odi told me recently that she thought I Loved her because her cooking was so good. I of course corrected her and told her of the many great things she brings to my life, but agreed the cooking is amazing. She could take a chicken tender and a store bought waffle and make a Fathers Day special..... and she did. I did start thinking of a couple of keywords she said in that sentence. "Love" and "Good Cooking" and my mind started going off.
To cook good, especially with Whole Food, avoiding sugar and processed junk, you gotta have some L...O...V...E! This is where the rubber meets the road. You gotta Love aspects of the journey, even to imitate the recipes Jodi works so hard at making easy. Loving cooking may be a beginning, but for some they simply don't. It may come later but how do you start making good whole food meals now if you dont Love to cook? I might have a few pieces of insight to share.
LOVE YOURSELF
You have to love yourself and desire a better way. To be able to take complicated ingredients and engineer a meal, you have to want it, you have to want to feel better about yourself and this means you have got to Love yourself and reach for more. Right now you may be used to cooking ingredients out of a box and this really is not the way to Love yourself or your health. Jodi puts Love and Care into each recipe because she really cares about it, she wants better for herself.
My amazing wife, cares enough to concoct something that gives her an experience she can enjoy. She truly loves to make her meals because she wants what is better for her. If you don't Love doing this for a worthy purpose (yourself) how can you make it good. If you don't make it good you will always think that whole food cooking is for weirdos and health nuts and you will be back to KFC in a heartbeat. You know better, that's why you are reading this.
I love being frugal. But sometimes, being frugal takes a lot of time and effort. In some cases, DIY is not a wise usage of time and energy. For example, making my own beans at home versus purchasing them already made in a can. The thought was a bit intimidating and didn't even consider it an option. But, when I found out how simple and affordable it is to make my own beans, I seriously considered going into the canned bean business! This DIY is both quick and simple. Green light all the way for DIY legumes.
Purchasing in bulk is a huge money saver. I've tried all sorts of beans. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas), black beans, pinto beans for homemade refried beans, and red beans for chili and canellini beans for soups, stews and side dishes. My mini-slow cooker is my favorite kitchen gadget for this method.
“the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
- steve jobs
Now Go Cook is crazy. We believe we can change the reality of health in our world. Of course, we realize that we can't do it alone. We need crazy people like you who strive for better health with a positive mindset, spiritual maturity and commitment to physical well being.
Now Go Cook's goal is to inspire and empower others to reach or better health one meal at a time. What we put in our bodies either hurts or heals. And Now Go Cook wants to provide as many people as possible with that exciting and "not-so-new" information. Our culture keeps screaming bigger, cheaper, more. That mindset is killing us.
ARE YOU CRAZY?
Do you want to advance your knowledge of how the right food choices can greatly reduce, if not eliminate, negative health issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes, many heart conditions and yes, cancer too.
We are asking you to help us grow the momentum of true health. We are asking you to make a commitment to yourself and your family. We are asking you to share this news with as many people as possible.
What news?
For the health conscientious person, there are a lot of buzz words buzzing around. When I first began diving into a more healthy way of eating for me and my family, I referred to our exit from the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) and entry into health food as clean eating. It made sense to me - we ate food that was clean and pure. And furthermore, that was the name of my first ever purchased healthy eating magazine. And I still love Clean Eating Magazine to this day.
I had a blast using real, whole, clean foods to create new recipes that my family [mostly] enjoyed. The majority of my recipes in my old old old blogspot blog included "Eat Clean" in the recipe title. But then I read somewhere that clean eating was described as consuming 5-6 meals a day. Healthy ones, but definitely a lot of them. That's not what I was doing. So I began hunting for the correct term to use for our new way of healthy eating.
I saw many "whole food" terms and a few "real food" terms. To me, they probably had similar descriptions, if not exactly the same. I came upon article after article that chose to battle the meanings of different healthy eating styles. After a while, boredom set in from this exhausting topic. My head was spinning from overload and was quickly approaching the "I no longer care" category. I mean really, it's not football teams we're cheering for ... it's a healthy eating lifestyle. Can't we just unify and call it one basic thing? I'm certain that comment will get negative kickback. Whatever.
If we pay attention, there are signs all around us. We have the power to choose what signs we pay attention to. Finding the positive in each challenge and situation in life is a direct reflection of your mindset health. Here's a glimpse into life behind the Now Go Cook studio and recipes. Signs of hope. Signs of progress. Signs of success.
The air in Florida is changing ever so slightly. It's 86 degrees at 9:00 am, instead of 91 degrees as it was just a few weeks ago. It's a sign of hope that soon, the blistering heat and humidity will turn to cool breezes in the warm sunshine.
When I first began cooking whole food, the kids had a hard time transitioning. They offered hopes of returning to some of our old dishes that they loved so much. One day, one of my sons came to me and told me that he missed some of the other recipes, but never realized how good whole food could taste. I took those magic words as a sign that my family was on board with our whole food lifestyle.
was directed to a 2014 blog post written by Elon Musk recently, you know the guy, made his own space ship, leased it to the government, then went on to revolutionize electric cars with his company Tesla. In his post he defines the struggle for Tesla to build enough electric cars to address the crisis of emissions. The market is simply too big to make a huge impact quickly despite the fact that his product is superior in pollution control. He defines the true competition he faces is not other electric car producers, but in the mass production of gas powered vehicles. He decides that sharing the patents for tech he invented could help bring about technology change quicker. You can read the article here.
