My Night 2 Cook

Nutrition and Better Performance the Tim Tebow Way

2012-02-13T06:55:00.000-08:00

We can learn from top athletes that changing our diet just might improve our performance at work and play. Djokovic with the "Diet That Changed Tennis" discovered he is allergic to gluten so out goes pizza, pasta, and bread. He lost some weight, is more agile, and feels better. Tyler Hansbrough, a 6' 9" 250 lb. NBA player for the Indiana Pacers was frequently sighted at Whole Foods during his years at North Carolina. And I just found out Friday that Tim Tebow started working with a nutritionist here in Richmond in October. He now eats more vegetables and is more careful as to what fuel he puts in his tank. You can gum up a high performance car by using low quality fuel and the same is true for our bodies. We tend to eat low quality foods when we don't take the time to cook or eat with others. One of the best Valentine's presents can be a home-cooked dinner- quality protein and colorful fruits and vegetables- for the top athletes in your family.

What if the Biggest Cause of Inequality in US is Cultural?

2012-02-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

Charles Murray in his new book "Coming Apart" points out that a large % of blue-collar America is turning aside core values which have been a bedrock of our country- values such as marriage, honesty( includes obeying the law), hard work and religion. Marriage is down 36% in the the working class( high school grads) vs. down 11% in the upper middle class(college grads) since 1960. Our founding fathers, such as Patrick henry, believed that a stable family was necessary for a stable society. I find it interesting that the decline of marriage correlates to the demise of home economic classes and the decline of the family meal and home-cooking. Isn't it a part of the family culture weather you put time aside to at least have 4 family meals in a week? 4 is the magic # of meals which help produce better students and students with less risky behavior. So what are we going to do about it? Let's have that food revolution that Oprah and Jamie Oliver are talking about- start saving money and have more fun with less stress by cooking home-made meals AT LEAST 4 times a week. To prevent "coming apart" let everyone in your household take a part in shopping, cooking, setting the table, and cleaning. Then maybe Clint Eastwood in his Super Bowl ad might be right- it's halftime in America and we are coming back to restore equality because that is the American way of life!

Cooking for Super Bowl Week-End the Tim Tebow Way

2012-01-30T05:28:00.000-08:00

Interesting article- "5 Reasons Why Tim Tebow is the Chosen One." 1) Tebow works well under pressure as noted in his 4th quarter come backs and 4 OT wins. We cooks also work well under pressure and can be creative scrambling an array of foods for a winning combination. 2) Tebow delivers and we cooks deliver every time we put dinner on the plate. 3) Tebow defys the critics. Naysayers tell us there is no time to cook or have family dinner in this hectic day with parent's demanding work schedules and children's sports and after school activities but many of us fighting this trend enjoy the "fruits" of our labor by sitting and enjoying food and fellowship on a regular basis. 4) Tebow has a dedicated fan base. Good cooks also have a dedicated fan base - the smile on a son's face when you've fixed his favorite meal is our equivalent of a touchdown with all the cheers. And finally, 5) Tim Tebow "...is enthusiastic, but not arrogant. He is fired up, but not obnoxious." Cooks fighting for a dinner time slot know it takes enthusiasm, determination, and a sense of duty to make dinnertime a priority in the day. So let's plan ahead our menu, shopping list, and carve out a time to cook the best super bowl lunch ever. Yes, have a big sit down lunch with the TV off and enjoy your family and pre-game meal! Once your victory is in the bag, enjoy the Super Bowl with family and friends.

70-75% Do Not Qualify For Our Military

2011-11-28T06:21:00.000-08:00

General Collin Powell gave this statistic in his talk at St. Christopher's Leadership Symposium. Here are the reasons he gave: 1) Obesity 2) Criminal records 3) Not fit. Let that sink in - 70-75% of military applicants can not even qualify. Another speaker, Wes Moore quoted the same stat- only 30% qualify for military service. Wes More in his book "The Other Wes Moore" describes 2 lives- he came from inner city Baltimore and went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, paratrooper in Afghanistan and a White House Fellow- now youth advocate. The other Wes Moore, grew up several blocks away, also from inner city Baltimore, is now serving a life sentence for murder. In his talk, Wes Moore emphasized how much education matters. He believes we have had a holistic break down to create these problems with our youth, and we need a holistic build up to get back on track. One small step for mankind would be to get back to having a dinner hour- I would even settle for a dinner 1/2 hour. We have just celebrated Thanksgiving and what a great time of enjoying good food and family. The other stats are- kids who eat 4 or more meals with their family per week are less overweight, better students and less involved in risky behavior. What if here in Virginia we could change the above statistic to 1 in 2 (50%) of youth applying for military service DO qualify for the military? Is there a better place to start a holistic rebuild of our society that a simple dinner table?

O Taste And See...

2011-11-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

That The Lord is Good. Friday morning, as I was eating my breakfast, I read, "...who have tasted the goodness of the word of God..." Humm. Why not use "...who have felt the goodness?" So what's the difference between feel, felt and taste, tasted? So maybe taste is sharper and more true- hard to mask- than feelings. I looked up in the concordance and found a number of passages using taste , tasted but found 0 passages using feel, felt. And as I pondered this in church yesterday, the words in our last hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, listen to this:"...Prone to wander- Lord, I feel it- prone to leave the God I love. And so the point is TASTE is a very important sense and FEELINGS can cause us to wonder. You might not FEEL like cooking, but let's cook and excite those taste buds while you have them. A very dear lady and great cook in our church made me realize how I take my taste buds for granted as she described how her food tasted like metal due to the radiation treatments. O taste how see how wonderful your family and friends are as you cook and share dinner with others!

7 Billion and Counting...

2011-10-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Today the world's population surpassed 7 billion. And this month of October saw crude oil increase 17% this month alone and prices of corn and orange juice futures increased 9 and 13%. Experts believe rising food prices are due to people in the emerging economies getting used to having more than one meal a day or having protein on a more regular basis. Rising food prices could be something we all need to factor in our spending. Eating at home is one way to lower our food and energy costs. Instead of driving someplace to eat, then go home- cut the mileage and just drive home and cook. In addition to saving food, energy and calorie costs- food at restaurants very often have high level of sodium in order to make your food taste especially good.

Many believe we should limit our sodium intake to 1500mg/day. Start looking at the labels for the sodium content. Your health is worth it!

Maybe Orange Could Become the New Pink

2011-10-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

The inroads made in breast cancer awareness is amazing. My mother approached heads of companies in North Carolina to have mamograms covered by medical insurance. And Nancy Brinker has made all of us wake up to fight this killer! High school boys at football games wear pink shirts and then this week-end at the UVA game, the cheerleaders had pink pom poms and the players had pink strechy hats on under their helmuts. So maybe orange- representing healthy foods like oranges, carrots, mangos etc. could be the rallying color for waging a war against obesity. We need to wake up and realize what a killer bad eating habits have become. Obesity saps energy and productivity. Band together, even if it is just with one other person, to cook a meal for each other and try healthier cooking in your own home. And with the time savings on the day you receive your meal- try a 30 minute brisk walk and enjoy the changing color in the leaves.

We Need A Food Announcer

2011-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

I was listening this morning to a sports announcer analyzing the Washington Redskins game with the Philadelphia Eagles and the UVA upset over #12 Georgia Tech. Football is fun to watch and we all have our teams that we care about. We also have family and friends that we care about and food tastes better when you are breaking bread with others. Why not have a food announcer talking about fabulous meals with new twists, easy to make, and budget friendly? What about those victories? Why not interview everyday cooks that close their ears and eyes to all the marketing ploys to eat out and spend more money and calories on less substantial food? Why not set up teams for cook-offs? Why not give prizes to best recipes? We cooks can be just as creative in finding new recipes and meals as coaches that draw offensive and defensive plays. Cooking families can help the athletes in the family have better nutrition for better performance. I would love to be the food announcer who gets to go observe and report on VCU and University of Richmond's basketball training meals. We need a food announcer to report on the victories and defeats that take place everyday around our dinner tables right here in Richmond.

Steve Jobs

2011-10-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

I was at my Apple computer reading the news of Steve Jobs death. I had such a heavy heart that a man with such God-given talents had died so young. I too am 56 years old and for the past 25 years, I have clipped articles wherever I read of the importance of the family dinner hour. Charles Duhigg of the NY Times wrote one such article in "With Time Running Short, Jobs Managed His Farewells." "As news of the seriousness of his illness became more widely known, Mr. Jobs was asked to attend farewell dinners and to accept various awards. He turned down the offers. On the days that he was well enough to go to Apple's offices, all he wanted afterwards was to return home and have dinner with his family." Let that sink in. Knowing his time on earth was short, he choose dinner at home- not the glitsy dinners or awards. In honor of Steve Jobs, choose this week to spend more time with family and friends around your own dinner table- thankful for your family, friends, food before you and your health. Make better choices in what you eat and where you eat!

Sharing Meals Was Important To The Supreme Court

2011-10-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Supreme court starts a new term today. In "John Marshall: Definer of a Nation"(1996) Jean Edward Smith discusses the remarkable years when Marshall served as Chief Justice 1801-1835. For the first 29 years, the justices were housed under one roof and ate their meals together for the 2 months which they assembled every year. And somehow these justices were able to come to consensus in ruling on some of the most important decisions that even today shape our laws. "That remarkable consensus established the reputation of the Supreme Court not only as the ultimate legal authority in the nation but as a body that was reliable, predictable, and definitive when it spoke." Then in 1830,for the first time, the justices were not housed together and did not eat their meals together. Marshall wrote his wife, "...we cannot carry on business as fast as usual." And for some reason "...the remarkable unity of the Marshall Court would soon splinter." Families can start right now reclaiming a regular dinner hour to celebrate the day talking together about the trials and the joys. Now that it's getting cool, try my easy Brunswick Stew in the slow cooker. Add some rolls and orange slices. Make your own important decisions and share home-cooked meals with family and friends!

Family Dinners= Less Risky Behavior in Teens

2011-09-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

Just google these words and see how many have picked up on this. ABC News quoted William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota, "Family meals are the strongest factor that we've come across in any activity that families do...It really tops them all as a predictor and contibutor of a wide range of positive behavior." As a devotee of team cooking through a cooking co-op for 25 years for my husband and 3 children, now 26, 22, and 16- I have the experiences and track record to say this is so true. Plus, for 25 years, I have clipped articles on the importance on dinner for 25 years and the University of Minnesota's studies were cited over 20 years ago in "Bottom Line" documenting the importance for families to regularly eat meals together. The benefits of dinnertime- a time to celebrate the day, time to come together and just be together, less risky behavior, eating less processed food impacts obesity, and less bing-eating and/or purging. All for a fraction of the cost of eating out or ordering pizza. This is why I started this web-site and have been blogging over 100 times. Go back and read my chats with Ginny and start team cooking. Never in history has there been an easier time to cook. You can do it!

The Time for Team Cooking is Now

2011-09-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

School is in full swing, and now is the time to fire up your burners, get serious about cooking for a night to eat for a week. Sharing the resposibilities of putting a home-cooked dinner on the table regularly will save you money, calories and improve your health- mentally and physically- as you will eat more fruits and vegetables, cut down on processed foods, and free up time to excercise and enjoy time to talk with family/ friends. Tamar Adler describes her philosophy in "An Everlasting Meal"- "...what we eat and how we eat is linked to our happiness." She champions us amateur cooks. And she believes that "...cooking well is built upon a deep, preservation impulse." In the last 2 weeks, I have had the most memorable meals with family and friends. What we ate and how we ate it brought so much joy, my 16 yr. old son lit the candles last night even though his sister and boyfriend had retured to NYC. The candles signified good food and joy. I have discovered the Barefoot Contessa has some fabulous recipes that are easy and quick. Conversation is so easy with good food. The settings of West Traverse Bay, Notre Dame, Chicago, and Lexington, KY with friends, family and food taught me much about many topics and brought much happiness.

