(Pt. 2) All I Really Need To Know… I Learned In The Kitchen {Kitchen Rules 6 to 10} (KYF151)

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, don’t we? We pour our heart and soul into the foods we prepare to nourish ourselves and our families.

Yet in the kitchen, so much more happens than what’s on the surface.

Sure, we make good food. Good and healing food.

And…. we also nurture relationships with our children and spouse… and friends and extended family.

How we handle tasks, failures, and successes contributes to who we are as a person.

Whether we grow into who God wants us to be… or whether we stagnate.

Many of my life’s lessons have come in the kitchen. And I know yours have, too.

Thus the theme of this podcast series…

All I really need to know.. I learned in the kitchen.

In this series, I’m sharing “kitchen rules” — words to live by in the kitchen (and in the relationships, struggles, and successes that happen there).

So we can grow stronger and better through our experiences there.

Here are kitchen rules 6 to 10. (Rules 1 to 5 are here and Rules 11 to 15 are here.)

Please share in the comments which rules spoke to you and why — and also share if you like this series and want me to continue it!

P.S. I was inspired to start this series by listening to another (unrelated) podcast in which the author shares “rules” for his field of business. I heard that and thought, why not? This will work for the kitchen, too! Because whatever field you’re in, valuable lessons are there for the taking.

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Video from Periscope

I recorded this podcast live on Periscope last week and here’s the video from that! It’s just like the audio file above, except you can see it, too. 🙂

Want to join the fun of the live recording? Follow me on Facebook or @TradCookSchool on Periscope. I hop on to record most Thursdays!

All I Really Need To Know… I Learned In The Kitchen {Kitchen Rules 6 to 10}

Here are the next 5 “kitchen rules” in this podcast series. (Rules 1 to 5 are here.)

Please share in the comments which rules spoke to you and why — and also share if you like this series and want me to continue it!

6. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Teach our families, through our actions, how to behave and handle kitchen challenges.

It’s one thing to tell them, it’s another to show them… We can show them “how” to act and behave by:

• eating variety of foods
• how you handle foods you don’t like
• how you handle other people’s hospitality (do you leave complaining or with thankfulness and humility?)
• how you handle setbacks in the kitchen (do you get in a bad mood, bursts of anger, annoyance or are you patient and long-suffering?)

7. People listen to experts, they follow leaders.

If we’re trying to win over our families to traditional cooking or healthy eating, we could spout off all kind of facts, we could nag. Yet, to make an impact, we need to lead.

This means:

• discern which battles are worth fighting
• pray; ask God’s wisdom on how to proceed
• perhaps keep your mouth shut and just carry on with your own choices
• you can’t force others and leaders know this (they lead by example)
• it’s ok if someone doesn’t follow — it’s not your choice, it’s theirs
• don’t beg or whine or cajole children — set the expectations and follow-through with whatever consequences there are for whatever they’re not getting on board with

We each have hang-ups ourselves. Something we know we should be doing for our health. But we can’t be forced, right? We come to it on our own. Same goes for our family members. We can’t force them, we can just be an example.

And behind the scenes, we’re praying hard that the Lord would speak to them where/when/how they need to hear it!

8. “The chain is only as strong as the weakest link.”

This is both in our personality and in our kitchen/life functionality.

Where are things getting hung up in the kitchen? If dishes building up is the problem, look into delegating or being more disciplined about not letting that be the bottle neck.

If it’s your own discipline around sweets or eating out or boxed foods or not making time to teach the children how to cook… you won’t get anywhere unless you work on that.

How I figure out what to tackle is I will list a bunch of issues that ‘seem’ to be the problem. Then for each one, I ask “Why?” and usually I end up with 1 or 2 things to work on that are causing a cascading of effects in life/kitchen. It’s called the Theory of Constraints and it applies in all areas of relationship, faith, life, business, health and yes… kitchen.

An example is … so many of our diseases are rooted in the gut. Heal the gut, fix a whole bunch of issues. I struggled with allergies for all my life and only when I did a gut-healing diet did they go away. All those years, I just managed the symptoms with drugs/schedule/activities — those weren’t the REAL problem though.

And that’s why… your chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Find and fix the weakest link!

9. There are no bad questions, only bad answers.

For our children: don’t laugh at them or make them feel stupid for asking questions. Encourage their curiosity!

Be encouraging, energetic, and patient. Let them make mistakes. That’s how they learn!

And for that matter, it goes for you, too! Everyone starts somewhere.

10. A soft answer turns away wrath.

We have bad experiences when shopping, dealing with people, or sourcing foods.

We had bad experiences in our own families with: family members being ungrateful, family members complaining, family members not fulfilling their duties, family members fighting while working together in the kitchen.

Cultivate patience and goodwill (even when dealing with wrong actions) so that nothing escalates beyond where it should be. It’s in the power of the parties involved whether it goes further or stops and deflates. Be the party with the soft answer to de-escalate the broiling issue.

Links Mentioned

• Free Traditional Cooking Video Series

iTunes

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Anything to Add?

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