364 thoughts on “I Thought I was a Bad Cook”

1. Everything changes when we discover the love pouring through our hands.

2. I think that it is only when we really get a sense of ourselves that we can get a deep connection with the food we prepare. Then there is an ability to feel what herbs are needed today and how there is a flexibility in this because not every day the same is needed.

3. The missing ingredient in so many aspects of our lives is love and bringing that fully in all that we do.

4. ” I can tell you… the missing ingredient was Love…”
   This is so wonderfull thank you for sharing.

5. It is beautiful to feel how life is enriched and how we enrich life when we live in connection to the love we are within. This is how we naturally bring magic to all we do.

6. The purpose of cooking is not just the end result. Just as the purpose of life is not just to avoid death or to die. There is a process to everything and reading you focus on all the moments and details in presence makes the end result not the be all end all—not that we don’t care, but with the commitment along the way, the quality of the end result is guaranteed.

7. When love is the essential ingredient in the preparation of every dish then this is the ingredient that nourishes the body.

8. What if we’re not actually “bad” at anything, but what we do that we perceive as “bad” simply lacks quality?

   1. Meg, you have just turned the good versus bad concept on its head. An action simply lacking true quality is non abusive and accepting of being enough without any derogatory labels.

9. Love is the essential ingredients that creates any dish into food for the soul.

10. It is very beautiful when we are aware that our every movement affects another from the love we are living. Recently I drove home from a birthday celebration dropping off another couple on the way. I was very present and could feel the delicacy exuding from my body fill the car. I drove in my rhythm, taking my time, gently manoeuvring around the corners while feeling connected to everyone in the car… a beautiful marker to take with me on the short journeys that I make most days of the week.

11. I so love this article. Love certainly does make a huge difference to how we cook. How we move in the kitchen and the joy of preparation simple exudes from us, and our food comes alive.

12. Food is a fascinating topic and the quality we are in when we buy, prepare and cook and even eat our food is so important to be aware of and can lead to a completely different experience.

13. When we prepare food in connection to what our bodies need, we know intuitively exactly the ingredients to use and how much to use in order to keep up with evolution to be more of the love that we all are.

14. Yes the focus is one or about what is being done and not the truth of the connection that is with the ‘being’ first. In truth it’s not really anything to do with the food or the recipe or the audience but it’s about everything that has been done or the way you have moved up until any given point. If you ‘want’ something to ‘be’ something then all you need do is move more and more to how you truly are naturally and everything else will be taken care of from there, no matter what any other recipe is saying.

15. Sure there is a lot said about putting ‘love back into food’ but it’s focus is on what you do and doesn’t highlight or support the fact that you already are all the love that is needed all we need do is be truly still and allow it out. Like is highlighted here, the focus isn’t on what is being done but on the quality we are in while doing anything and how the connection consistently to this quality brings out all that is needed no matter the task at hand. What’s more people notice it, they sense or taste the difference.

    1. I feel we all have a sense of what the truth is around these type of things, it’s just got twisted and turned around and now is focused too much in one area. Food is one of these and so we feel the truth around what food brings, love, care, commitment, sharing, connection, oneness, etc etc. The moment though we stop bringing these qualities deeper and deeper to ourselves then the focus or intent goes elsewhere. There are many beliefs around how food should and shouldn’t be and while these are there it will always be clouded. All we can do is live and prepare things in an ever deepening quality of being, knowing that the intent or the purpose is to bring more of what we truly are to everything and food is another medium or point for this purpose and so just keep serving it up.

16. Cooking is the best thing ever, I simply love it. The way you hold your knife and how you can feel every movement, whether my shoulders are risen and tight or still loose, the way I move around to get what it is that I need and gauging how I am and where I am from my movements. Such an incredible opportunity to check in at the end of the day.

17. A wonderful reminder to get our head out of the way and instead start listening to our bodies. This applies to all of life not just cooking. I know I haven’t mastered the art of listening to myself at all times yet either.

18. Love is the key ingredient and I love how you show that there was no trying or stressing involved in this – that it is a natural emanation when we are at ease with ourselves and in connection with our body, cooking knowing that the energy we prepare the food in is what someone is going to be eating…

19. Yes Linda, the flow on effect to others when we live and express this loving quality is very powerful.

20. Love is the missing ingredient that is the cause underlying the ills of the world and it all starts with not loving oneself.

21. “the missing ingredient was Love…” – Even expensive catering or restaurants can serve food that lacks just a little something; the spices might hit every correct and delicious note, but cooking with love changes the feel of a dish completely.

    1. So true, Susie. Love can make the most humble cooking the most flavoursome and wholesome food divine.

22. Love and more love is always the missing ingredient when things do not work out in life, as every opportunity is for us to discover we are more.

23. When we are identified by a particular behaviour or movement we cannot then see the light at the end of the tunnel, because we think we are that, but if we saw that it is the energy of this identity that holds us back we begin to undo this way of thinking and connect to our bodies and how they move when we cook, work, sleep etc. The quality of energy for which we move with will then determine the flow or tension in which we then move through life, once this is felt life then begins to be about exploring and learning from our movements and refining them to support our bodies beautiful expression.

24. It is not in the cooking, or the language, or the education, or the experience, it is all in the connection, it is all a choice of love or a lack of love. Everything we do in this world is because of either a choice to be love or not.

25. Cooking is one of these areas where we can be easily tricked. What does it mean to be a great cook? Usually it means to cook in a way that what is presented appeals and pleases our senses (looks good, smells good, tastes good). Yet, as we delve into the world of energy, we realize that all of that can be true and yet the food may ‘kill’ you energetically. It is not that easy to get from the senses to the energy. Yet, once you get the energy right, the senses ride along.

26. Loving the missing ingredient … Love. And just being with you 💕 who needs herbs after all!

27. This is such a great indicator that it is not just about what we can see and touch. We all feel everything, not just the physical. We can taste the energy and the love and care the food is cooked in and not just the ingredients.

28. I use to be a great cook and then slowly over time it seems I have gotten worse and worse. I opened some cafes and have grown accustom to having my Chefs cook for me, I am also really good when I am cooking at work and when I am cooking for my kids but when it comes to making a meal for me and my husband, it’s like it never works out the way I want it to. My husbands cooking however was not great when I first met him and now is amazing, I find myself only wanting meals cooked by him now. This blog makes me wonder if I am struggling in bring the love home to myself, there must be a message for me in all this, sometimes bad, cooking, especially considering it’s so specific. Thank you for your cute story, its certainly has me reflecting.

    1. I really love your honesty S.K – absolutely beautiful sharing. Your comment has supported me to feel more deeply into my own relationship with food and cooking. I don’t cook much for myself anymore and when I do I often try to ‘get it over with’ as quickly as possible. I can see that the way I prepare food is a direct reflection of the level of love and nurturing I am willing to give myself and this gives me a concrete marker of where I am at in my relationship with me and what steps I need to take to support myself.

29. This is such a cute story. I love the difference it makes just bringing our full attention to the task at hand and also not trying to be anything, just allowing the flow of movement to guide you through whatever it is we’re doing, trusting that we already know what we’re doing.

30. We often don’t give enough attention to the quality in which we do things. When we do the ripple effect is huge.

31. Being present with what we do makes a huge difference and I shudder to think what some of the acclaimed restaurant dishes truly taste like with all that goes into them – the need for recognition, the competitiveness and the haste.

32. I was watching a movie the other night, About Time and its message was about living in each moment and appreciating your day and those in your life. This blog reminds me of that- it is all the moments lived in life and bringing focus and quality to these that determine the quality of your life.

33. The quality of the food we cook for dinner is there the moment we awake for the day that awaits us. Our every movement until that point is an ingredient for the dish that will be prepared and consumed at the day’s close. This is the ‘secret recipe’ for truly tasting life and all that it offers.

34. Great to read this again, and know what a difference the ingredient of love can make to anything we do say or think.

35. We tend to identify food solely with the matter we ingest. Yet, it is not just that. It is also energy it carries and brings into our body. The truth is that ‘sophistication’, taste and quality are not necessarily synonyms. Without denying that they could be equally present in one meal, the main question is which one do we prioritize as a criterion of what is desirable?

36. This is beautifully expressed, Elodie, for it is so true that labels confine us in particular parameters, inhibiting our true expression – and this so commonly occurs in childhood. The Way of The Livingness is a living, loving way to breakout of these confines.

37. “I wouldn’t even think about it … It was just a feeling for what was needed next and the right ingredients would present themselves.” When one acts in any situation from feeling with love, the true ingredients always present themselves. Sometimes these can be completely unexpected and require trust to then use them.

38. This is brilliant. If we bring more love into our way of being, everything we touch becomes lovelier. I would have never thought being good at something doesn’t have to involve upping skills and techniques.

39. Thank you for sharing your experience, when we stay more present with ourselves, we are already knowing what needs to be added to the food, it is beautiful when you can be playful and fun with how you cook and not worry about how it will turn out because it will always be lovingly received.

