Organic Cooking – Don’t be Discouraged
Organic cooking can be fun as you journey along learning how to preserve nutrients and use the right oils for different culinary applications. However, cooking can sometimes feel like a chore when you are working with a reluctant household. Sometimes, when you are converting your home into an organic, healthy household not everyone is transitioning at the same pace. So how can you help your other family members catch up? How can you avoid getting discouraged and throwing in the towel?
Living With the Reluctantly Health Conscience
It’s not that your family wants to be unhealthy. But it can be difficult for someone who has never lived an organic and healthy lifestyle to make the transition. Sometimes it can feel like a series of hills and valleys – battles won and lost. In my journey to turn my husband away from the “dark side,” I have had to remember that sometimes it is a battle lost but in the end the war will be won. For example: Perhaps you have worked hard to prepare a delicious organic evening meal only to find out that, for lunch, your partner had stopped for a fast food burger. Don’t get discouraged. Look at it like this: at least you are helping them get one healthy meal in that day!
The Tater-Tot Battle
Sometimes it takes baby steps to win the war. The trick is to not get discouraged and look at it as an adventure. Take one of my husband’s stories as an example of a small battle lost to win the war: One evening I made a lovely baked salmon filet and organic asparagus with lemon and garlic. The aroma filled every corner of the house. (Even now the thought is making me hungry). I had also baked a large sweet potato for us to share. My husband came home with a few groceries and he pulled out a small bag of tater-tots. For those who have not seen a tater-tot: They are a processed, deep-fried, oblong shaped, shredded potato nugget-thing. They are found in the freezer section of most grocery stores. They are baked in the oven and have bad ingredients. Maybe for the tater-tot lover there is an organic variety – but this brand was not. I was a bit horrified as he plopped them on a cookie sheet and slid them next to my salmon. I think I heard the salmon gasp in disgust. So, while I did not get the sweet potato on his plate, I did accomplish the wild caught fresh salmon and the organic asparagus. He added his dollop of catsup and his tater-tots. I happily ate half my sweet potato saving the other half for lunch the following day and gave myself a point. Two out of three isn’t bad!
Applications & Resources for Organic Cooking
We all have different tastes and it can be fun trying to recreate a beloved “bad” food to be healthier. Take chocolate cake for example: Here is a recipe that excludes eggs and can win over anyone!
No-egg Carob Cake – Bake at 350 degrees
Mix and Sift into a glass 9” cake pan (This is made right in the cake pan and served from the same dish!)
- 1 ½ c. Organic Flour
- ½ c. Organic Honey
- 3 Tbs. Carob Powder
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- ½ tsp. salt
Make 3 wells (indents in the flour mixture) Add 1 ingredient to each well
- 6T Organic Coconut oil
- 1T Apple Cider
- All-natural Organic Vanilla
Take 1 c. of cold water and pour over the whole mixture and stir with a fork until evenly blended. Then bake for about 25 -30 min or until a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean.
This recipe was handed down to me through my family from way back during The Great Depression, when they had to be frugal with food rations and supplies. Obviously I have tweaked this to fit our present day organic lifestyle. Enjoy!
iGOZEN is a philosophy and a way of life that is fun and full of life! We hope you enjoy our posts and articles. Check out our Facebook page for ideas, recipes, and tips and highlighted articles. As always protect your loved ones and your lifestyle by researching non-toxic, Earth, and child-friendly food washes like iGOZEN.
