How I Ditched the Cooking Stress

In early 2021, almost a full year into the pandemic, I, like many people, was really burnt out.

Having moved across the country, taken on the role of primary caregiver to a then 2.5 year old, I was left with almost zero inspiration. My emotional, spiritual and physical tanks were running on empty.

It was time for a major refill.

I started searching for ways I could reignite my passion, feel creative again and get some time to myself knowing my daughter would start full day school in the fall.

I immediately turned to the idea of nourishing myself and my family. It felt like the best place to start after such a horrific year.

Before I go on, a little something you should know.

Admittedly, I grew up on a lot of microwaved food. It just what was happening at that time. And while my mom was ahead of her time in terms of wanting to cook healthy food like quinoa and kale, she didn’t have the resources to turn these foods into something really delicious.

Once my daughter was born, I began thinking of experiences I wanted her to have that I didn’t. One of those was around cooking. I began to dream of time spent in the kitchen together, showing her how to make delicious and healthy food. I imagined her coming home from college one day saying, “Mom, will you make your famous fill-in-the-blank dish?” I wanted her to feel as though home was where she got nourished emotionally as well as physically with both play and food.

The problem was that cooking was never my forte. I didn’t always know what to do with the beautiful vegetables I would buy at the farmers market. Recipes would overwhelm me.

But more than anything, I hated the feeling of 5pm coming and me standing in my kitchen not knowing what the heck to make my family. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

I wanted cooking to feel easy. I wanted it to feel fun. I wanted to feel confident and relaxed when it came to feeding myself and my family healthy food.

Hence, my enrollment in the Culinary Nutrition program.

What is Culinary Nutrition? It’s about using ingredients in their whole and fresh form, and combining them to make delicious, healing recipes. With a culinary nutrition approach to learning about health, nutrition, cooking, and applying it all in the kitchen and on your dinner tables, the program combines nutritional theories, science and principles of traditional diets in culinary applications for optimal health.

The program is a complete and thorough online nutrition certification program, specializing in culinary nutrition.

The last few months have been outstanding.

Not only have I made dishes myself and my family have loved, but I have become more comfortable in the kitchen. I can open my now, very organized fridge, and come up with something to make for us. I can nourish my whole family with healthy, gluten free, dairy free, delicious food.

I have felt reinspired, reengaged and reignited in all the ways I wanted to feel. I’m excited to be sharing more recipes and food related content in the coming months.

In the meantime, if you are looking to expand your business as a health coach or a fitness professional, are looking to start a new career entirely or just looking for inspiration in your kitchen, I can’t recommend this program enough.

Find out more about the Culinary Nutrition program right here.

The best part is that the other day my daughter said, “Mommy, you are the best chef in the world.”

She said those exact words. I think my job here is done.

If you have any questions about the program, I am happy to answer them. Just write a comment below.

Love,
Erin