Not Your Grandma’s Cookbook

When I was growing up, my mom cooked dinner often. She was a working woman, but somehow found the time to make a full dinner for my family. As a child, it seemed so simple and normal to have a home-cooked meal each night. Then, I became that working mom and I realized just how difficult working and coming home to cook really was.

I never was the girl who sat around and watched my mother cook. I honestly just like to eat. My grandmothers and aunts are all excellent cooks who can make pretty much anything. I attribute to them my palate and why I like a variety of foods. From soul food to fine dining, I grew up around food and it was an important part of my culture. I equate family dinners, conversations, life lessons, and religion to being around the dinner table.

Making dinner these days has become a chore and something that I dread thinking about each day. 

I recently read a meme that talked about whether you would want a housekeeper, chef or personal driver every day, and I immediately went to chef. The daunting task of deciding what my family eats day in and day out has sometimes become the bane of my existence. And because I don’t have the natural cooking heart, fast food has become a part of our family food rotation.

I have never been a fan of cooking.

Can I cook? Yes. Do I like to? Not really. But do I like to eat? Most definitely. And unfortunately for me, when you have a range of age groups in your home and selective, picky eaters finding something everyone will like can be a daunting task.

I began to realize my family ate out a lot. My kids were starting to think that a home-cooked meal came in a to-go box. I have always had my signature dishes that are tried and true that the whole family loves. However, there are only so many variations of pasta one can make. With the economy shifting I also had to be mindful of how much money I was spending outside my home for food. I also realized my disdain for cooking had to do with time and not having enough variety. I didn’t have the time or energy after work to spend two hours cooking and I never could figure out what to cook. Enter TikTok. All I knew of TikTok for the longest was that it was an app my pre-teen daughter was obsessed with. Little did I know that it was the hidden gem to my new-found appreciation for cooking. Something about seeing the videos of average people making quick and easy meals intrigued me. I was not alone. I now refer to TikTok as my “virtual cookbook.”

You can type in specific food dishes and a plethora of videos will appear. Whether you’re vegan, low carb or eat a special diet, TikTok offers a variety of video recipes to meet your culinary needs. The videos tend to be quick and to the point, showing each step and each ingredient which I appreciate. If you are a busy mom like me, I highly recommend using TikTok as inspiration for your next family meal.

Here are some of my favorite TikTok influencers which I follow for quick, easy, budget-friendly meals:

• @hamiltontribex5
• @wifediaries
• @yo_thats_erica
• @brittany_giaccani
• @thebombcook