Cooking A Heathy Hobby

Do you know cooking is a healthy hobby! A CAPTIVATING TIME IN THE KITCHEN – IS SUCH A THING POSSIBLE?

The sound of onions crackling in oil … The fragrance of garlic engulfing your house, with an aroma that you wish you could bottle up. The sound of the knife as you chop, slice, and mince. The bubbling of the sauce as you stir … Cooking just warms up one’s heart. We often allow our senses to be taken for granted. Cooking reminds us that they should be recognized and appreciated.

All too often we find people scrunching up their noses at the mention of cooking as if it’s a bit old-fashioned. But learning to cook is one of the most important and powerful things you can do in your life, right? There’s nothing like throwing ingredients together and forming the perfect equation for a wonderful marriage of flavors and texture!

Each time you place yourself in front of that stove, you grow and nurture a wondrous masterpiece.

The best thing about cooking is that in the kitchen, there are no rules. You build your masterpiece without constraint. You may have a plethora of failures- the muffins you’ve burned, the pancakes you’ve flopped, the eggs you’ve over scrambled, the chicken fillets you’ve put on the stove and forgotten all about; but aren’t these only factors that make your success all the more delicious?

Another thing I marvel at so much is that even the simplest of things are beautiful to cook. Throw in some eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper, and voila! There you have it! A God-gifted plate of scrambled eggs oozing cheese, and grandeur. Who doesn’t love a bowl of good old mac n cheese? The name itself may suggest hard work- however, it’s as simple as ABC. All one needs is boiled macaroni, a splash of milk, salt, pepper, and cheese- the way to everlasting happiness!

Cooking is more than just simply whipping up food. Its nostalgia, making memories, family bonding, and most importantly, it lets one uncork all that they hold in. I’ve had this ritual of whipping up the fluffiest of pancakes every Sunday morning, and I assure you, that smile on my dad’s face just brightens up my entire day, and needless of how much I loathe my brothers, their bickering and fighting over who gets to have the perfect, roundest pancake, cracks me up. My aunt’s all time famous, most secret pasta recipe which she has ONLY shared with me, oh that tomatoes goodness, is enough to make me feel special! It just makes all the blues go away, and the process of pureeing the tomatoes and folding the pasta into the sauce is THE most satisfying thing I’ve ever experienced!

If you fear weight gain, oh son of Adam, you can even make equally alluring and appetizing healthy food! Oatmeal pancakes have been my favorite since day one! Then you’ve got varieties of whole-wheat options; whole wheat pasta, whole wheat oatmeal banana bread, whole wheat bread, bagels, baguettes; and the list just goes on and on! Cooking surely is the best way to meditate, and the only thing that is now keeping you away from this heavenly practice is your laziness.                                                                                                                                                                  
So come on, get up, sleepyhead! Straighten your back, stretch all that indolence out, pop your knuckles, and head straight to the kitchen- the place you’ve been avoiding since forever. Whip up some magic! Spread those smiles! And most importantly, let loose all that stress you’ve been building up for years.

Writer: Maryam Sorathiya