40. The greatest ingredient we have on offer is our connection to our living quality of love and that makes for one delicious feast we can savour everyday.

41. Love is a very commonly used word but mostly without true understanding and appreciation that it is the essential ingredient in everything we think, say and do.

42. There are so many things that we adopt as true just because others say it, and then it underlies how we see ourselves, until we bring it out in the open.

43. I find the true ingredient for anything we do in life is from our connection to ourselves and it is from there that we configure the movements for which we move, express and ultimately live day to day. This is the loving quality in which we reflect and how very beautiful is that?

44. “…the missing ingredient was Love…” Love conquers all. Whatever we do – with love – will be a winner.

45. I love this article and all the comments. What an awesome example of its not what we do but what we bring to what we do, how being identified and concerned about the task is not helpful and by getting all of that out of the way and just connecting to the love that we are allows joy to arise and imbue itself in the very food we cook….all starting from taking greater care of ourselves, honoring ourselves and gaining trust in ourselves.

46. Awesome that you didn’t hold on to that idea about you being a bad cook forever! Lot’s of people hold on to these negative ideas of themselves, and they put themselves in a box and just accept it as the truth. But as you’ve explained perfectly….it’s simply not true. Your connection to yourself opened you up to the possibility that you could simply feel your way through food and experiment and really have fun with it. How awesome is that!

47. When we are connected to ourselves there is more of a flow in life and thus in cooking. When we prepare our meal from this connection, being present, it can never be boring and although we might prepare the same recipe it will taste differently everytime, it will nourish and nurture our bodies.

48. Love is the missing ingredient and along with that comes connection and a deep inner knowing that banishes all doubts and provides a steadiness in all we undertake.

49. I agree. Love allows us to see what is truly happening and then it is often simple to make the corrections needed.

50. When we remove neglect from our cooking there is the possibility to express love.

51. This is brilliant, the secret ingredient is ‘love’. This is so true, I often have people comment on how much they like the food I cook and I realise this is because I actually love cooking. I cook quick and easy meals too, it is not like we have to spend hours in the kitchen to create tasty and nourishing meals, it is how we cook that makes the difference. I have found when I cook in a rush and try to do too many things at once, my food doesn’t taste so great, but if I put love and care into it, it feels and tastes amazing. The art of cooking is simple, we just have to add the secret ingredient.

52. It is the presence we bring to every task is what transforms the outcome. In presence we know what is needed and trust in ourselves, this is recognized by anyone who sees the result.

53. Recently my son and I were on our way to visit a friend for the night. He didn’t realise we would be having dinner with him and that he would be cooking it. When my son found out he said “I prefer xxx’s cooking to yours.” I gave him a look of “What do you mean?” pretending (but also not) that I was offended. He replied with “I’m being honest. XXX takes more time cooking than you do.” And it was true. You could feel the care my friend puts into his cooking. For me cooking is often something that needs to be done and doesn’t have a huge level of care and love. Clearly, this is all part of what is eaten and is then what we have to digest.

54. What a difference love makes to everything we do

    1. That’s right Joe, it is amazing what love does. I think I am going to sprinkle some of this secret ingredient (love) everywhere, in my food, my house, furniture, garden, and well, everywhere. It’s not actually a secret ingredient after all, is it?….Because when we are open to it, love is actually everywhere and in everyone.

55. “the missing ingredient was Love…” The missing ingredient for most of humanity is true love. Universal Medicine presents a way to live that we can add love to everything we do by connecting to the love that we already are.

56. It is very common for people to say they cannot cook, as a Naturopath I heard it a lot. But are we not like this with many things in life – we say we are not good at something but have not put any time and effort into it? I know for me this is and has been the case. It is so easy to compare to someone else but what if they have simply put more time and effort into that than we have, so logically they by all right should be more advanced in that than us. We can be inspired by others to give something a go, and then the key is to not have a picture of what it should look like. Take following a recipe to get anything to look as good as a magazine photo shopped image is unlikely to happen – but what if what you have made is exactly what your body requires? But you are disappointed because it did not match up the picture?

57. I love cooking and always have, but from what I have noticed over the years is when people say ‘I don’t like cooking or they haven’t got time’, is it possible this really means they don’t want to take care of themselves or make the time? So yes once we have a certain level of care and love for ourselves our interest in cooking changes.

58. Amazing that when we subscribe to a belief we are like a victim to it’s claim – until we decide differently.

59. Quality first, then the movement or action after. Now, I really want to go and cook something!

60. When we don’t make it about the outcome and simply enjoy the process, with whatever we are doing, it ends up being exactly what is needed at the time. It allows space for inspiration and true movement rather then a rigidness of trying to reach a goal or fit a picture.

61. I love what you shared about becoming open to learn about yourself and being willing to let go of behaviours that did not honour either you or those around you – a truly beautiful and deeply honouring way to live… it is no wonder that this is reflected in other areas of your life.

62. I would go further to say…. that LOVE is actually the missing ingredient in everything. Perhaps if something’s not going well, instead of questioning and doubting ourselves we should just try adding move love.

63. Having worked in many restaurants years ago I observed several chefs that are angry and controlling in the kitchen if only they knew that ‘everything was energy’ and cooked with love their restaurants would be a true success.

64. Amazing! It is amazing the difference in the quality of things when we bring connection to them, and do them from our inner knowing.

65. When we start to trust our feelings more than our thoughts, put more emphasis on how things feel to and in our bodies rather than relying on our personalised set of stick-on values, beliefs and attitudes, then we start to live with and through truth, with what feels right to us. The body constantly communicates to us through feeling – our very own unique barometer of truth.

66. So simple. A beautiful formula. Very well said, Breandan.

67. It’s simple things that truly make a change.

68. Adding love to everything we do is an awesome way to spice up our life.

69. When love is missing everything leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. In the fullness of love we feel delicious and crave for nothing.

70. Silvia I had so much joy reading your awesome blog. I never cooked before I met Serge Benhayon – why should I because I could go into a restaurant where people could cook my meal and I love to pay for it so that they will not loose their job as a cook. It was clear for me that cooking is not my thing.Through listening to Serge Benhayon I discovered that cooking is something I did not realize before – it is about caring for yourself – that was a new way for me to look at cooking. So when I was home I started to cook – my husband was a bit shocked – as I nearly burned our whole kitchen but I was committed to take more care for myself and so keep on learning cooking. My first ingredient I chose was joy – joy to discover the beauty in cooking and my ability to follow a flow and the second ingredient I discovered was of course love! Now I love to cook and guess what – my husband loves my food and so do all the people around me.

71. I love how you explore how for a long time we can see ourselves in a certain way and identify with this yet do we often stop to really question if this is true.

72. The idea that there is something wrong with you sounds very familiar. The problem is that what may be wrong is never what is really wrong. What people read as being wrong is always the consequence of something much more fundamental that is always inside us.

73. Yes Barbara, Love is the divine nectar that nourishes everything, all the time, if only we choose it.

74. So true Raegan – I can totally relate to cooking being a chore in the past and even now if I get too busy with work/life and I feel like I’m on this treadmill getting through my day … BUT once I bring the love and care back into my rhythm I can feel the space come back in for me to nurture, clean and cook for myself. I even find new ways of cooking and building meals that sometimes surprised me! I then realise how good I am at cooking and how much I love to cook. Makes it a whole lot more enjoyable!

75. It is our sixth sense that senses the level of love from miles away.

76. I never used to cook, I didn’t think I knew how to or what herbs and spices to put in, but now I experiment and put in what I feel to. When I prepare my food now, I get comments on how lovely the food smells.

77. That connection to ourselves is the vital key, not just in preparing our food but in life, in every activity. I am finding that when I do choose to reconnect to myself – by saying no to all those ‘but you’ve been this way for so long how will you ever recoup/reconcile all that wasted/damaging time’ thoughts, excuses and hesitations – it is actually very simple. And my answer to this excuses is that it is going to take time to recover all this ground of putting other situations and people ahead of me but if I don’t choose to change that then things don’t change, simple. Truth is I am enough and I can choose to feel that enough-ness in any moment.

78. It comes to the point you can’t fool the food at all. I notice this at home even with my own cooking. Even though the meal is exactly the same i.e salmon and veggies. It is completely different based on the quality that it was cooked with. And I don’t care who says otherwise, it makes a clear difference. It would be amazing if this detail was applied to more areas in life

79. When we do anything with Love, we can feel how different it feels from how we were when we were doing it without Love. The action is irrelevant, Love is the key, as has been said before, in cooking, in work, in relationships, in mothering, and all the bits in between.

80. This is something I have come back to often in my life, as a way to reconnect with myself “I would simply re-connect by being aware of everything I touched and feel the love in my hands whilst stirring the dish,…” Cooking with love is an awesome experience to share with others and enjoy ourselves.