For Times Like These...Cook for A Night, Eat For A Week

2011-08-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

"We may live without poetry, music, and art;

We may live without conscience and live without heart,

We may live without friends, we may live without book,

But civilized man cannot live without cooks." Author Unknown

And that is the key- civilized man cannot live without cooks. Cooking is a priviledge and yes it takes effort. It takes effort to get to work in the morning, but then there are rewards. Yesterday, our church"team" of cooks pulled off an amazing luncheon for our newlywed couple. The men made home-made bbq. We had all different kinds of fresh fruit and vegetable salads. To make an extra special salad. I sliced the lettuce on a diagonal and chopped up celery, purple onions, peppers, green onions, cucumbers(cut the seeds out), Trader Joe's chopped up veges, and plenty of delicious Hanover tomatoes. And then the home-made varieties of fruit cobblers and apple crisps followed by Jenny McCoys beautiful wedding cake- 3 layers- 3 flavors(coconut, vanilla almond, and lemon). It was memorable. September is coming- back to school. And why not get organized and start recruiting a team who is interested in cooking for a night and having enough to eat for the week. We want our government to cut back on it's debt; how about saving big bucks by joining a team of cooks? Yes we can do this!

The Salad Shocker

2011-07-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

The following was written by Sarah Nassauer in the Wall Street Journal 7/27/11 and I am still in shock: "Despite decades of nagging to eat more leafy greens and colorful vegetables, the average American eats a salad at mealtime only about 36 times a YEAR. That's 20% less often than in 1985, when the average frequency was 45, according to market research firm NPD Group. Fewer than half of Americans--49%--ate at least one "leaf salad" at home in two weeks, compared with 75% who ate a potato dish and 81% who ate beef." The VP of NPD, who analyses people's eating habits says: "The single biggest problem with salad is making it. Cleaning, cutting, making sure you have fresh produce- tends to keep people away." Say what? In my cooking co-ops for the past 20 years, salads have been a staple in our menus- usually 50% of the time, a delicious salad was delivered- many times a bag of salad was accompanied by a baggie of cut up carrots, celery, cukes and grape tomatoes. In fact, my teen-age daughter's favorite meal was chicken caesar salad with a fruit salad and she literally said, "I wish all our meals were like this." If companies like Fresh Express and Earthbound Farm want to sell more bags of lettuce, then encourage and promote "team" cooking. If we are too busy that we can't cook one good meal a week for ourselves and our families, then we are too unfocused on what's important in life. The budget deficit is nothing compared to what America faces in health care costs from obesity, diabetes etc. which can stem from our poor choices in what we eat. What happened to "You are what you eat?" And I thought everybody wanted to go green. Go Green- and eat a salad a day!

Firemen Do It

2011-07-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

I spoke with two firemen this week. One shared with me how his unit practices "team cooking."

There is the person who enjoys cooking and decides the recipes. This team is eating more chicken and low fat recipes and have been successful in many losing weight. Then the cook usually does the grocery shopping. But in return, those who don't cook, clean up. They enjoy sitting around the table together and sharing thoughts and life. Another retired fireman told me this week, he regularly ate meals together at his fire house. A very close friend and co- fireman for years, still get together once a week to go out to dinner. His friend lost his wife and enjoys this weekly time to get together. And at church yesterday, we all brought something to share after church. UMMMM- good! We had 3 different types of salads, fresh fruit, and home-made sour cream pound cake. Team cooking works in so many situations- get on a team, cook once a week, then no need to "fire-up" your kitchen the other nights.

Take, Eat and Live

2011-07-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

Those words jumped out at me as we sang a communion hymn yesterday. The hymn was written by John Morison, one of the best poets of the Church of Scotland, in 1781- the same year we defeated the British at Yorktown. One of the definitions of take is "to carry something." So start team cooking and TAKE meals to others, EAT regularly together with friends and family and LIVE your life to the fullest. This can be your mantra for TEAM COOKING! Also it came out Friday - "Dinner Table Inflation Up Almost 5 Percent in One Year." Grocers are passing on the higher costs of food. Most salaries are not going up 5% so if you don't have a plan, try team cooking. And one more thought on LIVE. It's not living a good life to carry around extra weight and this issue of obesity is severe. My son went to a very good basketball camp last week and here was the menu for lunch each day: Pizza, Chicken fingers and biscuit, Pizza, Chicken Fingers and biscuit, and finally on Friday- Pizza. Humm....kids were excercising but not learning a thing on good food choices. What if they paid the same $$$ to a great cook to TAKE lunch to the courts- not a processed food distributor, and gave them an opportunity to provide healthier alternatives and a little more variety. I repeat TAKE, EAT and LIVE!

Improve Your Health with Team Cooking

2011-07-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

Weight loss tips are in the headlines. One effective way to regain control of your eating patterns is to band with 3 other families who also want to eat more fruits, vegetables, fish and more healthy cuts of beef. All weight loss systems have a plan and if you know what's for supper, you can plan your breakfast and lunch accordingly. When working together as a team in planning, shopping, preparing and cleaning up, you can plan more time for a walk, run or tennis clinic or just taking the kids to a playground instead of stressing over what to conjure up for dinner. So maybe you are an empty nester. Team cooking can still improve your life. Studies on Altzheimer's show that aerobic exercise and strength training, even when done just once a week, can sharpen the brain and improve our mental faculties. Research now shows that even moderate exercise can cause the brain to increase in size and develope new brain cells. So, to find time for aerobic exercise, strength training, stretching and balance- you need team cooking. The summer is a perfect time to ease into it with neighbors or new-found friends. Sharpen your cooking skills so you can exercise more for real brain gains!

Called to Order

2011-06-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

This was the title to a great sermon my husband gave yesterday. He cited Gen.1 and in the creation account, God created order out of chaos. We think of order and organization as being dry and restraining to our creativity when in fact order brings life and beauty. Our oldest daughter could not keep her room straight in high school- there was 1 foot of clothes, papers and books on her floor. Now that she is a marketing editor of a decorating magazine, she very much cares about order to her room and clothes closet as she implements her decorating talents in her own apartment. I have been taking a break from cooking co-op and I miss the order and rhythm that comes from knowing that if it's Tuesday, it's my night to cook. I miss the team approach to having an answer to what's for dinner. I miss the variety of other cooks sharing some of their favorite recipes. I miss the cost savings of cooking in quantity 1 meal a week and the cost savings of less waste- I hate finding a mildewed expensive red pepper tucked in the back of my refrig I thought I might need one day. So a call to orderly cooking and team work can bring beautiful colorful veges, fruits and meats to your table and can add spice to your life.

Team Cooking for the Summer

2011-06-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

My son left for camp today so summer has officially started. Many cooking co-ops take a break in summer but I really don't want to eat out just because I have not planned. Plus the fresh fruits and veges scream out variety and healthy eating. I am most on my game with the rest of my life if I'm organized in this area of planning my dinners. It's time to see and spend more time with my neighbors. I need a tag-team approach because I like to cook, but not every night plus if it's Tuesday, it's my night to cook, but If it's Wednesday it's my night to take a tennis clinic. One team cooking convert goes home after work when it's not her night to cook, has a glass of wine, and sits down to talk with her husband. Make this summer special and try a new sport- team cooking!

Good Food As A Natural Antidepressant?

2011-05-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

An interesting article in the April issue of Vogue discusses this possibility. "According to proponents of the food-as-antidepressant theory, deficiencies in certain nutrients are responsible for the current epidemic of low mood." Ya think? When you don't take time, at least once a week, to plan and cook a good meal and then sit down and enjoy it with family and/or friends, that is depressing. It's depressing to eat out too often and then add up the total amount you spent- knowing you could have saved a lot of money, calories and sodium in-take by eating at home. So the best approach to boost your mood is a "nutritioncentric approach"- cook yourself and load up on vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, fish, lean meat, poultry, and healthy fats. This week-end I went to a local farmer's stand and loaded up on fresh strawberries picked that morning. No vitamin C deficiency here and my mood is high! Go find a depressed friend, neighbor or co-worker and try cooking co-op, team cooking, for one month and see if you can't change the world!

Killer Combo of High Gas, Food Prices...

2011-05-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

This from Consumer Nation- tracking the pulse of America's spenders- by Christina Berk. We know the price of gasoline has been rising. But with the huge events in the Middle East, we might soon see gas prices moderate but with energy costs over 6% of consumer's spending, energy takes a big bite out of our disposable spending. Fewer trips to the grocery store by having a plan (list) and less driving to eat out can save. Plus food costs have gone up 6.5% since the beginning of January. Why are food costs going up the most in a generation? There is more world-wide demand for food from a growing middle class in areas such as Chinia. By banding together we can defeat this Killer Combo. Now is the time to work on your cooking and meal-planning skills. Cook for your family and recruit other cooking co-op families. As Patrick Henry said, " We must fight." Fight for that time to enjoy your own home-cooking.

One In A Trillion

2011-04-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

My husband and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary last week. He has always been creative about organizing special outings to mark our special day, but this year was exceptional. We started the morning at a light-filled chapel dedicated to the minister who married us, going over the wedding vows in the Book of Common Prayer. Then on to Charlottesville to tour Ashlawn-Highland- James Monroe's home near Monticello. We had a delicious lunch at a new find in C-ville. We then drove the Constitution highway to Orange, Va for a night's stay at the Inn at Willow Creek. The home was built in 1778 and after a $2 million renovation, this magical inn represented fox-hunt traditional with Elle Decor NYC modern edge. The food was absolutely over-the-top outstanding. The next day, we toured Dolly and James Madison's recently renovated home, Montpelier. Marriages get crowded with busy schedules and to take time-out and spend time with that special someone- no distractions- is such a blessing. That's also why we need to take time-out to enjoy dinner together as a family. It takes planning and some extra effort- think of the time it took my husband to plan and organize this celebration. And what are the odds of me meeting and marrying someone this special- one in a trillion!

RAMS RULE RICHMOND!!!

2011-04-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations VCU! You gave us one memorable week. I was front and center at the pep rally to see VCU off to Houston for the Final Four. I was on TV and interviewed by the Washington Times and WRVA. Going to the VCU bookstore to get my family Final Four t-shirts and seeing throngs of people smiling and full of excitement. I didn't even mind waiting 30 minutes just to get out of the parking deck. Then Friday night, 10pm, waiting in another long line at the grocery store to get my food supplies for friends coming over to watch to watch the big game. The man at the check out said the day had been Super Bowl 2- everybody getting their party food. We came up short but it's amazing to put VCU in the same b-ball category as Kentucky. Also this week, I heard an expert from Boston discuss substance abuse and he encouraged families to think about what really makes them happy. Is it worth missing family dinnertime to make more money, go to one more meeting, gymastics for 7 year olds etc. and then not know what is going on in your children's minds? Before the big game, the team eats their meal TOGETHER. "The ball goes up...and there you are...a shooting star...it's more than a contest, it's more than a race...you reach deep inside." Have "One Shining Moment"-daily!

RAMS REACH FINAL FOUR! WE ARE HOOPSTOWN!