His assessment of the car industry and his “competitors” mirrors that of the food industry in many ways:
hat's the number one thing that can drive a mom crazy during the school year? Besides the time it takes to plan and prepare your kids lunchbox, there is also the added stress of packing it with "stuff they like". It's a common occurence in my home for the front door to open wide and before it slams shut, the words "I'm starving" echo through the house. Then, I find a half eaten (or less) lunch box. And when I offer for them to finish their lunch as a snack, "I didn't really like it" is the response. Ugh. How can I pack their lunch with healthy fuel and have them enjoy it without spending tons of time and money? How can I save time when my mornings are so rushed as it is? I have 5 suggestions that will spare your sanity.
Here are 5 school lunches your kids can make for themselves & 3 School Survival Tips. Stop dreading the lunchbox with these fuss free, morning saving lunch ideas.
Anytime we go to a restaurant that has a salad bar, my entire family states that if all these ingredients were just sitting in the refrigerator, washed & chopped, they would make salads all the time. Truth is, I have an aversion to making salads for dinner sometimes. Pull everything out of the refrigerator, wash, chop, etc. I know it’s silly to complain since all of this is super simple.
But, I have found a more efficient way! And I can’t wait to share it with you. But the part I’m most excited to share with you is the end result!
When I go to the produce market or grocery store, thinking of added work when I get home tires me. But I took a look deeper and thought about this ….
So, I took my own challenge. Once I got home from the store with produce, I set the timer then began.
y kids went back to school on Monday. At this point, a lot of moms consider this the beginning of happiness; hopeful; the most wonderful time of the year. I've been there MANY summers! But, now that my kiddos are 11, 12, 15 & 19, summers can’t go slow enough.
Yes, there are stressful days where the kitchen never seems clean, the door never stays shut and the sighs of boredom are countless. But for the most part, they are outside in the scorching heat playing football, riding bikes, swimming, and having a nighttime man hunt with neighborhood kids.
iving the whole food lifestyle means pursuing the cleanest, truest forms of living. From the food we put in our mouths to the water we drink and products we use. I am proud to say I've abandoned a lot of unhealthy methods and tools, including getting rid of my plastic sheet cutting mats that harbored bacteria and chemicals. I love using wood cutting boards. They look beautiful. I have one in particular that resembles a checkerboard of different woods with the grain going different directions. It resembles a piece of art. But how do I take care of it?
When I used plastic cutting boards or mats, I would soak them in bleach water in the sink with a drizzle of dish soap. I'm sure that killed some built up bacteria, but as I look back, I shake my head wondering why would I ever use bleach in the same location that my food touches?! Yikes. But what do I use to clean my wooden cutting boards?
e have all heard the term "Fresh Ingredients" over and over in marketing and advertising campaigns. I often wonder what they mean when they say it as often times we find out the people saying it really aren't using such fresh ingredients. So what does it really mean?
I just saw the term again while running down my FaceBook wall, a company was offering "Fresh" in the way of ingredients, but they package up the fresh and send it to you, so how fresh can it really be when a business is about making money right? In my experience the business mind does whatever it takes to maximize profits not freshness, especially when FRESH can easily be had by simply using the term in your marketing, no matter what the truth is.
was thinking of Interior Design and the sets we are designing for other Now Go Cook story lines. I began to think of what it takes to design a room or a set and put all the elements together to create something great. I was thinking of the Interior Design Student and how they must ‘learn by doing’ something they are currently probably not doing.
You don't start doing most things by just doing them, unless it is so simple that it only requires a single action. You start by learning how to do them. People say "Eat Healthy" and the recipient of that call says "I'm gonna start eating healthy", but we know this is not a single action or a single action repeated over and over again, it is a mindset that must be nurtured just like a student who is trained in a craft. This applies to learning how to cook and eat for Health.
uke 10:38-42 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Balance. Many times, there is nothing that seems more difficult than balance. Soccer practice. Work. Cheerleading try-outs. Oh, the traffic! Phone calls. Flat tire. Grocery shopping. Errands. Clean the house. Laundry for miles. Plan meals. Make breakfast. Exercise. Learn. Grow. Relax.
I’ll share a “horrible” secret with you. Sometimes I don’t cook dinner for my family. Sometimes, I’m working late. Or I’m busy helping 2 kids with a science fair project and 1 kid with algebra. Sometimes, we don’t all gather round the dinner table, hold hands, say a prayer and eat together.
There. I confessed.
e see it all over the shelves in the grocery stores…. Flavored Water. Some promise to be full of vitamins. Others promise to hydrate you better than water. But all I see is my grocery bill climbing and climbing. And for someone who already struggles with recycling plastic, I can’t add one more plastic bottle to my “recycling bin” guilt trip. We all realize, with some level of obvious certainty, that our bodies need water!
he other night we were cooking something with Milk on our Ceramic Stove Top and it boiled over leaving a crusty, burnt circle of something we never thought we would be able to remove.
It was extremely frustrating to have to deal with the spillover on the glass top stove, it was so quick to burn and I really thought for a minute that it would be there forever. The words of the installer kept coming to mind, "If you ruin the ceramic stove top you might as well just get a new stove!". Ughhhhhh, what was I gonna do, then I remembered how I dealt with it last time it happened.
t happened just yesterday. I planned out a week's worth of meals and then filled out my shopping list accordingly. Off to the grocery store I went, Satrbucks in hand and a song in my heart. But when I got home, that’s when the progress came to a screeching halt. Starbucks empty. Song gone!
Before I left for the store, I knew I should finish up the dishes in the sink and remove the last few science projects in my refrigerator.
After a week of opening and closing the refrigerator door, grabbing things out and tossing them back in, things get a little unorganized in that big box that keeps my food cold! And the sink. Well, that is just laziness on my part.
