Now that I'm in my late 20's, the cooking complaint I get most from my friends is that they can't find the time in their busy schedules to make it a daily habit. They have the skill set now, and the money to invest in tricking out their pantry. But time still seems to stand in the way.
Even though I primarily work from home and spend a good chunk of the day cooking for a living, I still find myself up against these same challenges. When you're running around like a mad woman, it becomes too easy to justify a Seamless web order just so you have one less thing on your plate to worry about.
What people don't realize, and what I often forget, is that cooking is a habit-forming activity -- not at all unlike the gym. The difference is, unlike exercise, there are strategies that allow us to concentrate our cooking workout into one big chunk of time so we can let our bodies enjoy the fruits of our labor for the rest of the week.
I usually reserve Sunday nights for "me time" and that's when I do the majority of my food prepping for the week. It's a great way to decompress and dedicate some time to yourself, even if that time also includes marathons of your favorite bad TV show and/or singing along to Cowgirl Kiss-Off's on songza.
In the spirit of my Wellness Wednesday chat last week with Laurie David, and all of her great strategies for making home cooking a habit for your family, I've put together some of my favorite make-ahead dishes. Make sure to pick up her new cookbook for more great recipes you can make Sunday with your family.
-- Phoebe Lapine of Feed Me Phoebe