81. Way before I started attending Universal Medicine events one of my favourite films was “Like water for chocolate”. It was about a young woman who was born a talented cook but all her emotions went to cooking-when she was sad, all people cried after her meal, when she was in love-everyone was making love straight after eating a handful of her cooking etc. I loved it! Then I learned that everything is energy as Serge Benhayon presented for over decade. It makes sense-whatever we do we put energy we are at into our product-in this instance-cooking. So being aware of the way we cook, walk, talk, move and making loving choices is important if we want to heal – not to harm.

82. I like that, joostblom – everything is like an un-ripe avocado if it does not have love in it. For me, I can still go into the default way of doing things at times, and so it is a constant choice to keep bringing that beautiful quality of being with each activity or movement. And it absolutely makes all the difference.

83. I loved what you said here “The missing ingredient was love.” Imagine if all cooks added this missing ingredient in all their cooking….

84. I agree Brendan ! and it is something we can all do … bring love to every meal.

85. You’ve nailed here just why the majority of take-aways, eat-in foods and meals in restaurants can be so tasteless and feel empty on the palette, even when they appear so appetising to the eye. The missing ingredient in much of our industrialised food preparation is that loving stillness during the making, that you describe so brilliantly in your blog. These days I can taste a meal a mile off that’s been made in a rush or with anxiety, obligation or projected anger and it always somehow sticks in the throat to swallow something that isn’t therefore optimal, but instead has been laced – in a way, like spiking someone’s drink. How then can that be 100% good for my own body?

86. In a lot of restaurants I have eaten at, the food may be fine dinning and all that but generally it is missing the missing ingredient and instead you are tasting the pressure and stress of the chief and the kitchen staff of getting the meal out to you and the job done.

    1. Yes, agree Kev. We have stopped eating in almost all restaurants even when they offer gluten free, dairy free and sugar free meals because the most important ingredient, love is usually missing. Instead one can ‘taste’ as you say, ‘the pressure and stress of the chief and the kitchen staff of getting the meal out to you and the job done”. Very few restaurants prepare their meals with care and love!

    2. This is so true Kevmchardy, I used to work in a fine-dine restaurant a while back and could feel the amount of frustration, pressure and abusive behaviour that goes on behind the scenes and not an ounce of the key ingredient – love .

87. Shirley-Ann, it makes such a difference when we bring love to the things we do, I have to keep reminding myself of this.

88. In the past I have found cooking to be tiresome, something that is a necessity rather than a joy, but since attending Universal Medicine presentations I have changed how I approach cooking. I am far more present when I cook, I take my time rather than rush the process and the end result is more vibrant and yummier.

89. I thought once I am a great cook…Everybody loved my cooking. The cream sauces, the elaborate meat dishes, the ice-cream and the self-made pastas. All handed with Wine or cocktails of course… And now I am cooking very simply without salt, grain, dairy or sugar and no Alcohol is in my house or my body for years. I cook with love and awareness. Many would say that this is boring or that it is tasting flat, but I found it very delicious and : Healing. It is a healing way of eating, to nourish myself instead of filling myself with an amazing taste for a few seconds in my mouth but with a bad influence for my tummy and a shut down of my awareness and ability to feel. So now I cook in a way which is really good for my body and which is supporting my relationship with me and others (because to feel is a basic for relationships I guess) – that’s true cooking for me and its yummy.

    1. I too find this new way of cooking delicious Sandra after being a “foodie” for many years and one of the reasons is because of how I feel afterwards – it’s neither weighed down nor overstimulated.

       1. Yes, I found a way of cooking that confirms my being, confirms me on my way back to who I truly am. That is so supportive and feels like wind beneath my wings.

90. It’s so funny how we box things into talented or not talented, when with quality and care you can be amazing at almost anything.

91. I’ve noticed when I eat out in a restaurant that I can feel full from eating the meal and it may have satisfied my taste buds, but I don’t feel nourished, and I realised it was because I’m used to eating food prepared with love either by me or by others, and when the love is absent, I don’t feel nourished by it and will then feel hungry again when I’m not.

    1. It’s the magic ingredient which is so much deeper than how the dish may look like. Let’s not forget that if a meal doesn’t feel right it’s a reflection of how the person who prepared it is living – something that we’re responsible for every day – and, by the way, I love the tenderness thing.

92. Are you saying that love tenderised the meat Michael 🙂

93. It makes such a difference when I approach the meal I am cooking with presence and care rather than something that I need to get done. The whole look and feel of the dish feels entirely different when I have finished and the whole experience nourishing.

94. Indeed. Food to grow or food to dull.

95. This had been such an issue for me growing up in the Indian family. It was expected all women needed to be good cooks, another added bonus for when it was time to marry.
    Funnily I didn’t join that tradition. I cooked ‘my’ way which wasn’t always approved of particularly by my mum.
    When I met my husband, he loved what I cooked, I just didn’t feel impulsed to cook Indian food. This is where I introduced ‘East meets West’, experiments. Not always successful but the first time I had a person in my life who was not judging me and loved anything I served up.
    Since meeting Serge for the first time in August 2014, my cooking has evolved at a different level. I have taken a deeper interest in what I prepare, cook and serve up. What serves my body, observing how my body responds when I eat certain foods and my husband loves the food and he has never met Serge Benhayon.
    This is still a work in progress and I’m always keen to see what other students have prepared for lunch when I attend any workshops and I go home and try it out, I can honestly say I love cooking more than ever.

    1. Hi Shushila, cultural pressure to cook and eat a certain feels like it has the possibility to keep us trapped in one spot for a very long time. Trying something new opens a whole world of possibilities, which can be scary for some.

    2. Great to read your experience Shushila, I would imagine with many cultural backgrounds such as Indian the expectations of what and how to cook are very strong. Wonderful to read you allowed your way of intuitively cooking to develop and continue to do so.

    3. I love your comment Shushila. There is so much pressure exerted by some cultures on the woman to be a super chef as part of her marriage qualifications. It takes a strong woman to resist that pressure and find her own expression in the kitchen and it sounds like you are truly enjoying your whole relationship with food, especially more so having found that special ingredient, Universal Medicine! My love of cooking has quadrupled since meeting Serge Benhayon and my experiments with food are certainly much more successful these days now I have re-connected to my love and honour my body’s preference of ingredients. I know from gatherings in the U.K that we can all turn out some amazing dishes cooked from some very simple ingredients and heaps of love.

96. This is something that I have often felt in life and come back to, as a way to reconnect “I would simply re-connect by being aware of everything I touched and feel the love in my hands whilst stirring the dish,…” Cooking with love is an awesome experience to share with others and enjoy ourselves.

97. If we just allow ourselves to be in the moment and feel from there what is needed next, life can be so amazingly simply.

98. Whenever ​my housemate ​bakes broccoli it tastes so good and why is this so? because she makes it with so much love.. I too have come to the conclusion that love is the missing ingredient in many peoples food.

99. Yes love certainly does.

100. What I really love, apart from also cooking with love, is the feeling in my body when I eat food I have prepared lovingly. I actually do a little dance on my seat, every cell in my body is dancing as I appreciate how yummy and nourishing the food is, that I have created the space and time to do this, made the choice to care for myself and others in this way, and also the fact that I honoured what my body felt to eat.

101. I agree Brendan and it also works both ways – if I’m not present when I cook eg. having a chat with myself in my head about something completely different, my food can be rather ‘meh’. Not only disappointing from the flavour aspect but devoid of love and therefore the nourishment love provides us. I find I often feel bloated and heavy if this has been the case. It’s great to take a moment to truly feel the difference. It makes the choice to stay present when I cook a no-brainer.

102. Lovely, it’s so simple. We don’t need complicated recipes or ingredients, just presence and love. I can feel the joy you are putting into your cooking as well. I am inspired to take extra care to be really present next time I cook.

103. What I really like about this blog, is how you have equated love with love for yourself, making food for others with all the love that you have to share, not in a needy way looking for recognition.

104. Presence, presence, presence, presence! The more one is with themselves, and thus listening to their body, the more the cooking becomes a masterpiece without even trying.. oh so fun and so simple!

105. So true Michael – proof of the pudding – so to speak 🙂

     1. Yes. The magic pudding . . . (so to speak)

     2. I am reminded of our Christmas Pudding filled with little trinkets and sixpences – Lyndy’s magic pudding and fully proofed and brandied.

106. You are right Shirley-Ann ‘It’s all about love in all that we do, it’s the main ingredient for life itself’. Thank you for the reminder.

107. It was indeed a miracle, what followed after your introduction to Universal Medicine and meeting Serge Benhayon. What else do we call going from believing something is wrong with you to living in the joy of knowing who you truly are.

108. Love brings nourishment to food like nothing else.

     1. I absolutely agree ruthketnor, as does my whole body, it is a testament to this. When I eat food prepared with love I feel so joyful , as it is a confirmation of the nourishment and love that I feel in my body as a result of this. When I feel complete and nourished there is no need for anything else, no feeling of emptiness or reaching for snacks to try and fill up the space that I feel, when I do not cook or express with love.

