Tag: kitchen tips

Tips Of Another Kind Tuesday: An Encouragement For The Domestically Challenged Mom

July 27th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Minimalist Kitchen, Nourishing Food, Real Food + Eating Well 8 comments - Tags: domestically-challenged, kitchen tips

In this blog’s past life (oh, about six months ago), I dedicated my Tuesdays on writing about everything related to Food. I mostly focused on Real Food advocacy because my family was transitioning to a more sustainable way of eating. I was very much motivated at first to make EVERYTHING we eat from scratch, forego all the yucky processed food and vowed never to eat McDonald’s ever ever again.

But guess what?

I have broken that vow a few times and I probably will do so again. And I don’t make everything from scratch and I sometimes still feed my family something I know isn’t completely healthy. And for a long time, I felt like a complete faker. As if I can only be one or the other: an all-natural-cook-from scratch-granola-loving-grow-vegetables-kind of mom OR a Goldfish-and-Rice-A-Roni-and-Take-Out-kind of mom.

But I’m neither. I’m somewhere in the between and I’m totally okay with that.

Because I have learned to accept a few things:

I am not a Martha Stewart and the kitchen is not my most favorite place to be. Which means that the more time I spend making all sorts of stuff in the kitchen, the more crabby I get and the less time I have to do more of what I enjoy of with my family. Which means I need to stick to a minimalist approach to cooking to get the most out of the short time I spend on it.
I am a slow learner when it comes to cooking. Which means I have to take things slow and not make crazy goals, like learning how to make kombucha, making my own yogurt and soaking flour all at once. And that I had better focus on the simple but necessary things like putting a healthy and yummy dinner on the table every night.
I tend to take three steps forward and two steps back. Which means I had better look at my overall progress instead of what I had failed to do this week. Because my overall progress from a couple of years ago gives me a much more accurate picture than focusing on my one decision to let my little toddler eat Chicken McNuggets at McDonalds: we’re growing some vegetables from our garden, we rarely buy take-out even though it means we might eat the same things that I have in my small repertoire of recipes that I can do well, I’ve learned to make awesome pot pies from scratch, and we rarely have junk food in our house.

Part of becoming an Authentic Mother is be honest about who you are and figure out strategies that work for you and your family, given your goals. It’s important to focus on the Essentials of Mothering instead of the Ideal Image of A Mother so you can tailor it to how you work best.

Are you a domestically-challenged mom like me? If so, how have you managed to make your house into a home your way? I would love to hear! If you liked this article, you might want to consider subscribing to A Nourishing Home. It’s free!

8 Easy and Frugal Ways To Make Your Food More Nourishing

June 8th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Nutrition + Health, Real Food + Eating Well One comment - Tags: kitchen tips

Photo by Catsper

There’s a season for elaborately done + uber-healthy meals. And there’s a season for simple yet nutrient dense meals that make your bank account giddy with extra change. If you are in the latter, here are some ways to cope with grace:

1. Simplify With Greens
Add a simple raw/fresh green salad in place of cooked vegetables to your dinner meals. Skip the lettuce and go for the deep green stuff. Nothing is simpler than throwing a good salad together. Add nuts, cheese, boiled eggs, anchovies? Oh yum!

2. Eat Your Liver
Try sneaking in ground liver to your ground beef recipes. Making meatloaf or meatballs? Grind your liver in your food processor and mix it up with your beef. Try to find organic grass-fed calf liver. Super cheap-er, super nutritious and your family won’t even know what hit them (just don’t put too much in there!)

3. Go Brown
Substitute brown rice pasta in place of your regular one. If you eat a lot of pasta, try heading to your Trader Joe’s and stack up on their brown rice pasta for a mere $1.99 per package. It’s the best value I’ve seen and it compares well to more expensive brands like the Tinkyada.

4. Serve It Smooth
You can make a smoothie as yummy and nutritious as you’d like. Add greens, a little bit of flax seed oil, a little bit of coconut oil, yogurt/kefir, frozen berries and a bit of maple syrup and voila! Nourishing breakfast on the go!

