The Challenge

I live in a country where food is almost ridiculously abundant and cheap, and I'm at home with my kids each day instead of being out at a job until 6pm.  So why does cooking a healthy dinner for four every night require so much time and effort?  Well...

1.  My children are aged 2 and 1 1/2.  They come grocery shopping with me, they need to be entertained while I'm cooking, and their tastes are, shall we say, limited.  Neither one is particularly adept with utensils.  This is to say nothing of my food preferences or my husband's.  Here is a sample of common ingredients that at least one person in my family will not eat: pasta, rice, potatoes, cheese, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, greens, and really any other vegetable.  But the point here is to cook ONE dinner, so accommodation can be challenging.

2.  I have strong political views about food.  I'm convinced that the industrial processes that turn plants and animals into food in the U.S. are unhealthy for our bodies, our culture, and our entire ecosystem.  So I hate to contribute money to that way of production.  I try to buy local, organic, and otherwise sustainable, which may mean I have to get my food from several different locations instead of just a supermarket.  Still, transparency in food is not the norm, even in "natural" markets -- pause for a moment to ponder how wrong that is -- and if I really care about where it all comes from, it requires a lot of extra research (read: time).

3.  I've mostly cut meat out of my dinner planning.  This is new, and it wasn't exactly a "political" decision, although I think that industrial meat production is one of the scariest parts of American food right now.  Where I live, I can get organic beef from grass-fed cows, pork from pigs raised humanely, and fresh sustainably-caught seafood.  However, my husband and I both grew up pretty carnivorous, and I don't like how much we've come to depend on meat to have a meal feel "complete."  I don't want our kids to feel like they have to eat meat at every meal, and certainly not in the quantities we got used to.  So I have to find ways, largely still unfamiliar to me, of providing balanced meals that make us feel satisfied without beef, pork, or chicken.  Once again, this requires extra time and energy.

4.  I try to save money on groceries where I can.  Of course, cheaper food tends to be less healthy and less environmentally conscious, so when I have a chance to pay less for an item, I always wonder what kind of practices I'll be supporting if I take it.  On the other hand, judging food quality based on price is asking to be suckered.  I struggle with this dilemma literally every time I go shopping, but given the lack of transparency and my negligible impact, I realize there's no sense in getting too worked up about it.  I'll usually pay the lower price unless I can think of a specific reason not to.  On most people's lists, the cost constraint would probably come first, and I'm fortunate that my family can afford to eat the best kinds of food.

5.  Dinner has to be delicious.  I know I'm spoiled, but if it's not really yummy, then I just don't see the point of either cooking or eating it.  I'm fine skipping a meal if there's nothing good around to eat.  But I have other people to think about than just myself, so if I'm going to be cooking and eating anyway, then I'm not phoning it in.  At least not on purpose.

My constraints will change over time.  The kids will get older and their tastes will evolve.  I'll probably start working or going to school in the near future, so I'll have much less time to spend on planning, shopping, and cooking.  Maybe our financial situation will get a lot worse and we won't be able to afford the types of ingredients I like to use.  Maybe we'll move to a place where there are fewer options that fit into my food ideology.  Or any number of other things.

That's why I've started this blog.  I want to tell a story about what it takes to provide a modern American family with something as seemingly mundane as a healthy, satisfying dinner every night, and about the emotional impact of sharing this one happy experience as the day ends.  I want to chronicle my struggles, my failures, and my successes so I can learn and get better at making this happen.  I also want to preserve my love of food and cooking through the times when it seems like it's not worth the effort.  And I hope that other family cooks out there take an interest in my story -- which, on a basic level, is one that every family shares -- and offer their own experiences and suggestions.

Happy dining!