Reinventing the Soul of Food with Love: From Belgian Monks' Brewing to the Wisdom of Mass Cooking

In other words, when preparing food, be fully engaged, just as you would when eating. Take deep breaths and relax while preparing and cooking, using this time to relieve stress. Paying attention to this moment can greatly help in satisfying our desires for food and life. If you're preparing drinks and alcohol, take the example of the Belgian monks. These monks pour their love and soul into their beer brewing, dedicating a great deal of time to caring for and creating it. As a result, their beer is considered by many to be among the most delicious in the world. Cook with pleasant memories. Cooking itself can be incredibly creative; it can be a time to reminisce about wonderful moments. Do you have fond memories of cooking with your family? Perhaps with your mother, father, grandmother, or anyone close to you. Or perhaps you remember the aroma of your mother's cooking from childhood. We can also recall a wonderful holiday meal or a favorite home-cooked dish.

Why not find the recipes for your favorite childhood dishes and cook them with loving memories of your family? You can share this time with your children, telling them about those wonderful childhood moments. Or, you can share those fond memories with anyone you love. These memories can help us reconnect with those we love. It can bring us closer to ourselves. It allows us to remember who we are, where we come from, and the close connections we've had with our mothers or other family members. If those memories aren't so pleasant for you, why not create some new food memories yourself? Find some classic recipes for yourself or loved ones, or even create some yourself. Turn cooking and eating into a time to connect with those you love. If you're enjoying the meal alone, it's a time to relax, take deep breaths, and enjoy your solitude, savoring the nourishment each bite provides for your mind, body, and soul.

Foods that balance energy. In Western culture, people often consume large amounts of foods that are either yin or yang in nature, which can lead to an imbalance in the body's energy and ultimately cause significant health problems. This is another reason why dieting is unhealthy. Dieting requires eating larger quantities of a certain type of food while prohibiting the intake of all foods of that type, which creates an imbalance in the body. Finally, it is important to emphasize again that our bodies need balance because we crave the types of food our bodies lack. Feng shui also teaches that people should appreciate the aroma of food. All senses, including taste, color, and smell, should be in balance. Every sense should be paid attention to during the eating process. There is a Chinese proverb: "Food is worse than medicine." Chinese internists believe that food is a long-term treatment method. First, people will try food therapy, and only when food therapy fails will they resort to drug treatment. And the doctor's prescription may very well be a lovingly prepared family meal.

The benefits of preparing food in advance. Even though it may sometimes seem like we don't have enough time, if we can find a way to carve out a little time to lovingly cook our meals, we can once again enjoy the love and care our bodies need. This kind of food nourishes our bodies in the right way, positively impacts our spirit, and connects us to our sense of self. You might be thinking, "I don't have time to cook every night!" If that's the case, consider cooking extra home-cooked meals on the weekend and freezing them separately in different containers. (Some people call this "preparing in advance.") If you do this once a week, over time you'll accumulate a large collection of various frozen home-cooked meals-meals cooked in real pots and pans, not processed foods. You can also cook once a month, making several different dishes each time and freezing them.

You can take frozen food out the night before so it can thaw fully. You can also pack food into appropriately sized lunchboxes for lunch. Microwave ovens might be unavoidable in this case, especially at work. However, at home, you can use a frying pan or oven to heat the food. Preparing large quantities of food at once not only makes you feel better physically, but it also eases your budget (especially if you have children to raise). It allows you to buy groceries in bulk, which is much cheaper than buying a little at a time. For example, buying meat in bulk at wholesale prices is much cheaper than buying it by weight. In the long run, this also saves time, allowing you to save time preparing dinner each day.

Another way to prepare frozen dinners is to cook twice the amount of food each night for a week, so you have seven extra portions in your freezer. Continue this as long as possible, gradually increasing the amount of frozen dinners in your freezer. Before you even realize it, you'll have enough food so you don't have to cook for a while. (You can search online for methods on cooking large quantities of food, such as typing "monthly cooking" or "weekly cooking" into a search engine.) You'll soon find yourself enjoying these homemade meals. You'll find yourself eating healthier and eating smaller portions because fast food or restaurant meals are often large and the ingredients are certainly not as healthy. A healthy diet still comes down to balance and moderation. So, enjoy the foods you love wisely and prepare them with positive energy. Try to eat as many natural foods as possible. Savor their distinct flavors, textures, and aromas. Love your food, and it will love and nourish you in return.