2011-03-28T05:57:00.000-07:00

The celebration for the 400th anniversary of Richmond was good, but not this good! Richmond's Mayor Dwight Jones was quoted in the Richmond Times Dispatch's biggest and most special section ever: "VCU advancing to the Final Four is the stuff dreams are made of! This is a team of players who believe in each other, a coach who believes in the team, and a city that believes in dreams coming true... VCU is putting Richmond on the map like never before and we'll see the nation at the Final Four." This is a true story of an underdog, a Cinderella defeating major powerhouses. Same thing with food. Move over Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, Jamie Oliver. You have powerful coverage that we little, everyday cooks don't get. We don't always cook in the most beautiful kitchens, but we have recipes and good, satisfying meal ideas that help our family and friends celebrate life on a daily basis. So Esther made home-made potato soup for our church supper yesterday and Rebecca brought a special apple crisp made from apples in her backyard. Umm-good. I will meet you Saturday at the Seigel Center to watch VCU-Butler. I plan to fix double decker turkey, havarti cheese, red pepper and bacon club sandwiches. How about becoming a dedicated reader of this blog in which I try to encourage you to celebrate life with your own home-cooked food. DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'...You too can cook with the best of them. Start coping by cooping Hoopstown! LET'S GO V-C-U!!!

Hoopstown USA: VCU, UR in Sweet 16

2011-03-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

That's the headline of the Richmond Times Dispatch this morning. Only 4 times in 25 years have 2 teams from the same city reached the Sweet 16. The only other cities to accomplish this feat is Los Angeles and Philadelphia. But the news in our local paper also headlines that "Virginia ranks 22nd for health" and while Virginians are smoking less, we are getting fatter. Diseases such as higher blood pressure and diabetes go hand in hand with being overweight. The paper continues with "Special report inside: Working on a healthy future." Jodi Fuller, MeadWestvaco's director of global benefits says "Employers all across the country are struggling with how to contain (health care) costs." With increasing health insurance costs, many companies are trying to motivate employees to eat better and excercise more. I truly believe that if companies would entice employees to just try co-op cooking for one month, we could improve health by encouraging healthier eating patterns. Entice? Offer early leave one day for healthiest, best tasting recipe- most creative monthly calendar, best logistics in delivery etc. What if Richmond could be Hoopstown AND Coopstown? So if someone asks you how you are coping with all the tragic news in Japan, Middle East, high costs of fuel and food, your response could be I'm coping by cooping. GO VCU, UR and my hometown TARHEELS!

Holding the Holy Grail

2011-03-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

I have in my hands Lucy Page Simons cookbook- Recipes from Kith and Kin printed in 1979 "as an attempt to chronicle some of the recipes of the past generation of very good cooks in our common and in-law families." Lucy was a fabulous cook who blessed our church with those incredible home-made white Parker house rolls, numerous cakes and even home-made ultra thin Moravian Christmas cookies. It was Lucy who got me thinking about exciting the taste buds with quality home-made food- not just settling for last minute thrown-together packaged volume. As she fought Leukemia, she lamented her food tasting like tin due to her chemo treatments. Julia Child was a wonderful cook, but it will be my priviledge to try to follow Lucy's blazed trail of putting the energy and love into serving others with a ministry of good home-made food. How about you? Band together with cooks better than yourself and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Appreciate Your Taste Buds

2011-03-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

I am out with a horrible cold and one bad side effect is that food has no taste. How we take out taste buds for granted. Cooking co-op brings a variety of foods to your table. Plus you learn new recipes because everyone is putting their best foot forward. Since you are only cooking once a week, more energy and creative talents can go to work to come up with memorable meals of substance. Appreciate daily your sense of taste by eating quality!

My 100th Post-- Count the Cost

2011-02-28T05:53:00.001-08:00

One of the world's largest suppliers of rice and cotton, Olam International,said in a Bloomsberg TV interview 2/14/11 that corn prices will escalate to a record, pushing up food inflation costs and thus increasing hunger. They believe that the climate around the world is changing and that will cause massive disruptions. Corn is involved in much of the food we eat- animals feed on corn, drinks contain corn fructose and the owner of Montana Bread mentioned that when corn prices are high, wheat fields are instead used to plant corn, causing less supply and higher prices for wheat. Now add higher fuel cost to all this, count on your food costs to go up. Look what I read last night in "American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism 1865-1900" by H. W. Brands. We can learn from the industrial giants. Andrew Carnegie (the steelmaster)"...obsessed over cost because it was the one part of his business he could control. Carnegie never wanted to know the profits...He always wanted to know the costs...Carnegie's genius ...was his talent for organization." John D. Rockefeller, creator of the Standard Oil empire, was also "...relentless [in his] pursuit of efficiency." It's time to count the costs- know what it costs to make a meal verses eating out and then work on the efficiency of cooking in quantity with cooking co-op. That is capitalism at it's best!

Presidents Need Wisdom

2011-02-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Happy President's Day! I love history and this country is so blessed that just the right leaders and Presidents have been at the right place at just the right time to guide our country through many stormy "seas" of opinion and need for action. In Sunday school, we are still in the 1st chapter of Daniel. We discovered Daniel was given wisdom to solve dilemmas and that wisdom is needed when there are shades of gray. Just like our political leaders today, we adults need wisdom to deal with the daily dilemmas we face. And we parents need to exhibit right thinking in our family settings. So last week, Ron came to our office for a high priority meeting. He outlined the new regulations coming down the pike in our industry. As he was introduced, we found out he graduated from Williams College undergrad and Georgtown Law School. I went up to Ron later, thanked him and commented on his education. I found out he went to Woodberry Forest for high school. So I asked what his family did about mealtime as he was growing up. He shared his mom was a maid and his father a chauffeur. He said they regularly ate meals at the dinner table with the TV turned off! I respectfully ask that you conduct your own test for one month- either cook the meals yourself or recruit help through a cooking co-op to solve the dilemmas we face in education, soaring costs of food, obesity... just to name a few. You have just enough time to get organized for the month of March. Bring March in like a lion... hum.. Daniel and the lion's den!

It's Truly All About Food

2011-02-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

WOW. What a week-end! It started well going out to eat with long time friends that we don't get to see much after my son's high school b-ball team beat their arch rival. Then Saturday night the men of the church fixed a beautiful and delicious Valentine's dinner followed by challenging games like each couple trying to gift wrap a box with your left hand. Then in Sunday school, we started the 1st chapter of Daniel. Guess what? It was all about food- the Lord blessed Daniel, had him eat veges and in "matters of wisdom and understanding" the king found Daniel "ten times better" than all the other wise men of the land. Since we had left overs, we had a another great meal after church- we looked like a crowded Last Supper. Then I made a healthier Brunswick Stew for my son's b-ball coach's family who's wife just had major surgery and will be out of the kitchen for a while. I used quick cooking barley instead of the hash browns. Taste good and healthier and I'm thrilled at my creative twist. Then, Lisa(cooking co-op expert and friend) and I surprised our 5:30am tennis gang with a beautiful bouquet of candy bars and home-made french toast to remind them not to forget Valentines. Maybe the guys let us win a few more games, we had fun talking around the table, and our week is off to a good start. What wisdom we gain by sitting around a table with family and friends and enjoying communion! Amen.

How American Mothers Could Be Superior

2011-02-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

Interviews with the "Tiger Mom" continues as we hear her marching orders about how she chooses her children's daily activities. In talking with a business school professor who specializes in behavior decision -making, he said the down-side of this kind of up-bringing is a lack of creativity and innovation. One thing we know about Bill Gates, Billy Jean King, Katie Couric to name a few- the importance of the dinner table and the family meal in their lives. American mothers could be superior if we get back to this basic. Just this week, I spoke with Betsy. She started her first cooking co-op after reading the Richmond Times Dispatch article, "Cook for a night, Eat for a Week" in Feb, 2009. She is still loving the way it orders her and her family's life. She says she wants to "shout it from the rooftops" the benefits of cooking co-op. She shared with her 11th graders that she knew what her dinners would be for the next month. They wanted to see her menus and they too are fascinated with the cooking co-op concept. Food costs are on the rise and in this jobless recovery, families, like our government need to find creative ways to cut costs. the time for this up-rising in the kitchen is NOW!

Super Bowl Recipes and Bribe Your Athletes

2011-01-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

First, try my Brunswick Stew recipe under the Recipe tab here on my website. This is cooking in quantity. It's best cooked the day before, fish out the chicken, cut up the chicken, put back in your slow cooker and it's ready for your family and friends the next day. Next, go to the Helpful Resources tab on this website. Follow these clicks: youvegotsupper/ Browse Recipes/ Turkey/ Double Decker Turkey, Bacon and Havarti Sandwiches. This draws rave reviews from husbands and teenage sons. Just find a round loaf of bread- Montana Gold in Richmond, VA makes delicious round loaves- cut a wide hole in the top, tear out the bread inside and layer the ingredients. And food can be a great bribe. To add a focus factor to our son's rec league basketball game today, we promised him pizza if he had a good game. Well, he really had a "goal" to shoot for- he made 20 points and his team won by 3 points against a top team. Incentives work!

"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior"

2011-01-10T05:23:00.001-08:00

This article was in the Wall Street Journal this week-end. If you are interested in better parenting skills, this article will give you "food" for thought. Chinese mothers believe "academic achievement reflects successful parenting" and if children do not do well in school, the parents "were not doing their job." Chinese parents believe "nothing is fun until you're good at it." To do well, it takes work and practice, practice, practice. I very much believe a vital part of successful parenting is regularly having family meals in your own home with TV, phone, video games off. And the discipline of planning, shopping and cooking your dinners exhibits to your children a degree of discipline you also expect of them. The Chinese think "rote repetition is underrated in America." The rote repetition of dinnertime is a start. Did anybody watch college basketball this week-end? Under Dean Smith, UNC players were expected to always make their free throws. Today, there is no one in the ACC with a worse free throw % than UNC. No one wants to practice. And free throws, dinnertime, and absolutely nothing is fun until you are good at it. Parents- practice starts with us. Let's do our job!

Try Adventure in the New Year

2011-01-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of definitions for adventure: A thrilling experience; to run risks. Our family did that over the Christmas break. Our oldest daughter went down-hill skiing for the first time and loved it despite frigid temps. The rest of us went 8 hours away to Georgia to visit a family we had never met. Our daughters are great friends that met at camp and we loved their daughter. So off we go to a family farm to deer hunt, enjoy picnics and all sorts of delicious food, sift through dirt to find Indian pottery, see and learn history and be blessed with wonderful fellowship. The original part of the house dates back to the late 1700's and this farm has been in the family since the 1800's. I have never been deer hunting but I took my camera and a book and climbed up a deer stand for 2 hours and enjoyed the beauty and fresh air. I didn't see a deer but my son did! We took a risk this family might not like us but what a thrilling experience we had enjoying the outdoors, new experiences and especially making new friends. So why not run a risk that your cooking might not always be perfect, but try a cooking co-op adventure, make new friends and have a weekly plan for making dinner more than mealtime.

