food, glorious food!

Happy New Year to you all!

I hope that 2013 is treating you well and that the year that is aead brings each and every one of you happiness, health, and joy in doing what you love.

Something I love is being in my own kitchen and cooking. To me, nothing is better than hosting a get together or having a friend over to cook dinner with. At the same time, it is incredibly gratifying for me and cooking is an immediate reminder to myself that, yes, I can take care of myself and everything is going to be okay (with a dozen cookies right next to you).

 Having moved back to New York city this week, I made a resolution that I was going to cook more and go out to eat less...even coffee (SHOCKER!). I'm still working on the latter...

Let's face it, unless you are living on the upper East side and have an enormous inheritance, there is no way to survive living in this city if you don't cook for yourself. The occasional outing is great (especially if it involves frozen yogurt) but cooking at home will save you enough money to buy the new Ted Baker spring line...well, not really... but you get my point.

Cooking at home also helps keep those health resolutions because you know exactly what you are putting into your food, how much you are making, and you don't have to worry about trekking your leftovers home because your refrigerator is right there!

Here are a few thoughts I've had whilst being in my apartment that may help you find the joy of cooking!

1. Call it a WISH LIST and not a GROCERY LIST: Don't go to a store and just wander. You'll spend too much money. Plan out meals and their ingredients. It makes it so much more exciting, like a scavenger hunt, and you can focus on deals rather than locations.

2. Spice up your life: My necessities...Red Pepper, Sea Salt, Italian Seasoning, Cinnamon, and Garlic Salt...Find flavors you love and they will make any meal taste fantastic.

3. Invite a friend (and have them bring something): Cooking for one can be dull at times but making a meal for yourself and others is the type of joy I see on my Grammy's face every time we have family dinner. So you don't feel like you're a restaurant all the time for your guest(s), ask them to bring some ingredients or a bottle of wine. Still cheaper and you get to drink a whole bottle rather than a glass...

4. You don't have to be Julia Child to cook: Make mistakes, concoct, look up recipes online. Just stop saying "I can't cook". That's no excuse and this is something EVERYONE can find that they are good at. You'll find your signature dishes too...

5. Fill the FRIDGE not the freezer: Get fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods. Only use the freezer to store food your aren't going to eat immediately. If it's in the fridge, it means it needs to be used (and most healthy foods need to be used in a certain amount of time). This will keep you away from preservatives and frozen dinners that taste like airplane food. Pasta takes 10 minutes to boil...Drizzle some olive oil, add a few spices and you're one step closer to heaven.

6. Clean your dishes: Washing dishes is, in fact, one of the most therapeutic activities. Not to mention you can moisturize those hands after a freezing day walking in the city. Cleaning your kitchen gives you time to think and clean out your mind before you tackle on the rest of your life. Not to mention you just nourished yourself so you're all the better for it.

7. Cooking makes you mindful: We forget how fortunate we are to be able to put food on our tables or have a fully stocked cupboard. Cooking will always remind you that your hard work paid for the food for which you are about to eat. Small moments like that can make any day extraordinary.

Hope to see even more Instagrams of photos from your kitchen this year!

And special thanks to K for inspiring this post.

J