Keeping the "Zen" in My Kitchen

Downtown Asheville by Romanticasheville.com

As much as you may picture yourself living your life a certain way, if you take a closer look, you may not be living up to the snapshot in your head.

huh??

I like to picture my kitchen (well, my home, really) as a place of peace and tranquility - a place where creativity is fostered (for me that includes cooking and writing) - a place where people enter and immediately feel, well, zen.

I'm not asking for much.

Old habits tend to stop me from completely achieving this goal. So in honor of actually moving forward and to cement in my own head some changes I have made, I am going to share them with you. I have been writing this for a few weeks, but this post from my friend at Crunchy Betty inspired me to actually finish and post it.

So here goes. Who knows. Maybe you will try some of them in your home and become more "zen".

In the recent past ~ A year and a half ago I decided to make changes to my eating habits, and eat less food at each setting. I ate small portions. If I was still hungry later, I'd eat a few more bites. In doing this, I lost 35 lbs. (oh, and have a healthier relationship with food)
~ I decided not to be a hero, depriving myself of my beloved beer and pizza, wine and pasta etc. I just watch portions. I never feel deprived.

With these first two changes I have a more peaceful relationship with food. I never fear special events, vacations etc. like I used to.

Recently ~ We started eating at the table with the television off at least 5 nights a week, sometimes with music, sometimes with incense or candles but always with lively conversation - I'm still working with Bo on the lively conversation part...

Currently ~ Stop eating lunch while doing anything else - no television, no computer, no driving (yes, as a time saving measure, I tend to eat lunch in the car). So far this has been the hardest one. Not a habit yet.

Well, that's it. Not entirely, as I have made changes elsewhere, but since this is zen kitchen I decided not to make you read the transformations in the rest of the house...

P.S. - Why, you may ask, is there a picture of Asheville NC at the top of my kitchen post? It's because that's where I picture the location of my kitchen!