Cook More.

The end of August snuck up on me and I didn’t get my last post up yesterday but I couldn’t let such an important challenge sneak by so here it is…

August Challenge #3 Share with us your top tip for food education. What one skill or piece of advice would you teach to/share with others?

I love this challenge. When I started cooking my way through Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Cookbook four years ago, I had no idea how to cook. Fast forward four years later and I’ve cooked my way through the book, had a pretty successful blog, taught cooking classes, written articles for Jamie’s website and the Food Revolution Ambassadors are about to celebrate their second anniversary. My favorite and probably the most unexpected part of my journey though has been the emails and comments from family, friends and strangers who have been inspired by what I did. The most common thing I hear is “I’m JUST like you were and I don’t know where to start!” 

What I always tell them is that you don’t need to do something crazy like I did. My idea actually started very simply with a New Year’s Resolution to “Cook More.” That’s it. Just decide you are going to cook more. Get your family involved. Don’t be scared. Just jump in there and do it. If you’ve read my blog from the start you will know that things did not always go smoothly in the kitchen when I was learning to cook. Give yourself permission to laugh and have fun. As long as you don’t burn the house down (I’ve had a few fires during my Food Revolution) it will all be okay. Once you’ve decided to “Cook More” you can add a bit at a time. Try a new recipe a week. Go to the Farmer’s Market. Get your kids in there to help you in the kitchen. It will come. Just laugh, have fun and cook more.