EAT

Embrace Home Cooking

I was raised on home cooking. It was the 70s, so sure, there were new-fangled shortcuts, occasional TV dinners, and Jell-O pudding. But most nights our meals were cooked right at home and often with home-grown ingredients.

I’m lucky. I learned to embrace home cooking at the hands of an excellent cook. Not everyone has that kind of knowledge to fall back on, though.

In an era when McDonald’s and Boston Market and Taco Bell dominate the landscape, the latest generations have simply missed out on the opportunity to learn old-fashioned skills like home cooking.

If you’re aiming to live a more self-reliant lifestyle (and I have to assume you are, since you’re here and reading) my vote for the number one place to start is the kitchen.

Go look in your cupboard. How much of what’s there would be considered ingredients? How much has an ingredients list? I’m not suggesting that you get rid of everything with a label. But I firmly believe you can learn to make an awful lot of what your family eats, resulting in better food, less packaging, and (bonus) a lower grocery bill.

Instead of counting on Campbell’s, learn to make your own soup. Instead of falling back on prepackaged spreads, learn to make your own hummus.

I would never be confused with a five-star chef. But I can cook from scratch with the best of them, putting wholesome food on my family’s table. You can, too, with a little bit of practice.

Use the buttons below to navigate through the different categories here as you dive in and learn to cook at home.