109. As I have realised that when just being me I can do far more, I have also come to realise that includes doing it in a way that is right for me, not necessarily the way the ‘experts’ do it. Actually when I connect with me, I am my own expert.

110. It is interesting that I was raised that outwards emotions were not something men did, 60 years later not a lot has changed. I had always liked to cook and still do. Looking back at all those years of cooking meals I had been expressing my feelings in what I served. It was my secret way of expressing to others with out being seen, when working in restaurants. Your being ‘deeply connected to the task at hand’ is what brought this up in me from the past. This is just more conformation to me that love has always been inside of me and everyone all of the time…it is just remembering which shelf we put it on.

111. And I especially love the word exquisite – that describes it perfectly!

112. ‘Be aware of how amazing we are then what we do is naturally exquisite.’ I like that!! And it’s true when we feel great in ourselves everything we do feels great.

113. My cooking skills were minimal when I moved in with my first girlfriend. She took on the role of mothering me which I lapped up and allowed me not to cook. Twenty years later and I am now quite confident in the kitchen, this confidence grows as I do.

114. I have found when I go into cooking a meal disconnected from my body and still in the momentum of the day I can feel exhausted by the end of cooking, where as if I stay connected to myself and concious that I cooking to support my body, thats when the fun in the kitchen really begins

     1. Yes me too Oliver. Cooking with purpose and love 😊

     2. I agree Oliver it is fun, and also when I am present in my cooking I just know how much of each ingredients my body needs so meals vary in flavour but the love is the same.

115. Food is such an incredible and constant reflection for us. Whether it is the taste, the process of cooking or the meal choice itself there is so much for us to see. When a meal turns out ‘wrong’ so to speak it is never that we aren’t good at cooking – we just aren’t ourselves!

     1. Vicky that’s a great way to see it, I like what you say “when a meal turns out ‘wrong’ so to speak it is never that we aren’t good at cooking – we just aren’t ourselves”.

     2. It is true Vicky, food is an amazing reflection on how we are with ourselves as are many other factors, such as our sleep and work which all contribute to how we are each and everyday.

     3. And isn’t that true for everything Vicky? Whether it be cooking or working. I often experience how easy my work feels these days because I am connected to myself, and things get done so much more easily and quicker because I don’t have to go back and fix up mistakes, or labour over something.

     4. So true Vicky, it is a clear reflection of our state of being. Cooking with love is the best, yummiest food.

116. I love those words too Karin. As I was reading them I could feel myself stirring my food with such delicateness, and it felt amazing. And to bring that level of awareness to not just our cooking, but to everything we do, cannot but help to make a huge difference to the quality of our lives, one conscious movement at a time.

117. This is a massive point of distinction between lovingly prepared food and ‘good’ food. You can be in the fanciest restaurants with the best ingredients but if the kitchen staff are treated un-lovingly and there is disharmony then what food are we getting served up.

118. Thank you for the ultimate recipe for great food “I made it more about the way I was cooking and how I was feeling whilst cooking without identifying with what I was cooking, as I was doing before”. and adding a few extra handfuls of love…

119. I too used to think that I was a bad cook but once I just let myself be myself while cooking and stopped trying and be like everyone else I found out that I loved cooking because I love just being ME.

120. I have recently made a deeper commitment to myself with food and am loving the feeling of how supportive food is when prepared with consideration and love. It feels truly healing.

     1. I’ve recently done the same thing for myself Rebecca and absolutely love how this feels in my body.

121. I have found when I make the time to cook proper meals, not just quick easy, often sugary ones, it feels so much better and more loving knowing I am nourishing my body.

     1. I agree Rebecca, my relationship with food has changed enormously. I no longer reach for the quick and easy, often sweet and sugary foods to snack on, I now take the time to prepare tasty nourishing meals and appreciate the real benefit of it. Choosing to focus on love as the main ingredient brings a deep natural sweetness to everything we do.

        1. And also what I have found is that when I do automatically reach for the snacks and sugar, I realise its simply because I am either hungry and need a proper meal, or simply bored.

     2. I agree Rebecca, if I don’t put the care and attention into my food it is often then when something doesn’t quite work, it doesn’t taste great. And I can actually still feel hungry after I have eaten, or even very tired. This shows just how much food can actually affect me if I don’t stay present while making it

        1. Good point Oliver – feeling hungry after a meal is a great indication to me that either it wasn’t what I needed to eat, wasn’t prepared with enough care or I was distracted while I was eating it to the point I didn’t even register I had.

        2. Yes Rebecca, what you describe here is also my experience. When I eat from some form of emptiness and need and not to truly nurture my body, it leaves my body un-nurtured, somehow empty and no food in the world can then fill that up. My body might get full and gets some form of energy to function but it falls short from how I feel when I cook and eat in a very loving way, being present in all the little details. Much less food is needed, I feel more vital and I am left to enjoy the stillness of me.

        3. Such a great point Oliver! If the food gets to the plate and it has not been made with love, I know I wasn’t connected when I was making the food. When I look back it is the process of connection and bringing alchemy to cooking that makes it so enjoyable and not necessarily the eating part (yum).

     3. Yes Rebecca, the allowing of space to prepare a lovely nourishing meal is so more loving for the body. Also taking the time to be consciously present whilst cooking is even more supportive.

        1. I agree Natalie – I am still working on that – not shutting the fridge door and walking away as it closes, but actually taking the time to close it with me etc.

        2. Absolutely Natalie, life is not a lineal progression of tasks which lead t the end result (say- eating food) every moment can be lived in truth or it can be brushed past as a passing one, or it can be given the presence it deserves which will bring much joy, it is the simplicity that we avoid.

122. “For a long time I thought I was a ………….. .until I discovered the missing ingredient.” I love this line as it applies to anything in our lives. We could fill in the blank with many things we ‘thought’ we were but are not when we apply love. It also goes to show us how untrue and not real our thoughts are, but are a great way of deceiving and controlling us from being who we innately are.

     1. Great point. The application of this sentence to most areas of our lives opens up many realisations. The power of our mind is huge and as has been shown, not always in a positive way. When we connect to our bodies something else can be felt and realised too.

123. Love does make the difference :o)

     1. It really does Michael – when I really focus on what I’m doing in the kitchen and feel how the dish needs to be composed then the results is awesome. What I’ve also learnt is that when I cook for others and feel how the dish need to be composed for them it might be slightly different than if I’m just doing it just for me.

        1. I can relate to this mattsjosefsson as cooking has always been an enjoyment for me over the years and even more so when I cook for family and friends, it is great sharing dishes with others and also great when I make the same effort for myself.

124. When we bring love to all that we do, everything constellates with ease and flow, and becomes joyfull and effortless.

     1. This is lovely Jenny, I can really feel the simplicity this brings.

     2. This is very true Jenny and it makes you wonder why we complicate things so easily and so often.

     3. Beautiful and simple Jenny, so true! and when cooking it becomes delicious too!

     4. Beautiful Jenny. Your words feel so light and expansive. Thank you.

     5. This feels gorgeous. What a beautiful way to feel responsibility as the love we bring to all we do.

     6. Beautifully said Jenny. Without love, everything feels like an effort.

125. I hope one day I will get to taste the food that you have prepared! great article 🙂

126. Thank you Silvia for this inspiring sharing of love and presence in everything we do being who we are. The missing ingredient so often in food and how we live. Cooking with love has been a hudge topic and revelation everywhere I have been this week and been with such a joy and appreciation shared.

127. so true Natalie.

128. This blog clearly shows how the quality in which we do everything has a massive impact on they way we live with others. That is actually not just about us and us alone, that we are here to live together and in harmony.

129. What made me stop today was the first words in the title … “I thought”. It made me realise how often do we think we are something when in fact we are not. These are just preconceived notions, ideals and beliefs we have assumed or taken on, when in fact this is not the truth, nor what can be felt in our bodies. And also, how we try to ‘improve’ things by doing this or that, often looking outside ourselves for all the answers, when the only truth can be found inside our self, not any where else.

     1. Yes Gyl, this is a great point. Our thoughts are often not the truth, but things we have taken on and then end up believing – sometimes for years! Blogs like this are so inspiring because the comments really do bring up issues that are so important to discuss. I am going to take a careful look at the thoughts I have that I ‘think’ are true.

130. Agreed Rachael, it comes to the point you can’t fault the food at all. I notice this at home with my own cooking. Even though the meal is exactly the same i.e. salmon and veggies, it is completely different based on the quality that it was cooked with. As you say, if this applies to cooking this can apply to all areas of life. It’s how I write an essay, how I talk to a stranger or how I drive my car. All these factors make up the ingredients to a delicious life, if prepared with love and care.

131. What a wonderful comment Catherine – anything I’ve been told I’m not good at I can let go of. I can let go of any attachment to doing something well according to some measure outside myself, and simply be love with what I am doing.

