When I moved in with my husband I had to learn to cook. He is a meat and potatoes man so I really had no idea. Sometimes we ate meals in stages - potatoes ready first, then veggies and meat an hour later!
It felt like I just had a handle on some basic cooking and we had kids. Fussy kids. A whole other challenge for my limited skills! I waivered between home cooked and yes, dare I admit it, KD and Pizza Pops.
When the nest suddenly emptied six years ago I was in shell shock. I kept buying milk, we must need some! Along with a few other major life changes that year, I floundered with my cooking and eating habits. Never had I made so much "pre-made" stuff. I even stooped to frozen pizza! (Yuck). I gained weight and felt lousy.
As we settled into life as empty nesters I began to enjoy cooking more than I ever have in my life. I am blessed with a husband who will eat most foods and enjoys trying new flavours. He is a joy to cook for.
I joined Weight Watchers and also was introduced to new and amazing veggies through a local Organic Farm in my new neighbourhood. A healthy lifestyle was born.
I now cook everything from scratch and even have learned to can tomatoes to enjoy all year round. I can't imagine ever going back to eating pre-made, sodium laden plastic food. I will admit that around once a year the KD craving hits me and I cave in.
I remember one of our sons scouring our fridge and pantry a couple of years ago looking for "something good". He commented that we lived like "old people". Well, I wouldn't label us old yet but I know if we keep this up we will get to be old and healthy.
Here is a quote from the book "You Could Live a Long Time: Are you Ready" by Lindsay Green
Upon visiting his wife in a long-term-care facility the husband said "We are not living long, we are dying longer." That hit home for me. If we do live long we want that life to have as much quality as possible. A big part of that will come from the choices we make now.
