Slow Living in the Kitchen

(Adapted from Julie's YouTube video)

Let’s find out how easy it is to make almond milk while we talk about why the kitchen may not be the best place to focus when looking for time savings. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all about looking for ways to simplify and save time. In fact many of my videos focus on this. Yet at the same time, I believe there are some very good reasons to focus most of your saving time efforts elsewhere in your home and in your life. It is my hope that after listening to this short video you walk away with a bit of a different mindset about your meals and meal preparation. 

Practically everyone is in a hurry these days–rushing to and from work, shuttling kids to soccer and after school  activities and hopefully making it to the gym or a yoga class. It is exhausting. So who has time to cook anymore? The amount of time spent in the kitchen for most people is likely dramatically less than that of our grandparents. Sure, there are a multitude of products that have helped with this, but I’m going to make a case that this is not necessarily a good thing.

I grew up on a stool in a small, but brightly lit kitchen in Divide, Colorado. The big windows over the sink had a beautiful view of the mountain range and Pikes Peak. My mother enjoyed teaching us to cook and she can still make dinner rolls so soft and buttery that they will melt in your mouth. 

So I was a bit  taken aback, years ago when sitting in a conference room with a couple dozen people, celebrating a coworker's birthday and talking about time in the kitchen. I was shocked to find that only one other person besides myself even had a bag of flour in their kitchen and their idea of cooking was widely different than my own.

Everyone laughed when one friend commented that she could burn hotdogs when boiling them. Another said cooking to her was dumping soup in a pan and popping it into the microwave.  As the discussion ensued, I learned that cooking for many people consists of activities such as pouring cereal out of a bag into a bowl, reheating pizza, and every once in awhile, popping a few chicken breasts on a pan with some pre-cut vegetables out of a bag and roasting them in the oven. Meals often come from can or package to plate and within a matter of minutes they are moving from kitchen to table or in front of the TV. 

How Meal Preparation Has Changed

Another time saving strategy that I often hear about now is to do all the cooking for the week on Sunday. I’m not a huge fan of leftovers, so this makes me cringe a bit, not only because it is no longer truly fresh after a couple of days, but also because it seems the focus has changed from artfully creating a meal to be enjoyed, to a task that must be batched, completed and done as efficiently as possible. 

The thing is, food is medicine to our bodies. It is something that should be revered, respected, appreciated and enjoyed. If treated as such, it can be a source of pleasure in our days and I believe our body receives it differently when acknowledge and respected in this way. I know I’m not alone in this, but let me know what you think. Drop me a heart in the comments if you agree with me here.

Beyond the fact that much of what comes out of a can or a package is processed, if not ultra processed, which research is now showing is not the best for our health, there is a lack of connection with what we are putting in our bodies and a diminishment of pleasure when the focus is on things like counting carbs or saving time or when you are not even truly paying attention to the meal while you are eating it.

Pre-prepared meals take away the experience of food being transformed into a meal. No longer do you smell apples as they caramelize in the pan and watch as they change their shape, color and structure. There is less time for our salivary glands to become active as we smell the smells, listen to the sounds and eagerly await with anticipation. With processed meals, we've gained convenience and time, but at what cost?

Connecting with our Food

Spending time with our food as we lovingly prepare it for ourselves or loved ones infuses it with a loving energy. We feel differently about a happily home cooked meal and I believe that our body responds to it differently in turn. There's also something meaningful about walking through the farmer's market and seeing the same farmers each week–the people who grow what ends up on your table. 

There is something fulfilling about using your creativity or following a recipe to transform what you have gathered at the market into a meal that you are proud of and that tastes delicious because it is fresh and wholesome. And beyond simple and fresh and healthy being better for your gut biome, it simply feels good and adds a bit of happiness to your day, if you let it.

With all of this in mind, I’ve decided to let myself spend time in the kitchen. Maybe it is wiser to simplify life in other ways, and to be okay with time creating and making messes in the kitchen. And a heads up that you may also enjoy this video as well–Making baked apple custard oatmeal with Mindfulness. This is a perfect breakfast for fall as the apples start coming into season.