Gung Ho

The year is brand new, and so it is quite conceivable that whatever your vows of resolutions and habits, they are all still in good form.

I myself am gung ho about cooking better and healthier. This obsession is not new in itself, but the excitement has been renewed on a higher scale due to the calendar change. Also, the kids are growing up and becoming hearty and robust in either putting up with my cooking experiments, or hearing an earful about my thoughts on less fortunate children around the world who have nothing to eat. Wouldn’t it be so bad if they actually choose not to eat with so much homemade food in front of them, prepared with so much love and care?

A few things that I have tried so far, include:

• Dusting off old cookbooks. They have been a lovely and colorful part of my home decor for many years now, and it’s time that I open the pages of these lovely books that have been gifted to me, or books that I bought myself in prior vows of learning to cook better. I find the internet to be too vast and too experimental to always deliver a good result for a beginner like me.
• Going to the grocery store multiple times a week. Afterall, I work next to one and there is no reason why I would have to put myself through meal planning once a week and predict what everyone will be in the mood to eat 4 days from now. I have never successfully embraced meal planning and so it’s time to give it up I think. Also, I have noticed that by buying only what I need that day, I am losing less food to spoilage.
• Inviting a Third Party to the feast. 4 kids under 12 and a busy husband who loves PBJ and cereal, are not always a reliable source of feedback for a new recipe. So now, if I try something new, I have decided to include a Third Party to test out what I made. My friend Sunita has willingly taken this gamble a couple of times already and I am glad to say that I haven’t disappointed her too much.

Things I have cooked so far include:

• Home made Bread
• Paired with French Onion Soup
• Radicchio, endive, and green lettuce salad with shallot vinigerrett.
• Pav Bhaji
• Bean Stew with Polenta

If the first 10 days are any indication, I believe the year of the snake might just be my year to finally conquer my anxieties of cooking a delicious meal!

So friends, tell me, what are you gung ho about these days and how is it coming along?