Over the years, as I’ve developed my website and generated daily posts for my readers, I frequently comment in those posts that cooking is an art and a survival skill we all need. It seems cooking is a traditional skill, like sewing, that so many members of our newer generations have not been taught.
With all the weather-related challenges I’ve seen on TV and been reading about lately, I thought it appropriate to discuss why we need to know how to cook.
In generations past, people really didn’t have much of a choice when it came to meal preparation. They fixed meals in their cave, hut, open fire, or cabin or they went hungry. The advent of fast-food restaurants and the convenience of drive-thru windows and related “fast food” takeout has drastically changed that in more recent years. Many families are used to visiting a McDonald’s and calling their meal a healthy response to hunger pangs.
My Kitchen Is My Favorite Place
I’m so grateful my mother took the time to teach me and my sisters to cook. The kitchen is my favorite room in the house. During meal preparation, I feel at peace and comfortable working at the counter as my fingers cut, dice, chop, peel, mix, and stir foods. It’s truly my most cherished activity on any given day.
As someone who prides myself on being self-sufficient and enjoys sharing my passion for food preparation and being prepared for the unexpected on so many levels, today’s post is from my heart as we learn together the key aspects of why we need to know how to cook. Let’s get started.
In case you missed this post, Easy Frugal Sauces You Can Make Yourself
Why We Need To Know How To Cook
Cooking at Home Makes Dealing with an Emergency Much Easier
In times of emergency, we don’t know what to expect from one moment to the next. Stores selling groceries and fast-food outlets may not be open for business due to flooding, power outages, wind damage, etc.
If we’ve prepared for the unexpected, we have food in the pantry, water in a storage tank, and cooking devices with utensils. This provides not only the nourishment we need from healthy food to keep going, but also the confidence we can “weather” any storm.
You Get to Eat Foods You Enjoy
Just think—you don’t have to count on Taco Tuesdays or wait for Fresh Fish Fridays at your favorite restaurant. You can fix anything you want whenever you want and relish every minute of it because you’re cooking what you like every day.
If you’ve planned and shopped each week based on what your family enjoys eating together, mealtimes become more pleasant, and the kids eat what’s good for them, too.
You Can Prepare Meals Based on the Special Diets of Family Members
In today’s world, it seems just about every family has a member with special dietary needs. These could include diabetes, gluten intolerance, nut allergies, etc. If you prepare meals at home, you can, under the direction of a doctor or dietician, fix meals that won’t be detrimental and probably do so cheaper than if you ordered food.
Meals Can Be Prepared Using Foods Produced on Your Property
In my posts, we often talk about gardening, harvesting healthy plants, raising birds or animals, and more. If you have a successful garden and raise animals to eat, plenty of options should be available to prepare quality meals without always relying on the local food store. Gardening is another life skill many individuals haven’t learned. Yes, gardening takes time and patience, but if your property can provide the space and resources needed, give it a try.
If you’re looking for quality time spent with members of your family, time out in the garden can prove to be very rewarding. I still remember sending my young kids outside to pick vegetables like green beans and fruit like fresh strawberries that they planted and watched grow. Harvesting those items is a great reward for family teamwork throughout the growing process. Then learning to cook and otherwise prepare those foods makes the cooking process the culmination of a full season of effort.
Picture fixing salads with the homegrown veggies from your garden. Want a healthy and tasty treat with garden-grown items, have some strawberry shortcake or berries in milk or cream. And all this without having to attend cooking school since you learned it at home.
You Know What’s in the Recipes and Complete Meals Being Prepared
So many foods today are considered “processed.” From the farmer to your plate, many hands get involved in getting food supplies to your home. Sometimes, even when you read the labels, you don’t know what’s in the food.
I have harped for years that we need to learn how to cook from scratch so we know what’s included in our meals and can control content from start to finish. By scratch, I don’t mean buying a box of cake mix. I’m suggesting you pull the ingredients together from your kitchen pantry and make recipe meals that are healthy and tasty.