5. Stock Up The Salmon
I read here that canned seafood (as well as canned corn, canned poultry, canned beef and canned beans) at Trader Joes come in BPA-free cans (I plan to confirm this at some point myself). So stock up on their canned wild alaskan salmon for fast nutritious meals and snacks. Who says you can’t afford to eat your Omega 3s on the cheap?

6. Add The Eggs
Add it in your salad. Add it to your meat + rice. Add it to your creamy pasta sauce. Or just eat it plain for a quick nutritious and affordable protein. Boil a few and have it handy dandy in the fridge when the hunger strikes. (You read about my take on eggs before, right? Right. Just checking.)

7. Cook In Broth
I usually make broth at least once every other week. I like having broth for cooking rice so it can soak up the good stuff even if we are not eating anything soupy for that day. It’s really easy to make chicken broth and here is an article why this needs to be a staple in your diet.

8. Spice It Up
Herbs and spices not only add so much depth and flavor to dishes, but a whole lot of health benefits as well. Add cinnamon to your oatmeal, tarragon in your dressings, cumin in your meatloaf, stevia to your tea, fresh basil to your salad and more.

Did I miss anything obvious? Probably. So chime in and tell us how you make your food more nourishing, simple and cheap!

10 Tips To Enjoy Cooking When It’s Your Least Favorite Thing To Do

April 13th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Minimalist Kitchen, Nourishing Food 3 comments - Tags: kitchen tips

Photo By Mass Distraction

There are some of us who know how to cook. I mean, really know how to cook. They take this and that and make them into something good. Me? No. I have to follow a recipe to the letter or I screw it up. Exception would be for chicken adobo and curry. The only two things I can probably cook with my eyes closed. And of course rice, but that doesn’t count.

This wouldn’t be a problem at all if I were single and no hungry mouths depended on my culinary skills. But this isn’t the case. So everyday I must summon my kitchen muse and find my inner Julia Child, somewhere. If you are anything like me, I hope the following tips help.

Find simple recipes with clear instructions.

Pioneer Woman’s

2. Invest in quality cook ware that you like, and that will last you well through the years. My husband got me a red enameled cast iron round french oven for Christmas last year, similar to the more expensive Le Creuset Round French Oven and it seriously helps me look forward to when I will be using it again!

3. Start with a clean kitchen. It helps me get in the mood when everything is in place, and the kitchen counters are ready for use. I also try to make sure our kitchen sink is at least clear before I start cooking, so I can clean up as I go, which brings me to my next point…

4. Clean up as you go. Sorry for being repetitive but this is something that helps me tremendously, because I dread the mess that accumulates at the end of every cooking session! I try to wash items as I use them. Or make sure your dishwasher is empty before starting so you can just put one item at a time in there when you are done using it.

5. Try to use as little pots, pans and utensils as possible. I learned this from my sister. If you are making pasta, use the same pot for making the sauce after you have drained the noodles off. Reserve a spoon for tasting and use the same one. I know it sounds like a no-brainer but for someone who doesn’t know how to use their brains in the kitchen, I had to learn from someone else.

6. Do it like the pro. I know it takes a bit more time but I love having my ingredients ready in small prep bowls. I try to lay the groundwork for cooking dinner throughout the day by cutting vegetables here and there, and getting the kitchen ready for use in increments.

7. Treat it like a learning project. I guess this works for me because I like to learn. So I try new recipes whenever I can. I borrowed Julia Child’s earlier shows from the library. I watch the Food Network when I’m at my mom’s house or find stuff online that sounds exciting to learn. I don’t do it all the time, just about once a week or when the inspiration hits.

8. Take photos.The past few weeks, I’ve been taking pictures of our dinner meals every night. It makes it fun for me, and it sort of documents my progress in the kitchen. A good encouragement for when I need it.

9. Turn up the music. Whatever gets you in a happy mood. I love Pandora because whatever kind of music I feel like listening to, it gives me quite a good selection of similar artists. I usually opt for something mellow, like Priscilla Ahn and it puts me in just the right mood to sway and dance albeit slowly with my apron on.

10. Begin with the end in mind. I try to set the table before I even begin cooking dinner. It helps me picture the ultimate purpose of persisting in the kitchen, even when it’s not the most comfortable place for me. It helps remind me that all that trouble I go through, in the end is about the people I love most.

What about you? Any other tips you might add?