132. This is so inspiring for so many aspects of life. This blog and the wisdom you are presenting could be easily transferred to writing, singing, speaking, dancing, dressing/styling and anything design. When you add the secret ingredient love and the way you simple be yourself everything changes and you become at ease and expressive in many areas. When I go to Universal Medicine events, I always have a little smile at all the amazing food people are eating because I know that it comes from the love in the preparation and the flow of cooking from within.

133. This is a gorgeous blog, thankyou, it really is the essence of it all isn’t it – the missing ingredient – LOVE – if only we could remember to bring it to everything we do.

134. You meals would be yum no matter what you cook.. makes me want to come over for a meal 🙂 Truly inspiring way of cooking.
     When I was a new cook, I used to try to follow recipes but it never worked for me as I would just go with what I felt to put in the food and it turned out just fine. Now I just take ingredients and put them together and walla a beautiful dish is cooked. Yes, its from how you’ve shared, from a place of love and feeling that we create magic in our food.

135. Yesterday evening I prepared such a lovely meal. I did not think at all, but just bought ingredients that my body was asking for, I enjoyed making the food and I was preparing my dinner with love but also with the intention that this dinner was going to bring me a huge support. It had all of me in it and guess what, I got all of me after eating it.

136. I have noticed how you have taken more care with yourself over the years and it’s beautiful to read this and see that this has had such an impact on your cooking,an activity that literally feeds you back – and not just you!

137. Cooking with love and being present in our body is the best way to nurture our bodies, and it’s fun!

     1. Spot on Francisco, and said with such grace.

138. Discovering what exactly make me a good cook has been a journey. I was never really that interested in cooking until I started changing my diet and introducing a gluten/dairy free way of eating. As I took greater responsibility and self care in what I was eating, I naturally became much more interested in what I gave myself, and also how and what I gave others if I was preparing a meal.

139. Cute! It makes sense though, when we give something our all, our heart, it is bound to feel and taste beautiful.

140. I love how you say ‘I started to feel more at home with myself’ and that ‘it is enough to simply be me.’ This is beautiful. I have found too, the more at home, the more comfortable I feel in my body, the less criticising I am with myself and things just start to unfold and blossom.

141. Isn’t it ridiculous how easy it is to cook, and how hard it can seem. I was the same, never cook without a recipe, never really thinking I have done a good job. It occurs to me the way we see ourselves, i.e. either as a great cook or a bad cook is a huge part of the problem. Cooking is easy when there is love and joy in it, and when we are cooking to nurture our bodies with this delicious food!

     1. Yes Heather, same here. I also used to adhere strictly to a recipe and then feel that I had not done as good a job as I could have. Once I started to become more interested in food and how it was nurturing, the recipe book went out the door and I cooked according to what my body was feeling – a sprinkle of this here and a dash of something else there, so to speak! Then after listening to the presentations of Serge Benhayon I discover the missing ingredients – staying present with what I was doing and doing whatever I was doing with ‘love’ and joy. How different does food taste and feel once the missing ingredients are added!

     2. Hi Kate, this is a lovely image of cooking and cleaning being a ‘harmonious dance in the kitchen.’ When that happens, simple things that can sometimes feel like a chore become a joy.

142. Sarah’s cafe has the best food in the world – not only super glorious and tasty food ingredients, but that harmonious way of cooking and serving. If I was closer I would go there every day!

143. Cooking for me is one of the best ways to truly feel were I am at. To feel my body and marvel at the magic it can work. Feeling into what my body needs to eat instead of what I simply would want to eat has been a big change. A change that has resulted in even tastier dishes than before, because they are now truly made with love, love for myself.

144. Cooking and how we are with food can reveal so many things, on so many levels. I used to be quite unsure about whether the food I prepared was good enough and up to scratch, especially when cooking for more people. Now I find that I just need to be present with me and focus on what I am doing and the quality I am doing it in, and everything is simple and gets taken care of without any fuss or stress.

145. Very beautiful reading you describe how when cooking you chose to deeply connect to the task at hand, feeling the warmth in your hands and heart, knowing that the love will be felt by those who eat the food. Just reading it was enough for me to feel enriched and nourished. How glorious would it be to actually be served such food.

146. Another wonderful example of the fact that the energy we are doing things in and consequently how we are when doing something, is just as important if not more so, than what it is we are actually doing.

147. I love how you identified with a way of cooking as opposed to getting lost in the need to do, with the meal you were making. You are talking of a deep trust in yourself that you innately know how to do something and that it will unfold if you stay with that trust. I have experienced this before and it is an amazing way to live, it makes it so much more simple to connect to this trust and knowing, that we all have and not get caught in the mind of the “I can’t”.

148. It is so true… food made with love is just SO delicious!! Love is THE not-so-secret and absolutely necessary ingredient! 🙂

149. I also know this to be true when I am connected to my essence. Cooking is an extension of that and is fun and I want to do it. More often than not I do not feel this way and its is something I have to do with no joy or love in it. The one where I am connected is infinitely more loving to eat!!!

150. I know that my food can taste so different depending on the way I have prepared it. It is absolutely delicious when I have prepared it with love and care.

     1. I agree Rebecca. The loving quality in which I prepare my food is a reflection of the loving quality on my plate and therefore in my stomach which translates to how it will affect my body. Beautiful to feel the love in our food. Another gorgeous way to lovingly nurture and care for ourselves and all others.

151. The warmth of love in your hands and heart as you prepare the food can felt by others as they eat the food. How wonderful and this can be brought to all that we do, and so be felt by others.

152. Very inspiring.

153. This blog is a great example of how thoughts come to us from outside ourselves. You started with knowing you knew how to cook, then friends repeatedly stated you were a bad cook, you started to believe these thoughts to be your own and took them as the bible of truth. Yet when introduced to the truth, you already know everything within and let this replace the previously held belief you thought to be true. All of a sudden you were a good cook, WOW!

     1. Beautifully said shevonsimon.

154. I can testify and agree that whatever we do in or with love and in total connection allows for so much joy in our bodies and our life, cooking, walking, writing, sitting, breathing, working, driving, living … just being. And the magic is that none of this comes from outside, it is all absolutely within every single one of us, for we are all divine. This love is absolutely felt and all the same, whether you are with people or on your own.

     1. gylrae , I so agree with everything you have written. I cooked in a nursing home for many years, not only did the residents love my food, but the staff as well. Have always felt that if I wouldn’t eat the food then I wouldn’t serve it to others, so mix in the love in everything we do and live, yummo.

155. I love your blog, and it has come very timely for me. Your blog is really inspiring me to go deeper with my cooking, even when I’m just cooking for myself. A beautiful read, I can totally feel what you’re sharing here.

156. Super inspiring to take extra care and attention with cooking, and bring my love to it and all.

157. exactly Susie imagine where the world would be if this was taught when we were young. I feel it is safe to say we wouldn’t have the enormous rise in obesity and some health issues, because if that much love, care and attention to detail is applied to yourself then you body is going to express this also.

158. Love your comment here fransiscoclara8, and so very true, we never run out of love; the fountain of love within overflows and all we have to do is let it flow out into all that we do.

159. Some of the best meals I have ever tasted have not been from a famous cook book, but from the loving way in which a few simple ingredients have been put together and cooked with love, knowing it is feeding friends and family.

160. Francisco, love your playful comment about the key ingredient of love, ‘the best thing about it is that you never run out ‘. In fact not only does it never run out but the quality of ‘love’ is forever deepening as we make love our living way… hence our food gets yummier and yummier. . .

161. I definitely can taste a meal cooked with love. Presence, connection and love the main ingredients for the perfect meal.

162. YUM. Now that is the kind of food I want to eat – how great it would be if restaurant kitchens operated more like you describe and less like war zones!

     1. Good point Helen…

163. Yes indeed it is Christina, beautiful and essential.

164. I would love that.

165. Love it Bina. How true and innocent to simply go back to square one, to simply feel what our body wants to eat rather than “feeding” it our ideals and beliefs of what a meal should be. When I come to eat and I achieve in feeling what my body wants before eating, rather than coming at it with a preconceived idea of what a meal is or how to eat, I have found this is truly supportive for my body, and when I really listen, when I really go back to that innocence, I have never felt more energised. But isn’t this similar to life as a whole? In almost everything we do we come with an agenda, an idea of what is normal, but what a way to build a relationship with ourselves and our bodies, if we just go back to square one, and ask ourselves, our bodies, how to interact in every avenue of life. It is quite astonishing the level of quality that can be felt when I live this way

166. When I was younger I use to say I was a bad cook, only because I use to compare myself to my mother. But in truth when I cook with love and with no expection my food is lovely. My husband loves my dishes, and he is an amazing cook.

167. Indeed Bina, what I discovered for myself just recently is that nurturing ourselves is not listening to what we want to eat, but what we need to eat. A big thing and a very beautiful one :o)

168. Beautiful Hannah! I can relate to the love for cooking; I have always been a ‘good’ cook but can feel more presence and love is needed in my practice to make it a meditative and confirming practice in my day. I can feel how my arrogance for being a good, fast and creative cook can mask my appreciation and love for the process. Appreciation and confirmation is now my focus in love-filled cooking 🙂

169. It feels like your cooking went from something functional, something you just had to do, to something you now use to support yourself to continue to feel the wonderful way you now do. Great!

