Home Made Meals, Love and Dirt

Last week Dr. Eades had a wonderful post. As always, it was straightforward, full of information and entertaining. I want to add one small word to the article; love. What struck me as I re-read the post was this:
"The only way you maintain control is if you do the cooking yourself. Plus, you’ll save a lot of money because it’s almost always less expensive to prepare it yourself. One of the best things you can do for your health (and your pocketbook) is to spend more time in your own kitchen"

We often forget this as we get caught up in our lifestyles of convenience. As I was rushing home to my kids yesterday, I stopped at the supermarket and picked up some ground meat, butter and cucumber.
Short on time, I looked at all the other options and almost gave in to some "all natural organic chicken nuggets and frozen meatballs" I even considered the "organic pizza". I was short on time, had to cook quickly, had to bring my oldest daughter to a study group, you know...
All the above pre-made items cost around $9 dollars. The meat I bought was $5. (not grass fed, but hormone and antibiotic free).
Came home, kissed the kids and started cooking. I realized in the middle of talking to all of them while cooking, that they were closely watching me. When they saw what I was making, I got cheers all around that said, "yay...home made meatballs".

It made me happy that they like "home made" better then "freezer bag".
What also struck me was the fact that the 30-40 minutes of hanging out in the kitchen before dinner, and talking to each other about our day, is a HUGE part of a very "grounding/calming" routine. When you toss the nuggets in the oven, that time is missing and everyone seems to scatter about to go do their own thing. The more I thought about this, the more I realised that it was the same for me growing up. I would sit on the counter and talk to my mom, while she prepped and cooked dinner. The next thought that then BLEW me away was the fact that by cooking...we literally infuse our food with love and good intentions. I think that this love/intention in some way makes our food even more nutritious and for sure more satisfying. I've read about this before, but I felt that thought last night.
Mumbo jumbo? What do you think?

Dirt,
You just can't find produce like this at the supermarket. It's too dirty ;-)

These scallions/green onions that I buy at the farmers market, are locally and organically grown.

You wouldn't believe the way these taste. See all the nice DIRT still stuck in them. Yes, they don't come in a handy dandy plastic baggy, nor have they had a quick little acid wash like the ones in the supermarket...but this is what REAL FOOD is supposed to look like. It takes a few extra minutes, to get these ready for your salad or cooking, but it's worth the extra time. I've come to realize that I realy enjoy that time cleaning and handling the food. Peeling garlic is very calming for me, so I don't buy the big plastic jar with pre-peeled garlic cloves.

Dr.Eades is spot on, make your own food most of the time. It will save you money and your health.