Getting back to basics and living simply has really been a big theme around here these past weeks as we’ve gone back to using a cash system to manage our budget.

I’ve been finding an amazing assortment of benefits resurfacing in our lives, one of them being simply the good feeling of knowing that I am doing the right thing now instead of putting it off for later.

Gone is that mild tickle in my solar plexus of panic, the knowing that something was wrong, something was out of control, but I just couldn’t place it.

So I was not so surprised to see the editorial in our weekly paper. The headline read “Getting Back to the Basics”.

CAN YOUR KIDS COOK? WHAT ARE THEY LEARNING FROM YOU?

It was in part about how young people these days don’t know how to cook, because this simple skill is not one that is the norm anymore in many homes.

That more and more people in general don’t have the basic cooking skills that many of us grew up with. Or the mindset to make it a priority.

We are simply too busy.

Lack of domestic skills like cleaning and keeping an organized home has even become something to joke about – a badge of honour – a beacon of our busyness – of our worth outside of the home – where it really matters. Right?

In short, young people are getting their habits – and knowledge – from us.

Is that surprising?

Here is small excerpt…

“It seems younger generations don’t have the skills to cook a fresh meal these days. Whether it’s because their parents are too busy to pass on the knowledge – or are passing on the message that convenience foods are good enough – doesn’t matter. Kids can’t cook these days.”

“When you prepare a meal from scratch, you actually become aware of the ingredients and of what you ‘re putting into your body. do you really know where that frozen pizza’s been or where it was made? Getting back to basics is a good way to teach our children about nutrition and it’s value.”

This really was timely and caught my eye because of the enormous difference that I have been finding in our house lately, especially as I struggle to get our grocery bill under control.

Yesterday my daughter and I spent 1 1/2 hours in the kitchen making yummy food that was healthy with no garbage waste when we eat it.

It was great. And what a feeling to have good food, prepared and ready, in the fridge.

IT’S A PROCESS

It hasn’t been easy, it’s a process.

But it’s been a good experience and one of the primary things about it has been a return to cooking with real ingredients.

I’ve always been a ‘back to the land’ type. We have our own chickens. I was an avid gardener until I found myself ‘too busy’ to take care of the basics.

It was the healthiest time of our lives.

I blame a large portion of the mess our food supply and planet in general is in right now on the demise of the family farm.

The good news is that we can go back.

Everyone can. It just takes awareness and effort.

We don’t NEED a farm to grow our own food.

To make what we make and how we make it a priority.

After you see the benefits, it’s hard to justify the ‘plastic life’.

In some ways, large and small, it is a matter of survival.

I never thought of it that way before.

HOW ABOUT TODAY?

There is so much that we can do. Everyone can start with one thing.

How about it?

What one thing can you do today to help you to live a better life by getting back to basics?

Choose one and do it.

• Bake something with your child.
• Fix something.
• Create something.
• Improve something that you already have.

It’s actually kind of fun.

Give it a try.

I’d LOVE to hear from you.

What did you do?

Share your back to basics project with us in the comment section below.