170. Absolutely Bina; cooking a meal can be quite a simple task, but it comes with a lot of responsibility. Everything we do – how we season the food, how it’s stirred, how we choose to cook it, the size we cut it and so forth is ALL felt and picked up on by the person eating it.

     1. Very true Bina and Susie, it comes with a lot of responsibility because it is going to affect whoever is eating the meal. A fact that most people are not aware of.

171. Agree Peta, being present with what we are doing and just being our natural self, feeling the warmth in our hands and heart as we are preparing food and cooking should be the first instruction for any recipe!

172. I just read, not for the first time but understood for the first time about the fact that if you don’t cook with the ingredient love or the intention of love then you are cooking with an energy that will do harm to the person that eats the food. This really was a stop and ponder moment for me.

     1. Exactly kevmchardy, a point that serves well for us all to remember in our everyday life and cooking. As with everything else, if we are not present with what we are doing, there cannot be love in the end result.

173. ‘I would say this is something that a world running with exhaustion could do with a good healthy helping of.’ – Very true Stephen. I find that food certainly affects my tiredness – both the actual food itself, and I’ve found the way in which I make it plays a part in making me feel down and ‘droopy’.

174. That’s so true Susie. I learnt cooking was done for either recognition and praise, or eating so one survived. An effort was only made when a special occasion demanded it and then it was stressful (so many cooks got super stressed in the kitchen). So food wasn’t done with love and a celebration of people coming together.

     Great to be aware of this and so wonderful to feel what has indeed been the missing ingredient all along.

175. I agree christinahecke!!

176. Thank you. This brings me enormous insight to my profession ( I am a cook). This has really also nailed what I felt before, that I could feel the personality of the person who cooked the food I ate.
     Also, how the same recipe can be soo different in result depending on who has cooked it.
     On a more personal note, I understand in my household growing up and in my own family home and meals, why there are often so many arguments, stress, anxiety. The quality of energy you are in and especially whether you are present with what is happening as you cook affects all those who eat it.
     “What are we really bringing to the table?”
     Come to look at it, your whole quality of you, your day, how you are culminates in moments such as eating.
     “what quality are we eating? and eating in ?”
     But of course, what is beautiful with this awareness is that we can choose to “Stop”, connect, feel. And then make a true choice what energy we are in, and want to be in.

     Wonderful to hear how your cooking has changed so much!

     1. Love your ‘cooking’ question Michelle, ‘What are we bringing to the table?’ Kool!

177. That is very cool – love is for sure the missing ingredient when it comes to food! I know I can cook the same meal twice, the first time hurrying and tired and frustrated, and the second time with such great love, care and attention, and they taste TOTALLY different!

178. A transformation through the judgement and self-belittling (wearing the label of being a bad cook), to bringing you, in all your sweetness, to your cooking and letting love work its magic. A beautiful breakthrough – thank you for sharing.

179. If I eat food not prepared with love I can feel it in my body, it’s quite revealing.

     1. I am also now acutely aware of when I cook and it is not from a place of love, or if I eat a meal prepared by another that has not been prepared with love. My body now rejects it and I have big problems digesting these meals.

180. A very delightful blog: Love brings beauty and simplicity to everything.

181. So true Hanna, I can vouch that your food is both nourishing and delicious. You love cooking and your cooking loves those who are fortunate enough to share it with you back!

182. Apparently if a tv cooking programme suggests a new ingredient there is a run on it and the supermarkets sell out.

     Imagine what would happen if everyone decided to start cooking with Love

     1. Very true kathiefreedom and this ingredient is freely available to everyone!

183. Great blog I love it

184. Such a delightful reminder of the powerful impact the ingredient of ‘love’ has on every single thing we do in life.

     1. Absolutely Golnaz – it is a transformative ingredient to any situation.

     2. Yes without love nothing tastes truly good.

     3. Thank you for this timely and powerful reminder, Golnaz, that cooking is not the only thing where the ingredient of love has a delightful impact on and in our daily lives.

185. Silvia, beautiful to read how you found your stillness while cooking. I’m finding that I’ve mastered stillness in one area, and now learning to filter it out to all areas of my life.

186. Sylivia that’s fantastic that you have a new found love with food and all that you do. Well, an old love that you are re-connecting to. Look forward to one of your meals in the future sometime!

     1. It can be a great way to nurture yourself, taking the time to prepare and cook healthy meals.

187. Jennifer, I love your idea – it has been a long time since I stopped watching the sophisticated TV cooking shows, they all made me feel stressed out and never inspired me whatsoever.

188. It’s not about what we do or the end result but the quality of energy we are in and this can be said for everything. Reading this powerful blog brings home to me that even in the simplest of tasks we do it is about the energy we are in – loving or not loving and which ever we choose it affects us deeply.

189. I can totally relate to this with many things. I thought I was a terrible singer and would try to listen to myself so I could learn how to make it better. I would also adjust how I sang based on how others were doing it. However in the last six years I’ve discovered I’m an amazing singer. The more deeply I have connected with my body the more I have realised that I can actually feel my voice deep in my throat and my chest, and for me to enjoy how this feels.. The more I focus on what I’m feeling, enjoying the vibration in my body, and letting go, the more amazing and natural the sound is!

     1. Great sharing Danielle, I also thought I was a terrible singer and felt very ashamed about my voice. Since attending the courses of Universal Medicine and the workshops from Chris James, I have truly started to enjoy my voice. This has nothing to do with my voice though, but with the love I am feeling for myself more and more. It is this love that comes with my voice as well and with that, a huge appreciation for who I am.

     2. Worlds best instrument ever – one of a kind and constantly getting better!

     3. It’s so true that by connecting with our body and feeling what it feels like to express (I.e. food, singing, painting etc) we are actually getting the chance to feel our full beauty in what we do, knowing it’s our energy that makes it so beautiful, not how good we have done what we do.

     4. I can relate to this Danielle, having labelled myself and been labelled as a terrible cook and a terrible singer. I’m now discovering that this is not true, I really enjoy cooking now and am finding my way with it, the same goes with singing, although it is early stages with the singing, ‘I would also adjust how I sang based on how others were doing it. However in the last six years I’ve discovered I’m an amazing singer.’

     5. That’s great Sandra, bit by bit we could all eventually focus on all areas of our life.

190. I agree Victoria. Bringing love to all that we do through a dedicated consistent presence with ourselves and connection with others is a miracle. Building this consistency of love in all that we do becomes a rhythm that not only supports us, but also offers inspiration and reflection to others.

     1. That so much in my day feels so loving and awesome – it is truly miraculous. Great to claim this all the more Lee. We live in a culture that by and large does not want to see the enormous possibilities shown here – yet it is a culture that can only benefit, and greatly so, through seeing the everyday miracles so many are now living.

191. The found ingredient that will spice up anything… Love

     1. yes, that’s fun Jamie..Love is the new ingredient, just add to anything.

     2. Yes and it’s the cheapest ingredient around, found globally and in all seasons!

        1. How true Danielle!

        2. Haha I love this. Absolutely. Always in season, abundant, and can be sourced and enjoyed by all.

192. What a cool blog, I actually havent appreciated the cooking skills I have gained since embracing Universal Medicine… It’s like is natural! And when the natural you starts to come out, so does the cooking:-)

     1. Absolutely, Ariel! My cooking has definitely changed since dedicating myself to the Way of the Livingness, not only in the ingredients that I will use in my meals, but the care I bring to the food I make brings a different quality to the food that is almost beyond just the taste. On the flip side, these days it is really easy to tell when I’ve made something without all of me! Grey vegetables, overcooked (or undercooked) meat are all sure signs!

     2. I share the same experience Ariel, one day from getting meat pies from the tuck shop at school to making and packing my own lunches.

     3. I agree Ariel, my cooking skills also improved since I met Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. Mind you, I started from zero and would still like to get better but now I can actually do half the cooking!

     4. After cooking with love for a long time now I really notice how terrible and devoid of love fast food is.

        1. Sure it’s quick and easy but it does not nourish the being.

        2. Absolutely agree Dean, I don’t like walking past any fast food outlet, I can feel that energy and my stomach feels yuk!! There is certainly no love in it.

        3. I can’t believe places like McDonald’s are so popular. When they definitely do not look after people’s health.

        4. They never really tell you the long term effects of a fast food diet like that – as long as you keep buying their hamburgers they are happy enough to sell them… but look at what fast food has done in the US and more recently China!. But then again we as consumers have been willing enough to allow such food for the masses because we occasionally buy it and or simply allow it by not speaking up against it.

        5. Hmmm… and not only in it’s nutritional sense…

        6. I heard that the 100% beef in their burgers was actually just the brand name of their meat supplier, cunningly designed though to give the impression that it was high grade and healthy – not true!

