Maggie David

January 13th, 2010 by Maggie

Well is it?

I have had so many discussions with people on this issue, some say, well, it depends on who’s cooking and others say “Home Cooked – I haven’t the time”.

I believe that home cooked, home baked meals, cakes, breads, pastries and cookies are the very best.

You control what goes into what you cook and bake and it is done without all the preservatives, chemical flavours and additives and much less sugar and salt.

My Dad who is 87 years of age makes a joke saying, with all the preservatives and junk that goes into store bought junk foods when everyone dies they will be dug up in times yet to come fully preserved! Well I wouldn’t go that far, however, it does make you stop and think.

When I was a child, my grandparents Minnie and Ted Bishop who lived in a place in England called Hollywater, Hampshire had a lovely garden where they grew everything they ate, grew there own meat and taught me how to cook.

Grandad was a master baker and taught me how to bake breads, buns etc, and Gran well she was a mother of 11 children and grandmother to a whole tribe of grandkids and she knew how to make pickles, chutneys, jams, pies, pastries, wines to name a few. All this knowledge was passed onto me as I used to go and help her- days on end spent with Gran was great!

Both my grandparents taught me that food should be appreciated and that growing your own in fertile soils was best plus the fact that you should honour the source of your meat, poultry and fish supply by using every bit of the carcass, hence I learnt how to make soups and stocks out of bones. Slow cooks and roasts were an everyday occurrence as this was the way to cook – there were no burger or chicken joints to buy “Take Away”.

When a baby was at an age to start solids baby food was made you didn’t go and buy it off the supermarket shelf, baby ate fresh cooked veggies, mashed. How simple is that? How much better for the child is that? Why pray tell do you need to go to extra expense and get tinned baby food, that is not even as nourishing as cooking up a whole batch of fresh veggies, making them into a puree, freezing in little containers meals for baby so you have meals on hand. How long does it take – not long at all!

Now I am hearing a few screams out there and cries of, but we both work full time, how on earth can we find the time to cook and bake. I know I have been there, honestly I have – let me make a suggestion…

Sit down together and make a menu for the week and in that include breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks. No I am not expecting you to cook and bake for each meal time, but if you’re both working, having a menu will save you time and money as you already know what you’re going to eat on a particular day and what you need to have on hand (never buy what you don’t need) Look at that menu, and see what you can pre-cook or prepare ahead of time for the week. Are there any slow cooks on the menu, or Italian dishes, like pasta and sauce, lasagne, etc. If so you can make the sauce, lasagne and slow cook ahead of time. They do keep if correctly sealed in the fridge for a few days.

Muffins can be made for snacks and individually frozen. Make the muffins nutritious by making Blueberry muffins (use frozen blueberries) these are high in anti-oxidants, banana muffins, carrot muffins, see where I am going here?

Hey you could have a family baking day once per month or once per fortnight – a great getting to know you “Fun” time with your kids.
I feel there is much one can do, to incorporate more “Home Cooked” food into ones week which in turn will make every family more healthy and energetic.

“Home Cooked” is best – what do you say? I would love to hear from you.

Love and Light

P.S. Yes I do make all cakes, breads and meals. My children when they come to visit, pre-order muffins, and breads to take home – Now I look after my Grandson Brock a couple of times per week (he is 6 months old) and just started solids, so I make all his baby food.

P.P.S. Yes I admit it one of my addictions is cooking!

P.P.P.S. I have selected some great SLOW COOK AND ONE POT Recipe books to give you great ideas. Between my girlfriends and I we have all of these on our cooking book shelves, so I know they are good!