Cooking for calm

For the longest time I did not embrace cooking.  Sure, I grew up with my mom cooking nearly every single night of the week.  Her cooking was and is fantastic.  She can whip up anything and it's delicious.  As a kid and a teenager I never had the desire to watch or learn and she never forced me to do so.  So now I find myself as a 33 year old woman learning how to cook.  Not just the 'throw some ground beef into the Hamburger Helper', but really cooking and succeeding in the process.  I started to take a different approach to cooking.  For so many years I simply wanted to get a dinner over with and on the table.  I never wanted to reach out of my comfort zone--ever.  I would make some pretty mediocre meals with a standout every once and a while.  I don't know what changed in me.  All I can say is I've taken a slower pace to life and that has translated into cooking.  I enjoy the interesting recipe that reads like it is going to challenge me, I enjoy the thought of usual ingredients combining, but what I think I like most is dinner is a great time to unwind and end the fast pace of the day.  Have a glass of wine, chop, mix, bake, broil, saute, whatever.  Once I decided to really embrace cooking and the foods and the nutrition it brings to my body I was in a different place.  Casey and I even tackle dinner together now and it's fun.  Where as before it was simply my 'chore' or his 'chore' for that night.  Now, don't get me wrong on a really rough night it's some frozen Trader Joe's flatbread and risotto (also frozen).  However, what I am finding is that cooking is becoming my out. My time to reflect and just concentrate on what I am doing at that time.  No worrying about laundry, getting taxes done, or scheduling a dermatologist appointment.  Also, the reward is usually a delicious healthy dinner that I am very proud of.  I actually sit with the hubby and we enjoy the food as opposed to wolfing it down and moving on to the next 'thing to do'.  Tonight I made roasted root vegetables with a creme fraiche dip.  We also had some flax seed bread rolls.  I sat at the table for 30 minutes just tasting and enjoying.  It gave me a content feeling and a desire to find a cool recipe for tomorrow night.  Bon appetit!