A Christmas Gift-- New Easy Recipe

2010-12-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas gets us all cooking- even Debbie, who serves as my cooking co-op challenge in my DVD. This easy recipe of Debbie's makes the whole house smell festive when mixed with Christmas candles. 6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts- place in 13 x 9 pan. Make this sauce in a pan: 1 stick butter, 1/8 tsp. basil,1/4 tsp. rosemary, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 4 oz. can mushrooms, stems and pieces(I used baby bellas), 1/2 cup chopped onions(Oreida froz. chopped onions are great), 1/4 cup sherry. Cook til butter melts and then pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Great served with mashed potatoes( Bob Evans pre-made ones are good) or Uncle Ben's Wild Rice. I tried several other brands but I recommend Uncle Ben's. Then I saw in Southern Living an easy way to put a new twist on salad. Use romaine whole leaves washed off. Top with sliced grape tomatoes, chopped veges like you can get pre-chopped at Trader Joe's, sprinkle with small pieces of croutons, parmesan cheese then a dollop of your favorite dressing. Don't forget to make a batch of my Brunswick stew for another meal. Enjoy your own home and kitchen. Merry Christmas!!! See you Jan. 3rd.

Eat Better For Less- Cook From Scratch- Buy In Bulk

2010-12-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

Please google this article: "Eat Right on a Budget? We Show It Can Be Done" by Tufts Univ. Health & Nutrition Letter. They show a potential savings of $7/day/person. 300X $7= $2,100 X 3 people in a family = $6,300 potential savings in a year. That is money that could be spent to lower families debts, family vacation, whatever your dream. Go for it! And one of the best ways to cook from scratch and buy in bulk is by changing your ways and start a cooking co-op. Start working on your New Year's resolution today and talk to 3 friends, neighbors, or co-workers so you can start 2011 strong!

Cooking Co-Op and The Just-In-Time Consumer

2010-11-29T06:36:00.000-08:00

The WSJ reports the recent recession has changed our shopping habits. Grocery bills have been reduced by using the pantry stock pile. Shoppers are now less likely to purchase items just to have them on hand and instead paying off debt. For the last 20 years, bulk shopping has been the fashion but now we are buying what we need for a specific time frame. Instead we are making more trips to the store and spending less. Once again, cooking co-op is the perfect vehicle to help you buy only what you need for the next week and it's so much easier creating your grocery list as you focused on fixing one meal in quantity. So you get the cost savings of buying in quantity yet only buying for one week. Didn't you love being home for Thanksgiving, having your family and friends around the table, and using your kitchen to the max? Cooking co-op saves you so much money and time. It's worth a try.

Happy Thanksgiving- Cooking in Quantity

2010-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and let this show you the potential of starting your own cooking co-op in the New Year. You will be learning how to cook in quantity and you will enjoy eating on the left-overs the remainder of the week. What if more meals could be as well-designed as Thanksgiving? Turkey goes so well with stuffing, sweet potato casserole, cranberry salad, green bean casserole etc. So often we find a good recipe but the trick-of-the-trade is what else goes well with that new recipe to make a memorable meal. So practice this Thanksgiving and plan on having more memorable meals in 2011 with the help of 3 cooking co-op partners. And the other main ingredient for memorable meals is the conversation and sometimes laughter with family and friends. Food is the wd-40 to grease the wheels and see what's on everyone's minds. So get cooking and get talking.

"The fashion world has a big fat crush on ...cuisine"

2010-11-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

That is one of the headlines from this week-end's WSJ. The article cites Gwyneth Paltrow's eating tour of Spain for PBS. Barney's Christmas windows will feature Anthony Bourdain and Paula Deene. "The fact is, fashion and food have always had a relationship. As designer Isaac Mizrahi (also an enthusiastic home cook), points out: "It's no coincidence that Paris is the fashion capital of the world and the food capital of the world." As fashionable and fabulous as Gwyneth Paltrow is, she admitted in an interview with Vogue: "When you're having dinner with your kids and your husband and someone says something funny or you're dying laughing because your 3-year-old made a ...joke, it doesn't matter what else is going on. That's real happiness." The Fianancial Times reported this morning, "Casual Dining Appetites Revive as Confidence Returns."Instead of eating out, have the confidence and poise of fashion models and actresses, to plan, cook, experiment on your own home-cooked dinners. Make eating at home with family and friends the fashionable thing to do! "That's real happiness."

Home Economics

2010-11-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

Here are the headlines: 1) "Healthy Eating Getting Pricier" Oct.,2010 Tufts Univ. Health& Nutrition Letter. "Prices of foods rich in nutrients rose at almost double the rate of junk food from 2004 to 2008...Prices of the healthy foods(veges, fortified whole-grain cereals) rose 29.2%, while the least-nutritious foods( high in sugar, fat and refined grains) went up 16.1%...The growing price disparity "may pose a barrier to the adoption of healthy diets," researchers warned." 2) "Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices" Nov. 4, 2010 WSJ. "Packagers and supermarkets start to pass along rising costs, even as consumers pinch pennies." In the last year, boneless USDA Choice Chuck roast is up 13%, whole fortified milk is up 10% etc. "Costs are being driven by growing demand for meat in China, India and other emerging markets." Necessity is the mother of invention so why not try a new way to put dinner on the table- cooking co-op! What is most important to you? Spending money eating out, grabbing to go dinner because you have not planned ahead? Or would you rather have those hard-earned dollars go toward your mortgage, home-improvements, beach trip, or an earlier retirement? A revolution is brewing...hum stewing!

Family Dinner is So Important Because...

2010-11-01T04:42:00.001-07:00

Patrick Henrey lived, married, and learned his most valuable life lessons here in Hanover County. As the busy and proud father of 17 children, he believed the family was the foundation of a strong society. The family dinner time is one of the key ingredients of a strong and productive family. Case in point. WSJ article "Parental Role Aids Anorexia Recovery." You think? "Closely monitoring the meals of a child with the eating disorder trumps sessions with a therapist...(the parents) tag-teamed to sit with (their 13 yr. old daughter) through 3 meals and 3 snacks daily...( Soon) her daughter was gaining weight consistently.. and the (mother) started "seeing sparks" of her daughter's personality again." And then a qote from Tennis Magazine in a interview with John Isner, "We never got much in the way of material things, but if you can be spoiled by good cooking,my mom spoiled me 3 times a day all my life." Cook at home and sit down for dinner to create healthy moments and memories. Be sure to vote tomorrow and think of Patrick Henry and his wisdom!

Enjoy Your Company Over a Bowl of Stew

2010-10-18T05:53:00.000-07:00

We met some very special friends at the omelet station in Ashville, NC 2 1/2 years ago. They came to visit this week and spent 2 nights. Right as they left, my daughter brought 4 friends home for the week-end. I didn't have much time to fix anything so I went to my now 20 years-in-the-making Brunswick Stew in which I place all the ingredients in a slow-cooker and then let it cook overnight. So late Wednesday night, we sat down and enjoyed our friends from Birmingham, AL over a bowl of stew, biscuits, and a slice of Caroline's Six Layer Caramel Cake my mom sent just in the nick of time. Then Sunday for lunch, we ate the remaining Brunswick Stew enjoying the conversation with 5 beautiful, smart young ladies in their 20's. What a blessing! We hated to see both groups of our company leave. Conversation and good food go hand in hand. Cool weather is here. It's time to fix my Brunswick Stew ( see recipes tab) and invite friends and neighbors into your home. The laughter and fun will brighten your week!

Happy Columbus Day!

2010-10-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue... So speaking of sailing, here is a Mark Twain quote on commitment which is needed as you resolve to cook more home-made dinners via cooking co-op or any other plan you can devise to keep you vigilant in protecting the family dinner hour. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

"Never, never, never,never give up!"

2010-10-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

- Winston Churchill during WWII. What a week-end! My 7.5 combo team from Keswick, VA won our division at the state tennis districts in Va. Beach in dramatic fashion. First and most importantly 10 different personalities with different talents all came together and played as a team. The most gifted players were humble and willing to play with any partner. Poetic justice was literally served when one of teammates, months away from double knee replacement, served to win our 2nd match and played her best points of the match to seal our victory. To win our division, another team were down 0-6, 1-4 to come back and win 0-6, 7-6, 1-0. ABC Sports does not get any better- the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! Our team never gave up. They analyzed what wasn't working and came up with a plan. And so the point is, just because you have tried and tried to be more organized with your home-made dinner plans, verses eating out, pizza etc.- never give up! Try something different. Get a special four-some together to try cooking co-op as a way to eat more natural foods as opposed to processed foods while saving money and stress at the same time. Miracles do happen.

Food Prices Going Up !?!

2010-09-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed your food prices going up? Is the hamburger at your favorite restaurant getting smaller? And why last month was a take-over offer made for a Canadian company, Potash, which is the world's largest fertilizer maker? Why might gold be hitting new highs? A big part of the answer to all the above might be people in the emerging nations are making a little bit more money working on roads, bridges, new buildings etc. and they want more food and more bling for themselves and their families. As we are in an environment where salaries are not going up, something has got to give. Really think about where you want your hard-earned $$$s to go- higher food prices or your dreams like home improvement while prices are down, vacations, education for a better job etc. Remember Cooking Co-Op was the #1 out of 9 ways to save big bucks in a recent Yahoo finance article. Fall is here - school routine is in full swing- time to save money and stress by enjoying your own kitchen. Count your blessings!

2010-09-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

Lost Decade for Family Income

2010-09-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

The headlines all point to- cook at home, enjoy your own home, eat better and save $$$. The above headline was in the WSJ Sept. 17th. "The downturn that some have dubbed the "Great Recession" has trimmed the typical household's income significantly new Census data show, following years of stagnant wage growth that made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century... the recession has been particularly hard on young workers and young families... many have moved in with family... some Americans weathered the storm... by merging households." My husband and I had a great time last night working together like a team to put dinner on the table. He makes the best salads! Some of our church members got tired of eating out after church and have started bringing a sandwich and eating outside at our picnic pavillion. Great time to talk and laugh. Last Sunday we saw the prettiest fox- an extra treat. We can weather this storm by merging households too to help some nights with cooking duties. In talking with teachers, many inner city children order pizza for dinner. When asked if they order pizza every night... no, some nights I eat left overs. Eat at home for a better life!

Has Walmart lost it's Mojo with Moms?

2010-09-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

That is one of the headlines on abcnews.com. Cooking co-op is a way companies can keep mom's coming back. What if a grocery store had all the ingredients for a cooking in quantity recipe in an easy to shop manner? What if I went to my local Montana Bread Company and found a great turkey, havarti cheese and roasted red pepper club sandwich recipe ready to pick up with my hearty white bread bole (round loaf of bread in which you simply layer the ingredients then slice as you would a pie)? What if the nail place which is next to a grocery store also had recipe- dinner ideas to grab as soon as your nails had dried? Our fingernails and toes might look more attractive more of the time. And while we just talked about recipes, I saw some good-looking recipe ideas on milehimama.com and look at the huge potential cost savings. Here in Richmond we had a big Nascar race this week-end. What if the same 100,000 people in attendance, saved money and could attend more races by firing up their home-cooking engines?

De-Skunking a Dog- Success is in the Recipe

2010-09-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

Poor Rosie. Apparently late Saturday night she tried to play a little too rough with a skunk. So Sunday, I looked on the internet for a cure and found a simple recipe of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and liquid soap and it worked! The success was in the recipe and Rosie liked the extra attention. It is amazing the wonderful food recipes you can also find on the internet- best chicken divan, easiest chicken divan, Canyon Ranch Turkey Meatloaf, P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps etc. So finding recipes should not be a problem. Finding the co-op group takes more work and determination. I am looking to form a new co-op myself as I have stayed out due to my kitchen rehab, but I am now ready to go and I might have a group at work with 2 cooks being Dads! One has a wife who runs a catering business so it is up to the husband to cook dinner for the family and he is intrigued with the idea of cooking only once for the week. Be on the look-out at school, church, work, neighborhood, and fitness center to find 3 other families looking for a planned answer to what's for dinner. Recipes are the easy part.