        7. Yes it seems like we are a long way away from adding love as the central ingredient.

        8. Definitely. I think they substituted love for that chemical/compound that makes you want to eat more and more.

        9. Emptiness, is that of the chemical compound list? 😉

        10. I’m not sure, but it’s definitely on the menu.

     5. I agree, Matilda, I also had not appreciated how my cooking skills have developed since working on my connection, as a result of meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. The sentence ” So much of the striving and expectation has gone, to be replaced with simplicity, fun, me and service” stands out for me. My food is so much more simple nowadays, and the trying has disappeared. There is no more proving of myself, but such a simplicity in what I prepare and the flavour and feel of the food has evolved tremendously, I just feel what herbs/spices to use and the result can be amazing.

     6. Beautifully expressed Ariel. I too now feel how natural cooking is, as if all my senses are alive and showing me what’s next; what to add, how long to cook and then finally, how to present it on the plate. A most joyful experience compared to the “have to cook” attitude I used to have!

193. Great, I agree that the main ingredient is love – I love the way you now cook and feel what herbs and spices to add and it turns out just right.

     1. Love is definitely the missing important ingredient. I’ve had people share with me that they feel lovely or happy or settled when and after they eat the meals I prepare.

194. Beautifully put Gina. I also find that when I’m more present and with myself, time seems to expand and if I need to get something done quickly, 10 minutes can seem like an hour. On the other hand when I’m rushing, in anxiousness or stressing time seems to work against me and minutes slip through my fingers like buttercream.

195. Cool blog….I love how you now know how your cooking can naturally turn out when you just add love and presence….making it simple, which can relate to all things in life.

196. “I also began to stay more present in my body as I went about my daily tasks, paying full attention to what I was doing; I noticed how I started to enjoy myself more.” I too have been working with this recently and the immediate change that can be felt in my body and the day is so clear. There is a contentment, a joy, a commitment and a completion to each task and the day. I feel much more joyful, steady and love being me. It just goes to show how the simplest of things, can change change everything.

197. ‘ I made it more about the way I was cooking and how I was feeling whilst cooking, without identifying with what I was cooking ‘ to bring focus and care to everything I do can bring love to all areas of my life. Thank you Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.

198. “I started to feel more at home with myself as I began to realise that there was nothing wrong with me and that I am not the only one who sometimes felt lost. I didn’t need to ‘fit in’ anywhere – it’s enough to simply be me.” This is so true, and a joy to read, I can feel and know this is true. There is nothing more amazing than feeling at home, and knowing we are way more than enough.

199. Thank you Silvia for sharing so beautifully all about love ,the missing ingredient and most felt and appreciated by oneself and everyone . Pressence ,connection and love are all vital to our way of living with harmony within and digested with every mouthful .

200. Love, the missing ingredient. Lovely reflection on what bringing love in to life can bring. Thank you.

201. Well they say variety is the spice of life! I found myself habitually eating the same things, out of convenience and laziness. And when my body started to object, I realised I should feel what my body wants and not eat what my mind thinks it wants. And I know it to be true that the more love and conscious presence we put into preparing our food the more it sustains and nourishes us. This is forever changing for me too.

202. Gorgeous blog, add a little love and care to any situation and it’s like the magic missing ingredient : )

203. Simply wonderful to read and feel the commitment to loving you and how each detail plays an important part of the whole of loving us. Cooking for me is a great way to connect and feel and honour all that is there before us – cooking for others and ourselves is a great responsibility and when completed in love serves everyone so deeply.

     1. Yes I agree with you Lee – cooking for others and ourselves is a great responsibility but I don’t always see this. Often I will make other commitments more important and prepare something that is easy or quick to prepare. Thank you for the reminder.

204. There is nothing quite like feeling at home in yourself. From here we can bring the love we are to anything. Cooking is always a great reflection of how we are living. I can feel how much love you live with now – its very beautiful.

205. Wouldn’t that be amazing!

206. Absolutely Chan Ly, this applies to every aspect of life.

207. Beautifully said Ray.

208. I agree Rik, I have always loved cooking and in Mediterranean families it is a real ritual to eat together around the same table and share good fresh food. The Mediterranean diet is the one I have grown up with and the one I prefer – dishes from the South of France to the Middle East which is the other side of our “pond”. Delicious !

209. Thank you Silvia, this is a great blog that exposes how we are made to believe that we need to learn things to be good at instead of feeling into it, and just expressing what we have already inside.

210. What a beautiful blog and a lovely reminder to just be with me in my body and everything else will fall into place.

211. From the experience you described it demonstrates how harmful seemingly harmless ( but deprecating at the same time) jokes can be. Having been on the dishing out and on the receiving end of such, I too know this from first hand experience and understand that even a humourous put down of another is a way we have developed to feel better about ourselves.

212. I liked your description of “love in your hands” when you were stirring the pot of food. This really clicked with me as I have been puzzled at the idea of having love in my food and just been trying so hard to have it! But now I am realising that its more about the quality in which I am, the quality of stillness and then I would naturally enjoy myself and my hands when I chop and prepare food and that would carry over into eating it, feeling the joy and stillness in how I cooked it. Thank you for sharing this blog 😀

     1. That’s a great revelation to have, to realise it is in fact the quality in which you are in that makes the changes in all you do.

213. I agree Joe, love makes a huge difference to everything we do.

214. …’love changes everything’ – Yes, it really does Jennifer.

215. Brilliant Silvia I loved reading this you can feel how the quality of love changed everything for you! Very inspirational.

216. Wow this would be amazing Jennifer, if the focus of the tv cooking shows wasn’t about the perfect ingredient but, was about how the cook was living and ‘how the commitment, care and love of themselves came through in the way they prepared and cooked the food’, this would be a blessing for viewers to watch.

217. Thank you Silvia to share beautifully your process from trying to be a good cook to being yourself and as a result a loving and wise cook. Yes, Love is the great teacher, the real medicine for all of us.
     Thank you Serge Benhayon to remind us this in every circumstance.

218. Jennifer what a great thought, that would certainly transform the way the nation cooks. Perhaps instead of rushing for the latest 6min dinner recipient it would support more people to enjoy cooking and preparing for themselves and their families. It also feels like with more care and love in cooking it would naturally bring the family together to eat, instead of the TV Dinner scenario playing out across the country. Love in cooking to love in conversation.

219. I have had the experience of eating food prepared by chefs that have not been done lovingly but in anger or frustration. The ingredients were fine, but the quality it was cooked in was not. As a result I experienced discomfort and bloating! As Serge Benhayon shares “everything is energy” so to consume anything less than love is a poison to the body. Thank you for sharing the joys of staying connected and the healing it offers, especially around the preparing and eating of food. This blog was lovely to read.

220. This reminds me of what I call “Mum food”, same ingredients, same techniques, yet it never tastes like Mum’s food. Must be the love!

221. Thanks Silvia, we need love to be present in all that we do, this blog is a great reminder.

222. That playfulness and love for cooking and everything else in life is what kinda confirms that being love with everything that you do is the way to be.

223. Of the many things, one of the greatest Serge Benhayon gave back to me was trust in myself. So it stood out when you wrote you also started to trust yourself in many ways. I have never felt I have been told what to do by Serge Benhayon, in fact, Serge Benhayon was the first teacher and author that showed me how to reconnect with me, so that I felt like I could trust myself again. Starting with the gentle breath meditation and choosing foods that did not dull me so much. Serge Benhayon presents his teachings as offerings, this is so rare in our world that his critics do not believe this is even possible. If his critics paid any attention or attended his presentations for that matter, or even applied a little logic it would absolutely be impossible for him to direct the changes hundreds of students have made for themselves.
     Through attending the Universal Medicine courses I did not feel so tangled up in a world of ideas and mental constructs, I was more free to get out of my head and know truth through my own connection and feeling. The clincher was when I tried this for myself I found it worked, that is to say my life actually fell more into place and I felt far more at ease in the world. Serge Benhayon did not give me step by step exact instructions but he did give me re-connection and tools in a world of information overload to be able to discern truth for myself. I knew with confidence what was not for me, it became easy to feel and claim what was not working in my life and be able to stop without self doubt and this was an enormous relief and freedom. I remember going through books I had read, I asked if they had really changed my life and reconnected me with what I was looking for, since the answer was mostly no, I got rid of the books. Universal Medicine offered me liberation to discern truth in a world of conflicting information, it did not and on a practical note could not have done this for me. There is no appreciation and thank you in the world that can measure up to what was just the start of my encounter with Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon.

224. Awesome to read that the missing ingredient is Love … and being in the moment whilst chopping and stirring etc .. and then I think of the crazyness that goes on in kitchens in restaurants where there is probably stress, panic, rush and little Love!

225. Beautiful story, yummy indeed. One can feel how easy it is for you to flow with the food and to just be present and enjoy without having to achieve, and paying attention to the quality. Great blog to read.

