So far we’ve talked about meal planning, having food on-hand, ways to prep ahead of time, time-saving tips, and the go-to meal.
Today I want to talk about perfectionism.
I love Pinterest. I love scrolling through my feed and seeing all of the beautiful images. I love to search Pinterest for recipes and those beautifully garnished dishes get me every time. They become the standard we set for ourselves. And if you are busy with a zillion higher priorities, the fact that your food won’t come out looking like the photo on Pinterest gets really really discouraging. Thoughts like “Why bother? It’s not going to turn out like that anyway…” start to take over.
So today, we are going to redefine our WHY. You’ve made it this far into my series for a reason. Why do you want to cook dinner at home? Stop and really think about the answer(s) to this question. And not the answers you think I’m aiming at, but the reality for YOU. Why do YOU want to cook more dinners at home? Would you rather spend that money currently going to Chick-Fil-A on something else? Are you motivated by a food allergy? Are you hoping to improve your health? Maybe you want to cook at home to help unify and strengthen your family. These only scratch the surface of valid reasons. Identify yours.
The point is, you need to decide that cooking dinner is important to you and then decide WHY it is important to you.
And then, when your casserole turns out looking like a fail compared to the photo on Pinterest, you can remind yourself that you aren’t cooking dinner at home to create more pins for your Pinterest board. You have reasons that matter far more to you.
When you remember why you are doing what you are doing, you can look at that casserole (or whatever dish you’ve made) and celebrate. Celebrate that you have done this thing that is important to you. And if kids don’t appreciate it (I hear you! I have a whole ebook about picky eaters) and nobody else understands the sacrifice of time and energy that went into that meal, you can remember that you didn’t do it for the recognition. You have your WHY and that is why you cooked dinner tonight and you can celebrate that success no matter what.
And please celebrate.
No, you don’t have to throw yourself a literal party. But hold your head a little higher and pat yourself on the back (feel free to even do a little victory dance) because cooking dinner is a big deal. And you did it! Yesssssss!
I know, I know. Back in the day, cooking dinner was just a fact of life. But life isn’t the same as it was back then. It moves a lot faster. And there are so many more expectations placed upon us. We have never-ending to-do lists and constant interruptions. Life is hard. So, cut yourself some slack and celebrate your victories as they come. If you managed to cook dinner, don’t scrutinize it, celebrate it and move on. You can put a note on your recipe to remind yourself of something you’d do differently next time (if you want), then move on.
One of the biggest hurdles in consistently cooking dinner is simply in the decision to do it. If you have your WHY and you know you want to consistently cook dinners for particular reasons, making the commitment comes easier. If you have made it this far into my series and haven’t tried making a monthly meal plan yet, I challenge you to do it today! Give it a try.