"Families Team Up To Improve Health"

2010-08-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

That is one of today's headlines on the front page of the Richmond Times Dispatch. This is precisely why families need to THINK out of the box and not EAT out of the box, about the technique of putting a home-cooked meal on the dinner table. Try the cooking co-op method!!! The story follows a father and son, both overweight, working out together. "They are winning their battles because they work together as families." "When a parent and child work out together, the attitude changes...This is what we need to do, what the whole family needs to do," says Dr. Madge Zacharias, a board-certified pediatric physician. "It becomes a team approach. It fosters positive benefits for the family and builds family memories." "Families that make changes together are more effective," says Dr. Edmond Wicham, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University. "It's important that the parent is role-modeling rather than just telling a child what to do. The article goes on to say, "Life changes are at the heart of weight loss. Zacharias has other weight-loss tips:...Have a structure to meals." So cook for a night, and eat natural foods for a week!

Duty Calls

2010-08-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Here's the definition of duty: 1) That which one is morally or legally bound to do: obligation. 2) Action or conduct required of one's position. ---Syn. 1) Duty, obligation, and responsibility denote an action that one is bound to perform. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said "... life is action and passion." So as we begin to think about fall and going back to school, think about action that can change your life. If you ate more meals at home with your family and friends, would you eat more natural foods as opposed to processed foods saving more money that could instead go to pay down debt or go into home repairs? Are you passionate about saving money, stress and calories? Then for the first time try a cooking co-op the month of September. Cooking co-op is action, obligation, and responsibility. But so is any sport. The thrill of victory is a home-cooked meal on your very own table. Duty is calling us to action- develope that action side of your nature!

Try This to Help Our Nations's Obesity Rate

2010-08-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

A new report confirms the obvious: America's obesity rate has increased. In 1991, no state had an adult obesity rate above 20%. Now only Colorado is the only state to have less than 20% adults that are overweight. Nine of the states with the highest obesity rates are in the south. Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and inactivity all track together. More than 1/3 of children ages 10-17 are overweight. The poor and less educated have higher obesity rates. States have answered by passing soda taxes, laws on nutrition labeling etc. How about advertising and encouraging the use of cooking co-ops in the work place, neighborhoods, churchs? At sporting events, it's fun to see and participate in "the wave" as different sections of the stadium take turns standing up. If we want to get America moving in a healthier direction, let's start a cooking co-op 'Wave."

"The Power of a Gentle Nudge"

2010-08-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is the title of the lead article in the personal journal section of the Wall Street Journal back in May. A study conducted by Stanford University showed that "... small amounts of social support, ranging from friends who encourage each other by email to occasional meetings with a fitness counselor, can produce large and lasting gains against one of America's biggest health problems- physical inactivity...Even many of the nation's most committed excercisers have trouble doing it on their own..35% to 40% of Americans...prefer to work out in groups. Like alcoholics who can stay sober only with the help of 12 step meetings, these athletes owe their high levels of fitness to running, cyling or swimming clubs." Here in Richmond, many runners and bikers benefit from runs and bike trips organized by various groups. The power of a gentle nudge, by being part of Team Cooking Co-Op, is eating more natural food, as opposed to processed food at a fraction of the cost and enjoying more time around the dinner table with family and friends. Livestrong? How about Cook2livestrong?

Communion

2010-08-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

Had a discussion on communion yesterday and I realized in eating bread and drinking wine at the Lord's Supper, we are bringing into our bodies and souls nurishment. And it is of utmost importance the quality of what and how we bring that nurishment into our bodies and souls. Here are some quotes from Jeffrey Meyers about communion and family meals: "They (children) begin to learn very early what is the meaning and significance of the family meal, and they learn how to behave in accordance with that significance...We congregate around food, not just for nourishment but also for social reasons. Families unite around the table. Friendships are formed and cultivated at meals. Elaborate social rituals develope to set apart common meals and to facilitate fellowship. We live to eat and eating structures are common life. This is how God made us." Cooking co-op brings quality food (less processed food), gives you the structure to cook one night and eat for a week and perhaps we would all learn better behavior!

Cook This Chicken Once A Week

2010-07-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Best way to learn- when you taste something delicious ask how they did it. Jeannie is a great cook and has the incredible gift of hospitality. She treated me to the best lunch. First, a sliced chicken sandwich on a croissant roll. The chicken was very moist- here's how she did it. Buy split chicken breasts and cook with the bones and skin . Let the chicken get to room temperature, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Put chicken in pan with some water. Bake 3 breasts for 40 minutes @ 400. Remove chicken, cover with foil and 2 towels to keep the steam in. Let cool, then remove skin and bones and slice. Use for sandwiches instead of deli meat, chicken salad, pasta ...good-tasting, better for you than processed meats and a great cost-saving protein to have on hand. Try Jeannie's yummy and colorful salad: salad greens, shredded red cabbage, corn and canned shoestring beets with your favorite dressing. All this topped off with peppermint ice cream and home-made sugar cookies. Priceless!

Co-Op Lessons from State Tennis Competition

2010-07-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

My 3.5 tennis team went to Newport News this week-end to compete in the USTA tennis districts and I learned some valuable lessons. One) I thought I was the only one who made mistakes - I found out everybody, even the 4.5 ranked players make mistakes. Are you holding off starting your cooking co-op worried you might make a terrible dish? The fire truck has already showed up at my house, but you might discover a new out-of-this world recipe too. And two) I could not believe all the ankle and knee braces I saw- that includes me. But despite these impediments, 500 matches of tennis were played. Are you letting an active schedule impede your forming an amazing cooking co-op? I had the priviledge of spending time this week-end with 9 incredibly talented women- playing, laughing, learning and savoring the most gorgeous tennis racquet cupcakes ever created. After coming in second in our bracket, the reward was a night at Virginia Beach. Thank you Kara Butler! Quit worrying about mistakes and impediments. The savings of cooking co-op could give you a week at the beach.

Google Cooking Co-Op

2010-07-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

See what comes up. The NY Times article "Saving Time and Stress With Cooking Co-Ops" has created quite a "stir." I particularly liked Jan Cho's blog: "Every step to eating well takes time. From planning the menu and choosing recipes to shopping for ingredients... I love the idea of eating well and broadening your palate in less time, with less stress, and being neighborly while you're at it." So doesn't this economic environment present a great opportunity to get going on saving money and consuming fewer calories by eating better? You and your fellow co-oppers will be hooked the first week you see prepared meals ready to be pulled out of your refrig. at a moments notice (review my helpful resources tab and click on the slideshow) and ready to eat in 5 minutes with the help of your microwave. Invest in yourself, your family and your own kitchen.

John Adams and the Importance of Dinner

2010-07-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

David McCullough shares this story in his book "John Adams": The Jay Treaty was hotly debated- the French Revolution had begun- side with the British or the French?- and Adams told Abigail he was fearful the Constitution could not stand "... I see nothing but a dissolution of government and immediate war." At this point Adams had known Washington approx. 20 years! During this turmoil, President Washington invited John Adams to dine alone. "He detained me there 'til nine o'clock and was never more frank and open about politics. I find his opinions and sentiments are more like mine than I ever knew before, respecting England and France and our American parties." Sit down for dinner and have "table talk" with friends and family and see what you discover!

Cooking Co-Op and the New York Times

2010-06-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

Be sure to read the article in this week's NY Times, "Saving Time and Stress with Cooking Co-Op":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/dining/23coop.html. This is why I am so passionate about cooking co-op. I truly believe this movement could change the world. Cooking co-op is a way to make natural foods as opposed to processed foods affordably available to the average family. I am doing some "detective" work to find out what" at risk "children are doing/ not doing for meals. I suspect fast food plays too big a part in there lives. In Parachute, CO a 13 yr. old was invited to a friend's home for a good home-cooked meal. When asked if she would like some salad, she asked- what's salad? English was not her second language but apparently heathy meals

are in short supply in this girl's home. What if it became the rage in this country to see how much more fun you could have while saving oodles of money with family dinners in your own home - cooking co-op style?

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-21T05:36:00.000-07:00

Isn't part of yesterday's celebration with food? It is important that Dad puts family mealtime as a high priority- if need be, write down the time of a family meal- it is an important appointment. My husband is a very good father and he encourages me to not let down my guard of that precious time of day. One Dad I know, lost his father at an early age. He cherished the memories of his family mealtimes and despite both sons playing demanding and time consuming high school sports, they had a family mealtime most every night- some nights it was at 8pm. And nobody could be excused from the table for 45 minutes. They started with the first period and wanted to hear about each son's entire day. Both boys were good students and graduated from Wake Forest University. Willie Lanier's father invested time in coming home after work and making those home-made rolls while listening to Guy Lombardo. Carve out time to celebrate the day together!

Two Dreams Come True

2010-06-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

No, not sailing around the world, but as I blog, my kitchen is being demolished- a kitchen I am creating- not one someone else picked out. More on that later. And my mixed USTA tennis team won the state districts this week-end and will compete in August at the regionals in College Park, MD. Warming the bench is exhausting and I am just fortunate to have my name on the roster but watching such competitive tennis was inspiring and gave me a desire to raise my game. I couldn't wait for 5:30 am tennis indoors today- I stepped on the court focused and ready to practice what I watched. Came home and did sit-ups and push ups- at least I can practice with my team to help get them ready for regionals. This team has an unbelievable captain- selfless and comes up with perfect line-ups. Brutal honesty helped craft our victories this week-end- it did not feel good being on the short end of the talent stick. But I love the results! In cooking co-op, youv'e got to pick your winning team- maybe some better cooks on the roster but your cooking will be elevated the first time someone calls to rave about your dinner. And you need to be honest- say it nicely- that dinner just did not work for our family. Miracles do happen!

Willie Lanier-Pro Football Hall of Fame-Family Dinners

2010-06-07T05:33:00.000-07:00

Willie Lanier won Super Bowl IV with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1969. He was the first black middle linebacker in pro football history and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. Willie and I had worked in the same office - we had talked a lot about sports, but I had never asked about his early years. So I called Willie to find out what his family did for dinner. He had 3 other brothers and sisters, so there were 6 at the dinner table at 6 pm. His Dad was almost as good a cook as his Mom- "He made the best hot rolls...umm..hot rolls and butter and the house smelled so good. My Mom's favorite meal was navy bean soup with ham. From a very age, we all sat down to eat. It was part of our culture...Ginny I hadn't thought about this in a while...there was a song by Guy Labardo and his Royal Canadians that came on TV every night (he hummed the tune for me) - even in high school, we had dinner together...didn't talk much about football, we just shared ...seems simple but family dinner can get confusing with people in motion...it mean't something more than you realized...just to have the smell of those rolls again...think of the young people today who have no idea how fresh-baked rolls smell." For Willie, dinner was more than mealtime.

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day and a reminder to say thank you to the men and women in service. And a time to remember those who fought throughout our history for freedom. Yesterday, after church, we packed a picnic and drove to Westover Plantation between Richmond and Williamsburg- best kept secret in this area. The home is beautiful and the view of the James River is breath-taking. Thanks to cooking co-op, I had an easy family favorite to quickly put together-Double Decker Turkey, Bacon and Havarti cheese sandwiches(see youvegotsupper for the recipe). I rounded out the meal with a marinated bean salad(thank you Costco), slices of watermelon, chips and cupcakes. Especially delicious eating outside in such a beautiful setting. This area is part of the cradle of our nations history as it is very close to Jamestown. So we stopped at many of the hisorical markers on the way back. My 21 yr. old daughter would read as the 14 yr. old son listened. We overshot Nathaniel Bacon's marker- perhaps because I asked nicely and perhaps because we just had bacon in our club sandwich- my husband turned around and we learned about Bacon's Rebellion. History and food go well together!

