Blog.EmealsForYou

What Type of Cook Are You? – A Semi-Rant

March 19, 2009 at 9:51 am Leave a comment

An article in the New York Times caught my eye this week.  Written by Tara Parker-Pope it reported on studies done to see who influences our eating habits.  The premise being now that we are cooking more of our meals at home it is important to determine how to make those meals healthy for our families.  Ms Parker-Pope credits a study done by Cornell researchers in dividing the gatekeepers; those responsible for what we eat in our homes, into five categories of cooks:

Giving cooks: those enthusiastic about cooking; comfort food and home-baked goodies.

Methodical cooks: those following recipe and cookbooks.

Competitive cooks: those concerned with impressing us.

Healthy cooks: those who offer fresh and healthy ingredients but don’t necessarily worry about taste.

Innovative cooks: those who experiment with different ingredients, cooking methods and cuisines.

While each of these categories have their pluses and minuses; we must not lose sight of  the fact that our families have to eat the food we prepare.  It is a balancing act to provide healthy food that is appealing to our families all while maintaining a careful eye on the food budget.

Who among us hasn’t tried a non-fat something or sugar-free this and that without pushing it away due to lack of taste or texture.  My challenge to you is to figure out which type of cook you are and then develop your cooking habits to reflect all the good of each category while discarding the unhealthy habits that we all have.  Remember, this isn’t an all in situation, just make the effort to “craft” meals that taste good but are watchful of our health needs.

I want to be an Innovative cook who keeps it as healthy as possible; how about you?

Entry filed under: Rants, Semi-Rants and Non-Rants. Tags: cooking types, healthy cooks, innivative cooks.