Rachel: A Cooking Adventure

The thing I love about cooking is the adventure. The ideal situation for me to cook in is when I have hours to pour over cookbooks, plan a meal, drink a glass of wine, listen to music and create something new and exciting. – Rachel

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  • By Jackie Sun
  • May 11, 2016

When it comes to home cooking, Kitchen Hero Rachel discovered that there isn’t always time to cook elaborate meals, but that doesn’t mean the adventure stops there! The whole learning process allowed her to create many meals and get better, and she learned that good food doesn’t have to be labor intensive. On Rachel’s cooking journey, she was accompanied by a little helper whom Rachel could share wonderful kitchen memories with, and those memories are what makes for the best kind of adventures. Read her Hero in the Kitchen story below.

Name: Rachel Phillips-Buck
City, State: Abilene, TX
I cook for: my husband, Clint, and my 4-year-old daughter, Lillian.
Outside of the kitchen I: am a consultant and trainer in higher education.
The strangest food I have ever eaten is: a grilled scorpion – it tasted like popcorn!
I cook because: I love to eat good food, and I think cooking is a lot of fun.
Favorite Cook Smarts meal so far: Vietnamese Salad with Chicken and Vermicelli

HOW DID YOU LEARN TO COOK?

My mother is a wonderful cook so I learned to love good food from her. But I really learned to cook when I lived with some close family friends in college. They were the perfect guinea pigs and never complained, even though the dinners I attempted weren’t always delicious!


“I love having a plan for the week. It is so nice to come home, put on my apron and get started.”


WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST COOKING CHALLENGE?

The thing I love about cooking is the adventure. The ideal situation for me to cook in is when I have hours to pour over cookbooks, plan a meal, drink a glass of wine, listen to music and create something new and exciting. Unfortunately, weeknight dinners are not like that at all! My biggest challenge is feeling totally unprepared for the 5:30 dinner rush – my family and I are hungry right now! There is no time to be creative, or plan a meal, or go to the store. We need food RIGHT NOW!

What have you learned since starting Cook Smarts’ meal plans?

I love having a plan for the week. It is so nice to come home, put on my apron and get started. I have learned that delicious food does not always have to be labor intensive.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROUDEST KITCHEN MOMENT.

I love cooking with my daughter. It has become such a sweet time for us to spend together, and work side by side. She loves learning about food, and trying new things. I know that our time together in the kitchen is building memories, in a way that going together to get takeout doesn’t accomplish.


Rachel, thanks so much for the reminder that cooking with loved ones will always be sweeter than hoppin’ in the car and getting takeout. Cooking with kids may not always be easy (the patience! the messes!) but your cooking adventure proves that it is more than worth it.

To join Rachel and cook meals like her favorite Vietnamese Salad with Chicken & Vermicelli, check out our meal plan service. You can get started for free!

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