By knowing what is in each meal you prepare, even as a beginner, you can feel confident that you are feeding your family truly healthy, well-rounded, and nutritious meals rather than junk food. I also think that home-prepared meals taste better in most cases.
Isn’t it awesome to send that young adult off to college knowing they can easily prepare meals away from home, and do so with a healthy approach to meal preparation? As they learn numerous life skills, learning to cook is one of the most important skills they can acquire.
Cooking Meals at Home can be an Uplifting Experience!
If you do a lot of cooking at home, you gain confidence in your food prep skills. You’ll see your self-esteem soar as you watch your family and friends snarf down a delicious meal. You’ll feel even better when positive comments about the flavor, texture, and artistic presentation of those meals come your way.
It may start with learning how to boil water, then progress to understanding cooking times for all the goodies in your pantry. We all had to start somewhere, so enjoy the journey.
Home-Cooked Meals are Easier on Your Food Budget
I used to have a neighbor who loved to cook at home, but she complained about her food budget every month. One day I asked her what kinds of meals she liked to prepare. I was shocked when she started listing items Mark and I seldom buy because we feel they are too expensive. She told me she loved salmon, t-bone steaks, fresh shrimp, and other costly items.
I’m all for fixing fancy meals occasionally, but I look for things like case lot sales, clearance items in the meat department, buying things when in season, etc. We have also learned the store brands most often compare favorably with the new brand items.
I know that restaurants can buy their food supplies cheaper than I can, in most cases, but there isn’t any way they can then turn around and sell me a prepared meal for a price that includes their overhead, not counting tips, for what I can spend for the same meal prepared at home.
Also, Mark and I aren’t afraid to plan meals with more volume than just one sitting. We’ll enjoy the meal again during the week from the leftovers we’ve put in the fridge or freezer. We’ve learned over the years that many meals are just as delicious the second time around.
My Favorite Recipes
You Can Teach Your Kids to be Good Cooks and More Self-Sufficient
I’m glad my daughters grew up loving to be in the kitchen. Most have become “working moms,” but they still find time to fix quality meals on most days. I worry about today’s youth who not only don’t see their parents cooking meals but haven’t been taught how it’s done at home.
As parents, we have a duty to discuss healthy eating habits. That includes learning to shop wisely, following a weekly menu so you have the right ingredients available, and teaching them how to follow recipes so the prepared food turns out how it should.
If your children don’t learn at home, where will they go? Don’t count on them taking a “home economics” class during high school or college; it won’t happen, at least in most states now. Set them up for a happy and healthy future by having them learn how best to cook at home.
Kids are great at researching things on the Internet. Spend some time teaching them how to find quality meal recipes online. I have hundreds of recipes on my website, so feel free to start there when you want a tasty dish for tonight’s dinner.
You Might Even Lose Some Weight
Unless you ” piece” on the food while you’re preparing it or overeat when you sit down to enjoy the meal, you can possibly lose weight by preparing meals for healthy weight loss. Plan to eat lots of fruits and veggies and other whole foods, serve the meals on smaller plates, so they have less food and calories when those plates are filled, and skip those delicious desserts we all love. It also helps to eat meals earlier in the evening rather than right before bedtime.
You Can Share Your Prepared Meals with Neighbors in Need
There isn’t anything more gratifying than taking a hot meal to a neighbor who is ill, has lost a loved one, is working a busy schedule, or needs a “special visit.” You not only help them but also bring joy to you and your family, particularly if they helped prepare and deliver it.
To see the light in someone else’s eyes as they contemplate eating the meal is priceless. In case you missed this post, 20 Common Kitchen Tools You Need
Why We Need To Know How To Cook
Some of my favorite kitchen tools:
Final Word
As you know from reading my posts and comments in this discussion, I love to fix and eat at home; it’s just me. Tell me why you like cooking at home; I’d love to hear and share your ideas with my readers. May God Bless this world. Linda
Copyright Images: Means for Making Bread Depositphotos_357263786_s-2019
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