The Ideal of the Condensed Cook

A Condensed Cook is anyone who aspires to create good food using as few resources as possible- money, time, energy.

I took up this endeavor a few years ago when, as a single mom on a limited budget, I was diagnosed with Lupus (SLE). This chronic condition required me to rethink everything I was doing around my home. After months of feeling exhausted and flu-like, I was forced to reckon with the reality that things were not going to get better. So not being one to give in easily and being determined to still live as normal a life as possible, I set about the streamline the running of my household, my finances, my schedule and most importantly, expectations.

One of the hardest areas to streamline was cooking meals. I grew up with a mom who was an old-fashioned Southern, make-it-all-from-scratch, and the-fancier-the-better cook. Dinner was not just an entree that would meet the food requirements, it was a three to four course meal. In streamlining, I have discovered that I can prepare nutricious meals and even holiday fare with simplicity.

This blog will be a sharing of those ideas, both new and existing, created and discovered (with the proper credit of course.)