Skinny Bitch_ Ultimate Everyday Cookbook - Kim Barnouin [2]
So, with few resources at my disposal, I turned to the Internet and good old-fashioned books and embarked on a pilgrimage of health and discovery.
It wasn’t long before it became clear that what I was eating was indeed, eating me.
Every ailment I had pointed straight to food. I would make a small change in my diet, and my body responded immediately. I started to say goodbye to my vices, and everything changed for me—more clarity, happier moods, and the best hair days. Then the light blub went on in my head. Food was healing me. How come this wasn’t public knowledge? I had a choice. I could go on living life in my little Kim bubble—a pizza addict with an unhealthy tan. Or I could invest in a new lifestyle and tell the world that food has the power to change your health. What would it be, blondie?
I think you know how this story ends.
Though choices are ours to make, I realized I never had much of a choice at all. After doing tons of research and completing a master’s degree in holistic nutrition, how could I not open my big mouth? So, I did. I became a “Skinny Bitch.” I set out to uncover what was plaguing me and ended up stumbling on what was plaguing a nation. Call it Pandora’s box. Call it nonsense, if you will. But for me, and for millions of people who have fallen victim to our immoral food industry, this journey was a revelation. Halle-freakin-lujah.
Since Skinny Bitch hit the shelves, a lot has changed. For starters, I have become a wife, a mother, and a pretty damn good chef if I do say so myself. I guess I just grew up. But, deep down, I’m still the same wise-ass with a mouth like a sailor—just more refined. I still drop profanities at my computer screen, forgetting my impressionable four-year-old son is standing right in the doorway. And I’m still the same girl who has a few choice words for my girlfriends who still drink diet soda. What can I say? Some bitches just never change.
But, beyond that, I have realized there is a much bigger picture working for me here. It’s not just about a book. My purpose is to guide women in making positive changes in their lives to help themselves and the people they love, like my husband did for me. Once one person makes a change, they have the power to trigger the domino effect throughout their household.
Today, I’m campaigning for yet another change. I am proposing for us to get back in the kitchen.
For some of you, there is no “getting back” in the kitchen. Cooking is an everyday activity, and you enjoy it. Good for you. As you know, it took me a long time to figure this out, so I hope this cookbook gives you some new ideas and tips on getting creative in the kitchen.
But, for the greater majority of us, cooking has become an event reserved for major holidays, graduations, and homecomings. Food is not where we have gone wrong—culture is.
It seems we have taken huge strides backwards when it comes to the way we think of food. We’ve all gotten busier—adopting a “Work Hard, Work Harder” motto—and our meals have suffered as a result. Lack of time and money have certainly played their parts. Trust me, I get it. But there’s a bigger cost to all of this.
Without even knowing it, we have devolved into a culture that rushes through life, and quickly gives in to the lure of a cheap, quick meal courtesy of the ubiquitous neighborhood fast-food joints. We continue to put in twelve-hour days, skipping from the office to parent-teacher conferences, dashing to soccer practice and ballet rehearsal, and then opting for a preservative-filled cheeseburger here, a fried chicken finger there. All the while, we exhaust the excuse that we don’t have enough time to cook. Somewhere along the way, this has developed into a modern framework of efficiency, the product of a new generation. Long gone are the days when we enjoyed cooking meals with loved ones, followed by hearty family conversation: