In an effort to...

to spend less time at the grocery store (and cooking in general), I have started planning out our meals for the week on Sunday night.

I know I am not inventing the wheel here but I am pleasantly surprised that everything that has been said/written about this habit is true. It has saved me a lot of time. Not only at that grocery store but also in meal preparation throughout the week and space inside my head. Also, I have spent less.

Now, you may say (like I did) that I don't have time to plan. That, that step will take too much time in and of itself. Seriously, I sat down on Sunday night with last month's Bon Appetit, my computer and a pad of paper. Even with distractions on the Internet it took me less than an hour to do the planning.

Now, you may say (like I did) that it is not as fun as going to the grocery store and just making it up on the fly. I don't think that has been true. It is just as fun. I feel charged that I know what I am doing instead of searching for what to do. And the things that inspire me, I file them away for next week or if reasonable incorporate them now. I don't think its drained my kitchen creativity. I think its made room for more.

All in all,
We have eaten just as well but its taken me half as much time and less money. AND it has been just as much fun.

It is not because...

It has been a long time since I posted anything here. A long time - months and months.

It is not because I haven't been cooking, I have been.
It is not because there haven't been other sources of sustenance in my life, there have been.
It is not because I haven't thought about it, I do.

Like everyone else my life is crowded.
Crowded with commitments to make a living, to take care of myself and others and the space that we live in, to keep in touch with my friends.
Just crowded... even if in a fun, joyful way.

I don't know if I'll post more.
I don't know if it matters.
I do know: I'll keep cooking, my life and the people and things in it will sustain me and I will keep thinking about it even if I don't write about it.