Food is Life

I am one of those people that felt like they grew up in the kitchen. Whether I was at home or with one of my grandmothers the kitchen always seemed to be the hub of our home. It was where homework was done, life lessons were taught, food was prepared, and meals were eaten. And my grandmothers and my mother were these incredible chef’s that would have put Gordon Ramsay in 2nd place.

Life did not change for me when I became an adult, went to work, and raised a family. I still spent most of my home moments in the kitchen except now the roles were reversed and I was the parent and eventually became the grandmother. A young grandmother that is!

Cooking is my absolute passion and a hidden talent that I really did not deeply explore until after my children were grown up. Oh, do not get me wrong here as I have been cooking for as long as I can remember and my family, children and friends were my biggest fans. When I say a hidden talent, it was not until 2008 when I moved to work in the Middle East that I would deeply explore my passion for cooking.

The Middle East is such a great place to live if you are interested in travelling because it just seems so much easier to get around from there as opposed to Canada. And what a cultural melting pot of foods from around the world.

Whether I was home in the Middle East or traveling to other countries, my exploration to further develop my cooking skills always landed me in the kitchens of the local people. It is amongst the local people, that you learn some of the best recipes and you engage in the experience of their culture and traditions.

Mealtime was important in our home, and I always associated it as a time to be with family and friends to share in conversation, a good meal, and build memories. But I would learn so much more about mealtime in those local kitchens abroad. Mealtime for the locals was about all the ideals I grew up with, but it was more than that for them. It was the idea that food is life and sharing a meal with others is an opportunity to deeply connect with others by sharing life itself!

My cooking experiences and recipe arsenal has grown substantially since 2008 and includes recipes from around the world. But for me it is more than simply cooking and having good recipes. I also struggle with food allergies so prepacked foods are not a good or healthy choice for me personally. While prepacked foods are so fast and convenient, they also contain many products we cannot even pronounce and they are not natural. So, for me prepacked food is off my grocery list. I know that sounds daunting the idea of not purchasing prepacked foods, but if there is one thing I have learned, it is that we can eat incredibly delicious meals that are easy to prepare. We just need to have a few tricks of the trade in our pockets and mealtime can become a stress of the past.

Having a weekly meal plan helps to get rid of the daily stress of “what am I going to make today”. We all know that feeling of having a hectic day and we finally have a meal idea in our heads, and we get home to find we do not have all the ingredients needed. So, we either quickly stress out to try and come up with a new idea or run out to the grocery store to pick up the missing ingredients or better yet prepacked food or takeout.

Our lives today are so busy and there is an unlimited number of distractions that tend to creep in and invade our daily lives. Not knowing what to cook that day or missing ingredients does not have to be an added time waster, stressor or distraction for us.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had someone that could do your weekly meal planning, prepare the grocery list and the recipe cards for you? Imagine all of this based on the season and what is available at your local area grocers and farmers market.

What if you could customize your preferences such as the numbers of people in your family, the types of cuisine you enjoy or would like to try, your health choices and dietary requirements. What if you could add easy to make meals, complex meals, vegetarian meals, heart smart meals, meat and veggie or any combinations you like. You have the option to choose breakfast, lunch or dinner or any two or all three.

Imagine the idea that every week your plan is delivered to your email box on the day of your choosing. One organized email containing all the information you need with your weekly meal plan, recipes, and grocery lists.

Each recipe contains all the information you need to prepare that dish and includes the list of grocery items needed for your own future reference and reuse. Each grocery list contains all the ingredients that you need to prepare the meals on your seven (7) day meal plan.

If mealtime is an important time for you, but there is just not enough time in the day and week to give it the preparation time it needs, then becoming a member of Food is Life is for you! Care to join leave me a note in the comments section.