Miriam: The Family that Eats Together, Stays Together
I cook because I want to feed my family nutritious meals, and eat together as a family each night.
-Miriam
#KitchenHero
The great things about meal planning include: saving money, not letting food go to waste, and eating a variety of healthy foods. [Check out our meal planning toolkit!] Our Kitchen Hero, Miriam, has discovered these positive aspects of meal planning, and it has truly changed her life in the kitchen. In addition to saving money and eating a bunch of different and healthy foods, Miriam gets to spend quality time in the kitchen with her son. And as all home cooks know, there’s nothing better than enjoying good food with loved ones, whether you are cooking or eating together. Read her Hero in the Kitchen story below.
Name: Miriam Tobias
Age: 32
City, State: Charlottesville, VA
I cook for: my husband, toddler son, potlucks, meal trains, and dinner parties.
Outside of the kitchen I: am a clinical herbalist.
I cook because: I want to feed my family nutritious meals, and eat together as a family each night.
I discovered Cook Smarts through: Kath Younger of Kath Eats Real Food.
Favorite Cook Smarts meal so far: Probably the Tilapia Ceviche with Mango from the Spanish vacation-themed week. I really enjoyed all those summer vacation international themed menus.
How did you learn to cook?
I learned to cook when I was studying abroad in Italy, which was my first time living on my own. For many years, pasta and pizza was on the menu 3-4 times per week!
What’s been your biggest cooking challenge?
Deciding what to make and then shopping for the week without going to too many different stores.
How has your cooking routine changed since starting Cook Smarts’ meal plans?
Cook Smarts’ meal plans help me economize space in my brain, so I don’t have to think about what to make each night and what to shop for. I no longer buy food stuff on a whim, hoping to cook with it, only to later find it spoiled in the drawer. Now, everything I buy gets used, which saves money. Our meals are so much more varied, in season, and colorful than they have ever been before.
If I do the prep day, I hardly have to take out my cutting board for the rest of the week, so the kitchen stays much tidier! I’ve made almost seventy different meals from Cook Smarts, which amazes me because I used to have, in circulation, about seven meals in my repertoire.
So, this service has definitely made me a better cook. I tell all my friends, family, and even clients about Cook Smarts; I am so grateful for how it has positively impacted my life.
“Our meals are so much more varied, in season, and colorful than they have ever been before.”
Tell us about your proudest kitchen moment.
The first few weeks of trying the service, I didn’t tell my husband about it, and he was just amazed at how good our dinners had suddenly become and how prepared I was, come dinner time to cook everything.
What are your tips for health and success in the kitchen?
- Preparing things ahead of time makes for a much more enjoyable and faster cooking experience before dinner.
- Anyone who cooks meat needs a digital meat thermometer!
- A more colorful meal with lots of fruits and / or vegetables provides more nutrition. All those colors represent the abundance of different essential vitamins and minerals in the food.
- Growing even just a few edible things yourself is delicious, rewarding, and saves money.
With all the kitchen experience that your son is getting, Miriam, we can’t wait until the day he follows in Mommy’s footsteps, starts to use our meal plans, and sings Cook Smarts’ praises! In the meantime, we’re happy to hear that everyone is enjoying all the different dinners. Now…how about some homemade Italian pizza and pasta?!
To join Miriam and cook meals like her favorite Tilapia Ceviche with Mango, check out our meal plan service. You can get started for free!
