Happy Monday!😁🙋🏼‍♀️💛

New month, week, season, emotions, plans, goals, challenges, energy… yep it’s a LOT! So if you’ve been feeling the intensity as of late, you are not alone. 🤩

One of my biggest roles is as the chief home cook 🧑‍🍳. When I first became a mom, I didn’t know how to cook or what to cook for my little people. I resisted and dug my heels for a long time on this. But then I realized that if I embraced it, got organized and changed my mindset about cooking, I might actually build confidence in the kitchen, and dare I say happiness!😊 Needless to say, this has been one of my biggest goals that I continue to work at. Not only do I want to cook healthy and nourishing meals for my family, but I really want to enjoy it.

SO, I thought I would share a couple tips on how I work at being a happy home cook!🥰

1. 01. 🧘🏼‍♀️ Take care of myself- non negotiable. For me this is a combo of my faith, movement, alone time, food/vitamins. I also add connection to this list as my friends fill my cup. For me to be happy, I need to be healthy and give back to my family.
2. 02. 🥕 make a plan for what we are going to eat. This way, I can have the items on hand, and can cook simple, delicious and healthy foods as efficiently as possible.
3. 03. 🌱 Healthy foods build a healthy brain, reduce stress and anxiety, allow for better digestion, sleep and happiness. Let your food work for YOU. The more you nourish yourself the happier you will feel.
4. 04. 🙋🏼‍♀️ Try new recipes! Honestly, we all get tired of the same weekly meal routine. If you eat salmon every Monday, you can still eat the salmon just try it prepared in a different way. There are endless options for recipe inspiration available.
5. 05. 👧🏼 Get your family involved. I may do the cooking, but everyone is involved with the cleanup. Yes please and thank you.
6. 06. ⏰ I need time- if I am on a tight time schedule which does happen often especially when my husband works late and can’t help with driving, then I focus on making simple and quick dishes that I can put together in 30-45 min. Being stressed takes away all the enjoyment from the food and process. So on a busy night of activities cut yourself some slack and make it easy.

xo,

Karlene