The Ideal Kitchen Environment

The goal of this article is to give you ideas for a healthy cooking experience. I find in America, people cook less at home. There is not much time to cook. Still, home cooking by your own hands for you and your loved ones will create a healthy family.

A consistent schedule of meals, eating together and sharing meal times will strengthen the relationships within your family. Try for a week turning off the television and not answering cell phones and land lines, not looking at computers or newspapers.

Looking at a meal well cooked, enjoying the flavours and the colours of your plate and sharing the day with others while eating will help the stomach to create stomach acid. A well digested meal will give you peace in your body, and your mind will follow.

When the kitchen is in order and is clear, the food will pick up that vibration. The person that eats it will feel it and absorb the feeling of order and clarity in their body. The preparation is very important.

Here are some thoughts and guidelines you might try:

• Order is the first law of the Universe.

• Cleanliness is fundamental.

• Wash pots and dishes as you use them.

• Have at least 3 different sizes of pots.

• You will also need a bamboo steamer, pickle maker, pressure cooker (stainless steel), and various Pyrex.

• Organize the kitchen with different areas. The things that you use the most, place closest to the stove. Separate the stove from the sink by dividing it with your cutting board.

• Have a separate area of the kitchen where you store the dry herbs (in brown paper bags) and spices (in glass jars).

• Another where you can store the grains in glass jars.

• Keep opened bottles of oil in the refrigerator if not used immediately.

When you are cooking, use a clean apron. Turn off the T.V. Do not answer the phone. Feed the dog and the cat before you start cooking.

I recommend that you eat a little snack so that you do not get hungry while you are cooking. You don’t want to eat all the food before you get a chance to serve it! I also recommend that you eat before you go grocery shopping.

If a meal is cooked without order, it will not have healing properties even if every food item is organic. In the ancient oriental temples, the cook was the doctor. Today, the person who does the cooking is also the healer of the family. If your spouse or children are sick, you can heal them with what you prepare; teas, foods, poultices (plasters) are the medicines.

If cooking for a person who is ill, all of the above rules of cooking should be followed strictly. The cooking needs to be done with not too much mixing and every food should be cooked separately.

The Fire in the stove creates the alchemy of cooking. You, the cook, are the alchemists. Also Air, Water and Earth are the other elements.

Before you start cooking dinner, make a menu. Ideally, make the menu for the week so that you know what is available at home in your pantry.

Each complete meal should consist of one grain, two vegetables – one long cooking vegetable (like carrots) and one short cooking vegetable (like kale) and some protein. The oil is added during the meal or at the end of the meal. Some pickles will help you to digest the meal so you won’t need digestive enzymes.

The presentation of the food is as important as the cooking. When we bring a plate to our table, the different foods have to distinguish from each other. It is a good idea to prepare a plate using all of the colors i.e. red beets, greens, yellow squash, orange carrots and white daikon (that would be a balanced vegetable dish). Use the foods to harmonize the plate with color, flavors and shapes.

Have fun!