January/February Weight Management Challenge

[Owlie]

Glad someone else thinks cooking is relaxing. I always have.
Funny, once my friend we ride with came over for dinner during the week, when her DH was away. She was incredulous when she saw what we were making and asked if we always ate stuff like this! They mostly eat sandwiches/salads during the week and she saves her cooking for one-two days during the weekend. I've always seen good meals/cooking as something important, probably because my mom did. It didn't matter to me that I was working; it still seemed important. I remember once my grandmother expressing shock that I didn't just feed my kids hot dogs because DH was often away on business during the week when they were little .Like that would make a difference! Both of my boys and my brother are also great cooks, so I think it really does depend on your family's view of food, unless, like you did, you decide to change it.

It's funny. Growing up, my parents tried to have a hot dinner on the table every night. They'd cook two big batches of whatever over the weekend and then reheat it, and make the veggies and starch while it was reheating. When it came to actual cooking, though, my mom views it as a chore, though I think this has changed somewhat since I left home. My dad looks at it almost as a hobby. He likes playing with spices (he who wouldn't eat garlic or onion until he met my mom!). I...do a bit of both. I like playing with food, so I'll make up a big batch of chicken breasts with different seasonings, spaghetti sauce, soup, stew or whatever over a weekend. If it's winter and I'm not doing much at work/school, I cook quick stuff (eggs with spicy tomato sauce, stir fry, pizza...) but I have fun with it. (Of course, there are days I'm too tired to eat anything other than cereal, but...)

It's actually the same in my boyfriend's family. His dad LOVES cooking. If it stays still long enough, he tries to grill it. He loves experimenting with veggies. His mom, on the other hand...she says she likes cooking (and she's not a bad cook!), but she doesn't have the energy. Doesn't help that she's an incredibly picky eater. BF takes after her.

[Chile Pepper]

122, so up one this week. I'm actually quite pleased it wasn't more. I was traveling last week, so the diet was sidelined.

I love to cook, and I do a lot of it. My boys are 14 and 11, so I bake a lot for them, and my DH and I love good food, so dinners are generally fairly elaborate. I tend to eat more on the weekends, but I also have my longest bike ride on Sundays. I also compensate for the heavier dinners by eating mostly fruit and yogurt for breakfast, salad for lunch, and veggie juices in the afternoon. If I need something more, I try to eat lean proteins.