menu my son can (and will probably) eat. I wasn't able to properly do that in advance of the weekend. Plus, the resort was off the beaten path, so it's not like we could easily wander off-property and dine at Chipotle if the resort's food wasn't cuttin' it.
So, I threw some leftover rice and chicken into a cooler just to be safe.
As I stared at that cooler and the jumbo bag of snacks, I remember thinking: Are other parents doing this? Is this a toddler thing or an allergy thing? I'm pretty sure it's an allergy thing.
Starting from a very young age, our kids are watching us. We know this. They’re mimicking our words and intonations (like when my 2-year-old greets me with a quick, “Hey you”). They’re picking up on our mannerisms and attitudes.
And while kids are around a lot of people (especially if you work), they’re still (probably) around their parents more than anyone. They look up to us. So, the example we set matters. This isn’t a guilt trip, folks. It’s just what it is. It’s what parenthood is.
And we all know that we can tell kids things all day, but in the end, they watch us. You can’t tell your kid to eat broccoli while you shove a brownie in your face. (Which is why I wait until my kid goes to bed.)
Lately, my son wants to “help” with folding towels, with sweeping the floor, with cooking. He doesn’t know these are chores. He doesn’t know (yet) that these aren’t fun.
Sucker.
But seriously ... one of the greatest benefits of cooking with our kids and letting them be a part of the action is helping them learn from an early age that cooking is not a chore. It’s a fact of life — much like going to school. Some days are better than others, but your attitude affects whether it's a good experience overall.
So, you can make cooking seem like something to be dreaded, or you can make it seem like something that is fun — or at the very least, neutral. If we complain about cooking, that’s the model our kids will follow. That’s not to say we can’t admit that some days we're too busy or “just aren’t feelin’ it.” But the overall message around food should be a positive one if we can at all help it.
These days, we’re so time-starved that we can’t fathom spending more than 30 minutes to prepare a weekday meal. And I get it. BIG TIME. But somewhere deep in my child’s brain I want to plant the seed that this is something we’d spend more time on if we could — it’s that enjoyable.
