Now that you've found some sources for healthy food, you've stocked up your kitchen with equipment that will save you time, and you've arranged your budget, you'll want to begin to learn to cook healthy foods from scratch.

I find it very amusing to watch commercials and see advertisements for food products. Ads are designed to make you feel dumb! Too dumb to cook (so that you'll want to buy their stuff)! Too dumb to cut and chop, stir and bake! (Too dumb to teach your kids how to cook, either!)

Well, don't listen to them! It's no harder to make pancakes from scratch than it is to open up a box of Bisquick. It's no harder to make a quick white sauce than it is to open a can of condensed soup.

You can do this! Here are some simple steps:

1. When you make your shopping list each week, copy all prepared foods onto a duplicate list that you keep in a binder for this purpose. Maybe you'll add "Hamburger Helper, "Stovetop Stuffing," or "Manwich Sloppy Joes" to the list this week.
2. This list will serve as a "wish list" for you, a list of recipes that you want to begin to learn to make from scratch.
3. Each week, set aside one day to learn to cook something new from your list.
4. Before your cooking day, search the Internet, favorite cookbooks, or our website here for a recipe. Be sure you have all needed ingredients in the house.
5. Try your new recipe! Be warned -- maybe you'll flop a few recipes like I do! Write notes on the recipe so that you'll know how to improve it next time. In a few months, you'll never remember why you used to buy boxed foods. :-)

Continue to Step Eight