The Plan

2010-05-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

Do you wake up one morning and then decide to leave the next day for your summer vacation? I don't think so. You need to plan. I recently saw this quote: " A fool with a plan is more effective than a genius with no plan. " I took that to heart as I recently was asked to play 2 singles tennis USTA matches- first I laughed as I am no young "whipper snapper" but then I came up with a plan- play on clay which slows down the hard fast strokes of the younger players and lob to their back-hand. There were times it did not look like it was working but I stuck with the plan and won both singles matches against better players than myself. That is what I like about cooking co-op - usually I have 1-2 months of menues planned with the help of others so it is easier to shop and cheaper since there are fewer left overs. We eat more natural food and less processed food when we have a plan for dinner. You need to plan. Nutritionists and weight programs encourage the same thing - plan. So one big topic at your dinner table tonight could be guess what- not who- is coming for dinner- guess each family members favorite meal and put it on the calendar.

Memories

2010-05-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

That's what you are creating when you set aside time for family mealtime. Instead of junking my old breakfast table, I found a talented mom to creatively and colorfully repaint the 21 year old table which was the setting to hear many family discussions. Food is the WD-40 which loosens the jawbones and it's amazing what you can find out. "Hum...you said earlier you did not have much homework but now I am hearing about 2 big tests tomorrow." We had asked to hear all about the prom, but only sitting at that table, eating food did we hear how our daughter got home from the prom- by canoe. The dad(a lawyer) insisted they wear life vests. I am not a gourmet cook. I just love cooking co-op because it helps me do the things I want to do- take time out to hear the stories and create memories.

Rosie the Riveter

2010-05-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

What did you enjoy most about Mother's Day? Having your family together and enjoying a good meal you did not have to plan, cook, or clean up? With cooking co-op, you enjoy the same benefits of Mother's Day week after week. How expensive and what type of car would we be driving today without Ford's invention of the assembly line? Cooking co-op is a type of assembly line. WE CAN DO IT! That was on the WWII poster of "Rosie the Riveter." As the American men enlisted, our government appealed to the women to "man" the assembly lines to produce goods vital for victory in the war. Women worked in aircraft assembly plants, operated heavy construction machinery, worked in lumber and steel mills etc. Our troops are fighting a war in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have a war right here to fight...obesity and the need to eat natural foods verses processed foods... and we are fighting for our national health. And as many of us found this week-end, there is so much more to mealtime. Children that eat 4 or more meals/week with their families are better students and less involved in risky behavior. In part because of Norman Rockwell's cover, America fell in love with "Rosie" and the Saturday Evening Post circulation almost doubled. These women, young and old of all races working during WWII, took pride in the fact they were helping to win a war. Yes it takes effort to fix a home-cooked meal but with cooking co-op we are forming an assembly line to win an important battle. As women did in WWII, let's step up to the "plate."

More Data- The Importance of Family Meals

2010-05-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Great article May 1 in WSJ-" Our Big Problem" by Anthony Daniels, a British physician. "Obesity is spreading- and eating away at America's economy and health...For most of the population, family meals are a ritual of the past:36% of British children never eat a meal at a table with another member of the family or household...In the homes of the poor,the unemployed and the single parents that I used to visit as a doctor, I would find no evidence of cooking ever having been done there...There was not even a table to eat at: an absence that was not the consequence of raw poverty, since the flat- screen television would have been large enough, turned horizontal, to serve as a dining table...Family and social meals are among the most powerful teachers of self-control in the human repertoire...It is hardly surprising that those who do not experience family or social meals early in life exhibit the lack of self-control that underlies so much modern social pathology in the midst of plenty." The reason we, as a society are not cooking boils down to a lack of planning and our own lack of discipline or method of practice. A doctor sets up a practice. Go set up a cooking co-op practice!

The Bottom Line

2010-04-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

Cooking Co-Op makes natural foods, as opposed to processed foods, affordably available to the average person. Case in point. Remember a few weeks ago, I picked up a fast food fried chicken dinner for my 6 foot tall 14 year old son- $14.48. Well, this week I fixed him oven fried chicken and he said thank you! So the 3 of us had oven fried chicken, Trader Joe's yummy vegetable fried rice and a salad for the same cost. Cheaper and better quality- and we have some left overs. Win, win, win! The ball is in your court.

School Cafeteria Food- Worse Than I Thought

2010-04-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

I spoke with a veteran school cafeteria employee. What Jamie Oliver described at the school cafeteria in Huntington, WVA is also true right here in Richmond! The school board made the decision to switch suppliers to save money- new supplier brings in even more processed food. She shared how they serve lots of pizza, chicken nuggets, fried foods, breaded foods. When I asked about salads, the teachers get most of the salads- not a lot of demand from the kids for salads. She said some of the hotdogs look green and she would not touch them! Friday is her favorite day as there are fewer items to prepare. I asked her wouldn't it make more sense to put higher quality in the food and have less choice? Remember GM went bankrupt having too many models. But then there is bureaucracy. We can put a man on the moon but we can't figure out healthier meals in the school? When I grew up, there was no choice- what you see is what you get. When you go to someone's home for dinner, you eat what is served. The importance of cooking co-op is to help you avoid the fast food lane- our kids already get too much processed food at school! Driving schools often show gruesome crashes to encourage safety. Parents and children alike need to see gruesome clogged arteries and other health problems that have resulted from poor eating habits. So check out the home page of my web site and come to my talks on "Food Revolution- Cooking Co-Op Style." We can do better!

The Gift

2010-04-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 12th marked my 30th year of marriage. What a trip and what a blessing! So as I thought of what gift I could give my husband and having blogged about a food revolution(change), I gave him a membership to a 10 week program run by a Health Institute here in Richmond. He has been an avid runner since college. This health institute will work with him in helping him live an even healthier lifestyle concerning food and excercise. I sure hope so because I would like for him to be around another 30 years. So my co-op cooking will need to adapt to a new program- not a problem. I lost 10 lbs. on a nationally recognized weight-loss plan and used co-op cooking to help. Becky Tirabassi in her Change Your Life newsletter talks about the need to have..." courage to change the areas of our lives that are stagnant." And if we..."need something to excite us...start doing something that is healthy." Spring is here, flowers and plants are growing, not stagnating. Start a new journey with me. I will be teaching classes in May and June here in the Richmond area- more to follow.

Don't Stop Believing...Hold On To That Feeling...

2010-04-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

I grew up in Chapel Hill, NC - home of the North Carolina Tarheels - March Madness and college basketball are big events! And last nights championship game was spectacular with Duke narrowly defeating the underdog Butler. Both teams exhibited what hours and hours of detailed practice can produce. But how many of those players would have spent the same hours of practice without being part of a team and having a coach that pre-planned the practice time often minute by minute? Samuel Johnson in the 1700's talked about private duties( activities done without anybody watching- duties such as cooking). The reason I am encouraging you to try something new to get dinner on the table is because I have found that unless I am on a cooking team, holding me accountable to dinner delivery, I don't shop and plan my meals. True confession- this week as I took a week off my cooking co-op routine I ended up buying fried chicken, biscuits and french fries for my begging 14 year old, 6 ft. basketball player to the tune of $14.48 - that was an air ball! Take a risk and try something new- the adventure of working together as a family and with friends to put a special ,healthier and more affordable dinner on the table. You've got to believe you can be #1- envision the feeling of a less stressful mealtime!

Food Revolution- Cooking Co-Op Style

2010-03-29T04:55:00.000-07:00

In my DVD, I call for a food revolution. Then Oprah on her Food 101 show calls for a food revolution. And now we have a reality show on Friday nights, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution."The British chef goes to Huntington, W.Va to encourage people to choose fresh produce over processed foods. It is astounding to see school children eat pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch and when asked what they had for dinner- chicken fingers! No wonder the Center for Disease Control named Huntinton, W.Va our country's unhealthiest city. And what is needed is a system where we band together to cook affordable, healthier meals. By cooking in quantity one night a week, you can shop more efficiently, enjoy the fruits of yours and others creativity, save 1 1/2 -2 hours a week(to exercise), all with a social twist getting to spend a little more time with neighbors, co-workers and friends. All that is needed is for this revolutionary way of enjoying dinner to become as fashionable as eating out. How much $$$, calories, fuel could be saved? Here in Richmond, Patrick Henry said, "... give me liberty, or give me death." Come on America- let's show the Brits a cooking co-op tea party!

Oprah and Food 101

2010-03-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

Oprah repeated her Food 101 this week in which Michael Polland shares his food rules(google: Michael Pollan's 'Food Rules': Tips for Eating Healthily and see the video). In fact Oprah said,"... we need a food revolution." And we were given great information on food nutrition. But the show did not answer 2 big problems. How do we find the time to plan, shop, cook and clean up every night of the week? And how about the expense of eating meat, fruits and vegetables? The answer to time, expense and food revolution is cooking co-op! Get with fellow co-oppers who want to cook more nutritious meals. Then google:Canyon Ranch recipes etc. and get started. In several of my cooking co-ops we had one meatless dinner every week. During the Depression, pot luck dinners were started as an answer to the problems of that day. During these challenging times, let's start a wave of cooking co-op and improve our lives with better nutrition and more table talk with family and friends at a fraction of the cost of fast food and eating out!

"The Weight of the World"

2010-03-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

In the February issue of Reader's Digest, this article , from the World Health Organization reports that more people worldwide now die from being overweight and obese than from being underweight. The country most aware of the dangers of obesity? Not U.S- it's Finland! Reread my blog on Aug. 3rd- Good Morning Richmond. In the 1970's, Finland had the most # of deaths from heart disease but a public health campaign of doctors, grocery stores etc. encouraged whole towns to change their eating, excercise and smoking habits. Towns actually competed for prizes based on how many people stopped smoking or lowered their cholesterol and/or weight. Finland cut heart disease deaths in the work force by 80% over the last 30 years and added almost 10 years of life-expectancy. What if we had community-based incentives to get back to the family dinner table- because through cooking co-op you can save calories, costs, and stress. Have you noticed your food costs creeping up? Many today are changing their spending habits. Go one step further- give cooking co-op a chance.

Great Depression Cooking with Clara

2010-03-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

I highly recommend the YouTube clips of Great Depression Cooking with Clara. I have been using more olive oil as that could be one secret to Clara's longevity( now 94 years old). Ten years ago, I took my 4 yr. old son to visit my 104 yr. old client. She grew up in Washington, DC, and remembered her father taking her to a parade featuring the Wright Brothers and their plane! She lived in an apartment with no back yard, so she and her brother played with Quinton Roosevelt at the White House! She shared her secret to longevity- adapt. Be willing to adapt to change. Potluck suppers started during the depression. Cooking co-op is an adaptation of potluck suppers which allows you to save by buying in bulk and cooking in larger batches. Common meals still include chili, mac and cheese and soups as they are easy to make and much cheaper(and healthier) than fast food. This is the time to try a new system for getting a home-cooked dinner on the table during this period of economic slow-down and rising food prices. Bring your creativity to the dinner table. Necessity is the mother of invention. New foods introduced during the Depression:Nestle's Chocolate Chips, Toll House Cookies, Kraft Mac and Cheese,Ritz Crackers, Bisquick,Kool-Aid, and Krispy Kreme Donuts. So much we can learn from history.

Serve!

