Cooking for Health:

How I went from zero to hero in the kitchen 🧑‍🍳

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How I went from zero to hero in the kitchen 🧑‍🍳 〰️

I'm one of those people who learned how to cook by trial and error.

I didn't grow up cooking at home, except for Thanksgiving dinner when my Mom would throw down and ask me to be her sous chef (a tradition that I now do with my Dad 🤗 ). Because I didn't grow up in a home where we cooked like that, I wasn't too interested in cooking when I moved out of my parent's house.

That all changed once I started feeling the pinch of being broke and wanting fresh food, I began cooking what I knew which was the heavy soul food meals, rices, grits, and other staples you might find in a black home. As I became more confident, I started exploring new methods of cooking and felt inspired to try my hand at making my favorite Asian and Caribbean dishes.

Over time, I learned how to put together a meal through experimentation, and once I had mastered the basics, I began focusing on cooking with nutrition in mind without compromising flavor. To achieve this, I got creative with making my own sauces, playing with seasonings, and utilizing different cooking methods to maintain nutritional integrity while also making everything taste delicious.

There are 6 primary methods I use when cooking:

steaming, grilling, baking and roasting, stir-frying, boiling and blanching, and deep frying (learn more about them and their benefits here!). Each has its own benefits and some have disadvantages for certain kinds of foods. What works best for me is utilizing different styles together to diversify texture and flavor while preserving the healthy parts of each component of the meal.

Cooking is like an art and a science, and that's what makes it fun.

There isn't a "right" way to do it,

and that allows each of us to bring our own unique twist to a dish. I love taking a recipe and putting my own Courtnee personalized twist on it, allowing the ancestors to guide my seasoning selections and pours, while also appreciating the methodology behind each step.

For me, cooking is more than just a way to put food on the table; it allows me to be in the driver's seat of what goes into my body, ensuring that I prioritize my health. And that, to me, is the most beautiful thing about it!

If you’re looking for the “basics” in terms of tools to get you started - check out this Amazon list for convenient and affordable items to get you going on your cooking journey.

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