Meatless Monday

I like to say I'm of the 'microwave generation'. I'm not sure why I didn't learn how to cook growing up but I blame it on the microwave. My mom is an excellent cook and yet we partook in the fast food/giant boxes of Costco processes snacks/TV dinners back when instant was just beginning to become all the rage. I guess I figured I would never need to cook - food would just instantly appear according to Star Trek!

So by the time I got to college I know how to make mac-n-cheese and u-hum... fried baloney. Ugg, not good. Admittedly I'm still not the best cook there is but I blame that on my husbands incredible ability to cook and love of it (I think I have said before - he cooks, I bake). Still, we cook now as a family more than I ever dreamed and even with two working parents we eat as a family every night (something my mom was great about doing with us as well). Of course cooking takes more time... But we are certainly learning that it means more health, more love, and so very often, less money in the end. Plus, what we don't have time for we are now finding ways to support local suppliers of ready-to-eat, healthy, farm fresh meals to give us a little break - yea for those entrepreneurs.

To prove I'm NOT alone in this adult challenge to re-learn how to cook real food I'm sending you to Ellen Kanner's Meatless Monday post on at the Huffington Post titled "Cooking - The next stage of Evolution". By the way my husband made a mighty tasty bean soup yesterday (less meat but not meatless entirely like this one) - so the recipe you will find hear is a perfect meatless Monday meal!


Finally, I try to get my daughter (and eventually the little one too) in the kitchen with me as much as I possible can so that they will find a love and a passion for something I'm having to force feed on myself. Last week her words to me were "mommy - I love when you bake with me....can we bake cookies?" Of course, ....we baked cookies :)