2010-02-22T04:30:00.000-08:00

Having just come back from 5:30am tennis, I am reminded of the importance of the serve. The serve gets the game going and it also sets the tone for the point. Last week, as I thought about the YouTube show on Good Table Manners(1951) by Coronet, I read Phil.2:4, "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." I realized that the family in the show were serving "family- style" with serving dishes which required patience to wait for your turn to get the food and courtesy. I had recently been impatient when the Heinz 57 was not passed to me quickly. I have not been using serving platters and I see some important lessons serving dishes can teach all of us. Serving dishes can be very pretty and the platters can be easy to put in the dishwasher. Plus with cooking co-op, if you use pyrex dishes, you can reheat your food then just set it on the table with a hot pad and pass the meat, please. Serving the food"family-style" is a daily reminder to look out for the interests of others. These daily details are important to practice- just ask the Olympic athletes- and go serve!

Reformation of Manners III

2010-02-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

Good manners lead to more friends or so says Judi the Manners Lady. It is amazing what you can find on YouTube. The most appropriate for my 14 year old son is Good Table Manners(1951) and watch the full 10 min. version- it stresses courtesy, consideration of others and common sense. Humm... do lack of manners lead to a lack of consideration for others? Are we "machines" that just need to refuel? If your family could use a tune up of table manners, also watch Judi the Manners Lady and there is a good 10 minute Emily Post clip. Good manners will help slow down the in-take of food, enhance the table talk, and improve digestion. If, as a nation, we really want to lower childhood obesity, it starts with having 4 or more family meals a week. Make this "private duty" a priviledge. Stand back and let's see what ills this reformation of manners can alleviate.

5:30 am Tennis- All Systems are Go!

2010-02-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

There were plenty of good reasons not to play this a.m.- 14 degree temperature, ice and snow on roads, Super Bowl. But Keith said we are playing and 12 men and women showed up to play. What a victory just being there and what a gorgeous sight driving back home and seeing the sun coming up over a field of snow. What a great start to the week! In the WSJ, an ex-Marine, corporal Hector Delgado, gave a fitness tip:"Though (he) believes a person's diet is more important than any excercise routine, he says camaraderie is the best way to get results in the gym. A workout partner, or group, can push and motivate you on a lazy day." No way I on my own would have gotten up to excercise this a.m. without those tennis partners. And that is why I like cooking co-op. I need cooking co-oppers to help push and motivate me on those lazy days to go ahead and cook an affordable, healthy meal, enjoy less stress at dinner time, enjoy my family more and the camaraderie is just as important in cooking as in an excercise routine. And with cooking co-op you address your diet and find the time to excercise(since you save time by cooking in quantity). Get together your own group and enjoy the results!

Reformation of Manners II

2010-02-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

William Wilberforce, by studying the root of social problems, thought that if the manners(morals) of England could be reformed, then crime, poverty and other problems would decline. Wilberforce went on to say,"...the true duty of every man is to promote the happiness of his fellow-creatures to the utmost of his power." Reread my blogs- Oct.19th and Aug. 24th. For "Sully" Sullenberger, "...it was his upbringing...his sense of integrity" that helped him safely land a US Airways plane on the Hudson River. The name of the book on him-"Highest Duty:My Search for what Really Matters." Samuel Johnson, English writer who helped set the stage for Wilberforce, thought that duties, not rights were at the core of ethics. "Almost all the miseries of life, almost all the wickedness that infects society, and almost all the distrsses that affect mankind, are the consequences of some defect in private duties. Likewise, all the joys of this world may be attributed to the happiness of hearth and home." What if ...couples/family/friends sat down for 30 mins. 4 times a week to enjoy a meal together- no answering phones or e-mails? What if...Richmond Mayer Jones, Virginia Governor McDonnell, and President Obama did the same? And what if ...we all invited a friend or adversary into our homes to discuss the issues of the day? That would be a Reformation of Manners for our times.

Reformation of Manners

2010-01-25T06:41:00.000-08:00

"God has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the Slave Trade and the reformation of manners." The words of William Wilberforce, 1787. Today in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Lillie Estes, a community strategist, writes "A treatise on why poverty has not been eliminated." She states, "Poverty exists because opportunities are missed or denied. When opportunities are missed,it usually happens because of individual shortcomings and/or failures...Today's economy affords us the opportunity to re-do our strategy, especially when seeking to build new communities or tranform old ones. At the foundation of that process is education. Tied intrinsically to all of that are our values, our standards, our culture, our housing and our economy... education is the new global currency... The most important thing that we can do going forward is NOT to continue to make the same mistakes of the past. We must commit sincerely to hear and listen to all voices in the room...We can do this, Richmond region. All we need is the relevant experience in the room." Lillie, I could not agree with you more. History shows us the way. Wilberforce worked from 1787-1833 when England abolished slavery within 3 days of his death. He realized that to end slavery -moral, political and religious reform was necessary. The decay of both public and private virtue in England laid the groundwork to the American Revolution and the need for Patrick Henry, here at St. Johns Church to proclaim "Give me Liberty or give me Death." Eric Metaxas stated: "What Wilberforce vanquished was something even worse than slavery...He vanquished the very mind-set that made slavery acceptable and allowed it to survive and thrive for millennia." The original Webster's dictionary defines manners-behavior;conduct;course of life;in a moral sense. Wilberforce used manners to encourage social conscience. Good manners therefore bring the virtues of charity and civility. So let's have a change of mind-set and manners right here in Richmond. Business leaders, politicians, lawyers, bankers and families- how can any ills in society be addressed when we don't sit down to the dinner table and reflect on the day? More to come. And Lillie, I hope to have the opportunity to meet you.

Be Determined and Straight-Forward

2010-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

The last 6 months I had gotten out of the one-day-a week 5:30am tennis habit. For two years, I had played mixed tennis @ 5:30- 7am every Weds. and since Tues. is mynight2cook, I headed into work having two check marks DONE! I was so pumped up and on such a roll- I felt nothing was too hard for me to accomplish. The last 6 months, no one took the reins and got us organized. Late yesterday, I got a call that Keith was starting up a new Monday 5:30am tennis challenge. I signed up, showed up and he laid out the rules this morning- be there or get a sub/ 5 minute warm up/play 9 games with each partner(he assigns) for a total of 27/ pay $8 for prizes. It's a tennis boot camp and if you oops on the alarm clock, Keith will let you know his displeasure. I had missed this aspect of my week these last 6 months but none of us could get it together like Keith. I am so glad to have this spark of fun back in my life. To get a cooking co-op going to save money and free up time for excercise, be determined and get your group up and running now. Be straight forward on meals that work and those that do not. Right now, my group is cooking light on the calories. I owe Keith a dinner and a big thank you.

Happy Meals-Tips from Living on the Edge

2010-01-11T05:52:00.000-08:00

I listened this week to "How to Raise Positive Kids in a Negative World" by Chip Ingram who has a broadcast ministry,Living on the Edge. I found out that 40% of meals sold at McDonald's are "Happy Meals." O.K.- so we are looking for more than fuel to feed us. Chip talked about ways to bond with kids(and I might add spouses). Scheduled time is vital. Men especially need to write down Monday breakfast with family then Mon.-Weds.- Friday 6:00 pm family dinner. That way they can truthfully say I already have a meeting at that time- what about Tues? Chip stressed the importance of eating dinner together! At a family meal (Happy Meal?), you are giving your children and spouse focused attention. Turn off the TV and while eating, listen to each other, give eye contact, follow up with questions. Chip calls that "...putting money in the relational bank." Then #1 on Chip's list to develope communication with your family is eating dinner together. What are you modeling? It's more important to have those 4 or more family meals a week than sports practices etc. Let your kids and spouses know- we eat as a family and this is what matters most. "You find out more about a man by listening to his conversation than by looking at a house he has built."- C.S. Lewis.

"The Magic of the Family Meal"

2010-01-04T05:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a must read article form Time Magazine by Nancy Gibbs to get your year off on the right footing. "...there is something about a shared meal--not some holiday blowout, not once in a while but regularly, reliably-that anchors a family even on nights when the food is fast and the talk is cheap and everyone has someplace they'd rather be. And on those evenings when the mood is right and the family lingers, caught up in an idea or an argument explored in a shared safe place where no one is stupid or shy or ashamed, you get a glimpse of the power of this habit and why social scientists say such communion acts as a kind of vaccine, protecting kids from all manner of harm." Robin Fox, an anthropologist at Rutgers University talked about "the mysterious way that family dinner engraves our souls. A meal is about civilizing children. It's about teaching them to be a member of their culture." The benefits of 4 or more family meals/week are well documented. If this has been a desire of your heart but you just can't execute, try cooking co-op by roping in 3 more families. Try it for one month and see what magic family meals can bring to your soul. It only gets better with practice.

Make It A Cooking Co-Op New Year

2009-12-28T04:57:00.000-08:00

Two thoughts here at the end of the year. For my Christmas Day meal, I used new recipes from 2 of my fellow co-opper's and made full throttle lasagna and vegetarian lasagna. It took time to assemble all the pieces but it was so worth it. The real joy was sitting around a candlelit dining room table enjoying my family with conversation and laughs. Desert was special as we also celebrated my 2nd daughter's 21st birthday! Keep the joy of celebration, candlelight, and conversation going throughout the year with family meals- cooking co-op can help get those meals on the table. At church yesterday, a single mom shared how excited she was to at age 27 have made her first pie- so proud she put a picture of her pie on her face book. As we begin a new year, my resolve is to continue to encourage and help unlock the how to's of planning and cooking meals. Many in our midst have not learned the joys of cooking. So let's band together, teach cooking classes in our neighborhood, offices, churches to create a better community. And cooking co-op is one way to put spurs on a New Year's Resolution to have less stress and save money by eating dinner in your own home. Write down this goal- make it happen!

A Christmas Story

2009-12-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

Right here in Mechanicsville, VA read about this Christmas miracle: richmondtimesdispatch/news/columist/Dec.18 written by Bill Lohmann whom I got to know as he came to my home to do the article in February on my years in a cooking co-op. Read the entire story of 300-400 people all coming together in 1 week for a grass-roots extreme makeover while 10-year-old Alyssa Doane(who has cystic fibrosis) and her family were sent to Disney World in Florida by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This is a must read! As we drove home last night at 1 am from Dulles airport bringing back our daughter who has been studying in Scotland for almost 4 months, she shared with us how people in a" socialist "country are not very giving- they don't give tips and don't seem concerned for the welfare of others. This Christmas story highlights a family saddled with large medical bills and yet the community cares enough to give this family a "new" home and a block party upon their return with police directing traffic of the 100's of well-wishers and the local band playing in their driveway. This is how our country is different- we are a giving people. Several years ago missionaries to Scotland shared how few families there eat meals together. Perhaps if parents can't selflessly give of their time for meals together, the children learn also not to give. As you enjoy your Christmas dinner, remember the importance and joy of giving special meals every week to your family. Christmas blessings to you and those you love!

The Costs of Not Cooking are Escalating

2009-12-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

A friend was shocked- one small, healthier dinner to go= $8.00( this from a "semi-fast-food" restaurant). Count on it- food costs will continue to rise! Why? People in the emerging nations are building roads, bridges and are getting money to buy more food than just 2 bowls of rice a day- more demand- higher costs. Then I read that Richmond may revive the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring to curb the costs associated with teen pregnancies. In the 1980's this program helped reduce teen pregnancies at one high school from 12 to 0. What do they help teach? Here's the list: citizenship education, parenting, ethical instruction, moral development, quality of life, and social values. Recent comments from teachers: "Ginny, high school kids today eat sandwiches- I don't think anybody knows how to plan and cook a balanced, hot meal anymore." "My worst students do not eat any meals together with their family- one does not eat and one orders pizza(this from 5th grade teacher)." What about "The Blind Side" wave? Get involved - help our families and schools understand the need and way to reduce financial and social costs now by reviving the family meal!

