Just before Christmas I got an email from Jill Waldbieser, nutrition editor at Women’s Health magazine announcing they were kicking off a twitter challenge to cook one meal a day for the full month of January. At first I brushed it off. I didn’t need the challenge. I make tons of meals. Tons. But then I started to notice how much I eat out. Granted, I’m not downing drive-thru burgers and fries, but all those entrees add up in more ways than one. And then there’s my habit of munching on Mojo Bars, crackers & cheese and carrots & hummus… not exactly cooking. And all of a sudden the challenge started to sound like a challenge.
What did I have to lose, anyway? Nothing… except maybe a few pounds. And I had plenty to gain. Making food from scratch is empowering: You pick the ingredients, you decide exactly what goes in and what doesn’t, you control the food from start to finish. Plus, cooking for me is calming. Chopping veggies puts me in a Zen state. Weird, I know. And what a great excuse to eat more whole foods and hone my cooking skills. Sign me up!
So last night I went through my vast collection of healthy cookbooks (yes, I may have a slight cookbook addiction), tagged all the recipes I’ve been dying to make and bookmarked tasty dishes from healthy websites I love. Then I made a big grocery list of all the ingredients I need for the first week. And now I’m raring to go!
Want to join in on the cooking fun? Simply make something to eat—breakfast, lunch, dinner, even a dessert or snack—once a day for the entire month of January. (Reheated leftovers don’t count, but anything else, from scrambled eggs to a turkey sandwich, is fair game.) I’ll be snapping meal pics and posting them to Twitter using the #CookingStreak hashtag. You should too!
Let the cooking begin! (3 days to go)
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