Wellness Wednesday: Healthy Family Cooking Hacks

Part of the fun of these Wellness Wednesday chats has been exploring areas of healthy living that I am definitively not an expert in. This week’s hangout is the first time cooking is really entering the conversation. But the topic at hand is going to be all about family eating habits at home.

I obviously don’t have experience cooking for my own children, even if some of the people I feed tend to act like them after a few martinis. But I was lucky enough to have a childhood full of home cooked meals. And if my life path is any indication, all those bowls of quinoa I begrudgingly ate left quite an impression, even if I didn’t let on at the time.

I may have rebelled against the woman who put fruit leather from the health food store in my lunchbox by going over to friends’ houses and inhaling the corn syrup laden contents of their pantries. But eventually (like, by age 24) I proved that I knew better. And snack food not withstanding, I always felt that home cooking was the best way to feed and be fed.

All this is to say that I’m really pumped about this week’s Wellness Wednesday topic and couldn’t be happier about the two amazing women who’ll be joining me for the conversation.

In addition to being an inspiring author and activist, Laurie David is a fierce tennis player. I’ve gotten to know her personally over the past few summers on Martha’s Vineyard, and in addition to lovely afternoons in her garden, our time together has included getting my butt handed to me like a perfectly roasted skewer on the court. Always a gracious and generous winner, Laurie also invited me to be part of a photo shoot for her first book The Family Dinner and later asked me to write a little blurb on the 20-something family meal for it.

Her new cookbook, co-written with long-time collaborator Kirstin Uhrenholdt, is all about inspiring parents and kids to take control of what they eat by making it themselves. I’m obviously also a huge believer that healthy eating habits begin by cooking at home and taking agency over the ingredients you put in your body. So I’m excited to chat with her about tactics for doing just that when you’re a busy parent.

We’ll be joined by another crazy talented food writer and friend, Jennifer Perillo. She’s the author of Homemade with Love and the blog In Jennie’s Kitchen. Jennie and I got to hang out together on set at Food52 earlier this fall, and I’ve been a nerdy longtime fan of her site. In addition to being an incredibly talented recipe developer and editor of Working Mother magazine, I’m constantly blow away on instagram and the interwebs by the breadth of homemade goodies she manages to make for her girls every week.

I hope you’ll mark your calendar and tune in! Even if you don’t have a family of your own, the wisdom of these busy parents will be just as useful in helping the rest of us weave cooking into our hectic lives.

Happy weekend!

Xo
Phoebe