Remember Pearl Harbor

2009-12-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

In our paper today is an article about a WW2 veteran who survived those events. The great thing about having time set aside for dinner is the opportunity to discuss events in history that shaped

our country. The Richmond vet describes 354 planes flying over Pearl Harbor shooting at the men below and dropping bombs. See if everybody at the table knows where Pearl Harbor is and what would they do to seek safety. If parents are interested in history, their children will be interested also. Susan Dosier and Julua Rutland in their Discover Dinnertime cook book discuss how good conversation shapes the future of out country: "It's happended to more than one president. The Kennedy children were expected by their parents to come to the table every night and report on one current event. Teddy Roosevelt grew up listening to lively dinner discussions at his family's mealtime. Those conversations reportedly developed his passions for public affairs." I keep this quote on my wall at work: " I know of no way to know the future but by the past." - Patrick Henry. Give your family a crystal ball to the future by knowing the past.

"Cocooning"

2009-11-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

At least one money manager is looking to invest in companies benefiting from "cocooning"- families spending more time in their homes. That was what was so special about Thanksgiving vacation. My daughter working in NYC made it home Tuesday night - so we sit around the table as she eats her bowl of Brunswick stew and catch up. Then Thursday, stoking up the hearth of the home- the kitchen- as we all pitched in to get our Thanksgiving meal and table setting ready. Afterwards, sitting around the gas fireplace and talking, laughing, then talking long distance to our daughter studying in Scotland. Friday night all of huddled around our 1 working TV(other TV went on the blink Weds. night) watching Bolt- all of us laughing out loud at Rhino- the hampster. Saturday puttering around putting up Christmas decorations then coming back from the Hanover High School football district win to have another bowl of Brunswick stew. Keep Thanksgiving going throughout the year with special dinners created by you or your cooking co-op. Theirs no place like home- enjoy it with family and food!

Stress Light

2009-11-23T04:11:00.000-08:00

WSJ in an article "Are We Too Stressed To Reduce Our Stress" bring out the fact that overall stress levels in America are high and we are not doing enough about it due to a lack of time. I am a senior VP at a national brokerage firm, my husband works, I have 1 daughter working in NYC, 1 daughter at UVA and a 14 yr. old son who just finished football and today starts practice for basketball. My husband is a minister and we are very involved in church activities. Plus I am a die-hard USTA tennis player. We have a lot of balls up in the air, but we find time for a family dinner time on a regular basis. If you can cook every night and still enjoy that special time to celebrate the day with your family- perfect! But I need help cooking, planning, recipe searching etc. so for 22 years I have and still am a cooking co-op(supper swap) evangelist. If it's Tuesday, it's my night to cook, but if it's Wednesday, it's my night for a tennis clinic. Cooking co-op saves approx. 2 hours/week- read this web site. The best way to reduce stress is to get going and think of others- your family and cook extra for a family in need. As you sit at your Thanksgiving dinner, become determined to stress less, cook more and enjoy life more!

Cooking Co-Op and Courage

2009-11-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

Last week I read this: "Commit to acts of compassion that will alleviate distress and inspire courage, spirit, and hope." I zeroed in on the word courage and that word kept coming up. I saw part of "The Wizard of Oz". I always loved the cowardly lion singing "If I were King of the Forest." It turned out that all the lion really needed was a medal of honor. Then this morning I read in Becky Tirabassi's newsletter about "...courage to change the areas of our lives that are stagnant...the need for something to excite us...start doing something that is healthy." So here is the definition for courage: That quality of mind or spirit enabling one to meet danger or opposition with fearlessness, calmness, and firmness." There is a great deal of distress and stagnation centered around the dinner hour. And it takes COURAGE to try cooking co-op and face the internal fears of cooking in quantity, the fear of putting your cooking to the taste test, facing the opposition of ads saying let us cook for you, and the calmness and firmness to deal with the inevitable mishaps(firetruck arrives at my home after trying a new recipe). Joy is the medal you receive for cooking dinner-an outstanding act of service for your family!

Discover Dinnertime

2009-11-09T03:40:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity last week to go to Charlotte, NC and meet Susan Dosier, a former Southern Living Executive Food Editor. I came away with a gem of a cook book she and Julia Dowling Rutland(currently the Food and Entertaining Editor, Coastal Living) created as a guide to building family time around the table. Included with some unbelievably good-looking recipes are 8 good reasons to eat dinner with your family. 1) Your child will read better. 2) Good conversation shapes the future of our country. 3) Shared mealtimes give your family a unique identity. 4)Eating together may reduce children's behavioral problems. 5) Table time gives your children a regular time to talk to you-and you to them. 6) You're likely to eat more nutritious meals when you eat with someone else. 7) Preparing meals together teaches your kids to cook...and clean up. 8) There's no better time or place to teach good manners. At selective stores, I am packaging this cook book and my DVD with a green ribbon around it for Christmas gifts. Recipes Susan highlighted I can not wait to try with my co-op- Creamy Pecan Chicken and Slow Cooker Picante Pot Roast served with Quick Cheese Grits.

A Word About Kitchens

2009-10-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

This month 13 years ago, we moved into our home. And I still love my kitchen. You can see it in my DVD and in pictures on this web site especially if you look at the slide show on the helpful resources tab. This week as I was cooking my meal which had a lot of "moving" parts, I was thankful for it's modest size- any bigger and it would be too many steps from sink to stove top to refrig. And unlike many magazine kitchen photos- I do not have an island in the middle of my kitchen and I do not have a big hood over the cook top. I have a microwave with a fan over my gas cook top. An island can crowd and/or block your path to the needed item. When I recently asked a homeowner where she had her microwave(she instead had a beautiful wood vent over her cook top), she confessed it was in the utility room. It is so convenient to have the microwave right over the cook top and it is so perfect to have shelving above the microwave as that is where I keep my non-stick sprays, soy sauce, vinegar, worchester sauce etc. My countertops are white formica- not the expensive variety but they sure "pop" in pictures, slide show and my DVD. Small and affordable kitchens cook many a good meal. Easy does it!

Peak Fall Foliage= Brunswick Stew Time

2009-10-26T03:18:00.000-07:00

I delivered my Brunswick Stew to my new cooking co-op along with ham rolls and some home-made chocolate cake(my daughter came home from NYC and so while making her a surprise, I made an extra cake to share with my co-op). Brunswick stew is one of my easiest meals to make. But once again, I found it to be everyone's favorite- one husband said it was his favorite meal and the male gourmet cook in our co-op loved it. One mom was surprised how much her children enjoyed it. See the menu on the recipe tab and in my DVD "If It's Tuesday, It's My Night To Cook" I demonstrate the making of this recipe. It also helped that it was a cool, rainy day that I delivered my meal. Read the tab About Ginny and click the memorable moment in which I first received the best Brunswick Stew of my life from a soon to be cooking co-opper. Her recipe was wonderful but time-consuming so I simplified it. It's best to have 2 slow cookers and make 2 batches because you can give some away to someone with the flu and freeze the rest. It's easy to shop for as most of the ingredients come from the freezer section. So ladies and gents- start your engines..um..slow-cookers!

Resolution: Resolve to Perform What You Ought

2009-10-19T03:28:00.003-07:00

This week I read a fascinating article on US Airways Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703790404574469160016077646.

.html. And I also read a statement: " Character" and "Virtue" have been replaced by "Values". So what's the difference? Values implies a benefit but character and virtue implies something right and true. The title above is one of Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues which he wrote at age 20 as a plan for how he would live his life. Often I try to share the benefits of preparing and having dinner together as a family. Samuel Johnson talks of "private duties" leading to happiness. What if having regular mealtimes with your family-even if just husband and wife- is a duty? Jeffrey Zaslow in the above article said:"...it wasn't only his skills...that carried him in those tense moments over Manhattan. It was also his upbringing, his family bonds, his sense of integrity...Sulley's entire life led him safely to that river." The name of the book on Sully's journey-"Highest Duty:My Search for What Really Matters." Duty calls!

Resolution: Resolve to perform

2009-10-19T03:28:00.002-07:00

Resolution: Resolve to perform

2009-10-19T03:28:00.001-07:00

Resolution: Resolve to perform

2009-10-19T03:28:00.000-07:00

10th Cooking Co-Op in 22 Years

2009-10-12T03:44:00.000-07:00

Once you are hooked on the benefits of cooking co-op, just realize your first group will not last forever. A move to a new city interupted my first incredible co-op. My last group, which are featured in my DVD, changed as Rick's co-worker heard about the wonders of banding together to make dinnertime special and wanted in. I had wanted to see co-op formations at work as a way to get to know my co-workers better and to help more families answer the question: "What's for dinner?" When one group ends, do not look at it mournfully. Look at it as an opportunity for new recipes. My new co-op works like this: Kim and I cook every week. Then the gourmet cooks, Craig and Cynthia cook every other week and we brought in Maryanne and Kim to cook on the alternate week. We literally go home with the "bacon". After Kim's first week, she shared with me the benefits: Grocery bill was cut in half, children ate what the "friends" at work prepared, adults enjoyed more variety, less stress, and they found free time on the nights she was not cooking. After receiving 3 co-op dinners, Kim's very young daughter made the "friends" at work a gift- home-made chocolate cookies-better than bacon!

U-2, You Too Can Have Dinner With All The Elements

2009-10-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

What an incredible concert! As I was waiting for the concert to begin, I first was amazed by the staging and the creativity of the set - it had color, moving parts- impossible to describe. Then came Bono. Why do I think his incredible talent and presence on stage is one of the greatest of all time? He has substance- he cares about the crowd, he cares about those in Iran and throughout the world whose governments deny people freedom. The songs he sings have substance- look up the lyrics to Pride-One Man in the Name of Love, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Bono also sang Amazing Grace. These same elements make for incredible dinners! Be creative with your set- the table. Use color. Have a centerpiece. Light candles- have your own light show. Cooking co-op can help bring all the moving parts onto your table. Cooking co-op can also help your dinner to have substance- substantial quality. When you are cooking one night a week, you put extra effort into that meal vs. throwing something together at the last minute. Now multiply that by 4(4 is the perfect # for co-op cooking) and you have 4 dinners of substance. Play the music on low- it's a "Beautiful Day ".

There's No Place Like Home

2009-09-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

I had 2 sets of plans that were going to keep me away from home all day but both were cancelled due to rain. Instead I spent most of the day at home decluttering my home and watching football with my son and husband. As we were heating up our cooking co-op left overs for dinner, my husband said how the commercials have it wrong- the best celebrations are not done away from home but at home. Exactly! Instead of spending Saturday driving here and there, I spent the day " cocooning" at home and loved it. Some money managers today are investing in companies that benefit from"cocooning"- spending more time a home due to the economy. General Mills has had great earnings as we eat at home more and I would suspect the sale of slow cookers are jumping. So how much money did we save by eating our left over tuna cakes and pasta with shrimp instead of orderring pizza? $20-30? Here's what the first week of our new cooking co-op at work included( one out on vacation): Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon, shrimp and pasta, and my tuna cakes all with delicious sides. Let your home be that protective covering where you get your batteries recharged-enjoy dinner at home!