226. The missing ingredient was you … What a wonderful example of the difference bringing you to everything you do makes!

227. There is no denying that food cooked with care and attention tastes far better and love is an ingredient we all have access to.

228. Absolutely Shelley! Well said,

229. A great demonstration that it is not about recipes or techniques, but about how connected we are when we cook – that makes me wonder even more about all the glamorous cooking shows that abound, where it is only about how food looks and whether the chef is famous or not. What does that food really taste and feel like? Is this possibly another daily lived and much advertised and promoted example of the emperor’s new clothes? What are we being sold here?

230. How can anyone honestly say that they don’t like something that has true love in it?

231. yum just waiting for my dinner invite 🙂

232. I really loved what you have shared here. I too had issues around food and thinking that I could not cook and was really scared to try different herbs and experiment with food. And before Universal Medicine I did not truly understand what it is be really present when you do something and to look at the quality of energy you are bringing to what you are doing. These days I also cook with this missing ingredient – love – and take great care of what foods I buy, the energy in which I buy them, prepare them and eat them and have learnt to trust myself and what my body needs and I now love preparing and eating nourishing food and am also learning to trust what each dish needs. This one is a slow process but a welcome one. Thank you for sharing your experience with cooking, it was a beautiful read.

233. I do love this blog, it is so very sweet and joyful and inspires me to reflect on the quality of my presence I bring to the preparation of meals. With my full presence, the ingredient of Love is naturally present.

234. . . . and not only taste love Doug, but one can also be aware of love through all the other senses – smell, see, hear and touch, as well as through our sixth sense – clairsentience. Love is the essence which flavours Life!

235. You describe how love changes every task we do actually, if you do it with presence and love, the end result will show.

     1. Wise words Benkt. This is the case with everything that we do.

236. Perhaps this explains how sometimes the food we eat can taste so good and yet the next time with the same ingredients it just doesn’t hit the spot. Maybe that is the missing ingredient. It certainly pays to take care in preparing the food we eat with our utmost care, it really can make all the difference.

237. I grew up in a home where the food was generally cooked with resentment – you can certainly feel it when food is not prepared with love. Cooking is a completely different experience for me now that I feel what to cook and prepare it for my body rather than my taste buds. You don’t have to think about the quantities or the ingredients – the recipe is just known within you.

238. So true… How different does food taste, when cooked with presence.

239. Agreed Jenny, what are we feeding ourselves and others at times? I know I can feel the effects of the food I eat instantaneously, even the way I eat affects me. It cannot be anything less than love.

     1. I agree with your comment Sally ‘It cannot be anything less than love’. If we all apply this to everything that we do how amazing will it be? It is an awesome reminder for me to choose love constantly and not to settle for less.

     2. Beautifully expanded Sally.

240. There are so many cooking shows on these days where the tastes, flavors and ingredients have gone to what seems like another extreme with food. It appears like there is this never ending search to come up with the next amazing and taste tantalizing recipe all because the most important ingredient of love has been forgotten.

     1. So true Vcky, just imagine if the celebrity chefs were to share the practice of simply ‘feeling the warmth in ones hands and ones heart’ while preparing a meal; this could be hugely transformational for their millions of viewers and the food industry in general.

        1. It would be a revelation indeed. Can you imagine what they might produce if they brought the focus home to feeling the love in their hands and hearts when preparing a meal. The simplest of dishes can become a mouth watering delight when cooked with love.

     2. Exactly Vicky. Whilst the most important ingredient of love is missing, there will always be a yearning and a search for something that might satisfy the lack that we feel.

        1. Gosh this is so true and is true in all areas of our lives. When we are dis-connected from the missing ingredient of love we will always be yearning for more – hence why I feel I can over-eat.

     3. Indeed Vicky, “this never ending search to come up with the next amazing and taste tantalizing recipe” shows that cooking has become another form of stimulation and entertainment in our ever more complicated society. Chefs do come up with silly food from time to time – for example this scrambled eggs and bacon ice cream that came out in the late 1990s and that was all the rage.

     4. And their are so many TV shows and movies that we watch, where the secret ingredient of love is forgotten and therefore we forget what the secret.

     5. Its not limited to the cooking shows, the supermarkets are following suit and stocking examples of these ‘new unusual taste sensations’ but without the vital ingredient we will not be satisfied and will keep searching for what is missing.

241. Wow, thank you. It just goes to show that we all feel much more than we think.

242. In the past I used to cook to achieve delicious taste and to impress others by what I was able to create in the kitchen – this was often stressful and I was never content with the results regardless of how perfect they might have seemed to others.
     Since making it about how I am when I cook and about what food my body needs, things have changed: cooking has become a light and joyful process and the meals taste even better than before. Obviously love tastes different than pride ;o)

243. I love what you have written – I am a great cook and the more present I am, food can go to a whole other level supporting people in a way I didn’t even know it was possible.

244. This is such a great story – and I have similar experiences, you have beautifully captured the simplicity of Serge Benhayons teachings.

245. And the love is felt by the ones who eat the food. So whenever I have an ‘off day’, it immediately is tasted in my cooking. Just not uplifting. Fortunately that is not so often…..

246. And the love is felt by the ones who eat the food. So whenever I have an ‘off day’, it immediately is tasted in my cooking. Just not uplifting. Fortunately that is not so often.
     Great title for a cook book: ‘The missing ingredient’

247. I have found the same Julie – the same recipe with the same ingredients can taste and feel completely different depending on the way I have been when I have been preparing and cooking it. It’s quite interesting to reflect on it.

248. What a difference it makes when you find the ‘missing ingredient’, in so many aspects of our lives.

249. I felt it too, Alexis, every word was a feast.

250. Love in your cooking I feel in your writing and is beautiful feel.

251. Knowing that everything is energy and everything is because of energy, we have a big responsibility when we cook, so making love one of the main ingredients is a very good start.

252. Love – a mostly missing ingredient in all aspects of our lives…Great that you found a ‘recipe’ to bring love back to life (and taste ; ) ).

253. Great sharing Syliva and yes Love is the finest ingredient of all that needs to be in every dish. Letting go and being invested in how the meal will come out and if people will enjoy the meal lets the meal develop as you make it and be what ever it needs to be. All the while you get to have a wonderful time with yourself creating something delicious. Its a win win scenario.

     1. It sure is a win win scenario Natalie. And wow, the dishes that you can make when you are just having fun cooking, not trying to please anyone or make it look a certain way. I often surprise myself!

        1. Absolutely Natalie and James. I find when I just cook something I feel like eating, but without an expectation of how it is going to be, the most amazing and creative meals are created.

     2. So true Natalie. I always have a wonderful time with myself while cooking- I simply love it.

254. What a beautiful reminder that the quality we do things in – be it cooking, cleaning, talking to others or texting can definitely be felt by another, and can either be healing or harming.

255. Absolutely Jean, love is the new salt!
     (well, it’s actually a very ancient form of seasoning but some of us have been slow to catch on/remember)

256. So true Jean. This has been my experience also, not only with cooking, but with relationships, work, exercise etc. By simply connecting back more and more to my body, many things have changed. In all the years I tried looking outside of myself to change things in my life, I was looking in multiple places with never any permanent or true lasting changes. Now I find I am more aware that regardless of the situation, all I need to connect back to is me!

257. I relate to the blog very well. It has become so noticeable when I cook with present and when I don’t. I love rubbing herbs into a leg of lamb with just the right consistency to allow the skin to slightly dry up to give a crispy texture.

     However this isn’t achieved by the technique, this is achieved by the love and care I put into making the food.

     As you say ‘LOVE is the Missing Ingredient’

258. You can put any word in to replace “cook” and it would hold true to this blog. “I thought I was not beautiful”…or “intelligent” ….or ” lovely to be around”.
     When we reconnect to our essence something so beautiful bubbles forth that no one can deny it.
     When we are lost in those beliefs about ourselves you could present a 10 course banquet, fit for royalty and everyone will find fault.
     It is Love that is the missing ingredient in every aspect of life…the only seasoning that is required.

     1. Beautifully expressed Rachel and so true – love is often the missing ingredient in life and when we add this in everything changes.

259. This is a really lovely blog. I too was toted as a plain cook, having grown-up in a similar family, food wise. I later looked over the shoulder of several Michelin Star chefs whilst working overseas, so that definitely helped too – but I would have to say most of all, is the total joy and love for cooking that has developed, due to the same within. I now run by the nick-name, Full Pan, in some circles due to my illustrious culinary delights!

260. This post is a great to share and demonstrates that by simply being connected and taking loving care life can be so much more joyful no matter what you are doing. By being present and loving whatever we are doing, including cooking, naturally we know what ingredients feel right to include. Food made with love, feeling how others can feel the love in the food that is offered to them, is a wonderful way of sharing a meal.

261. I for one can testify that you cook great food. Beautiful how you describe the process of cooking and reflect it back on everything in life. And as you say the main ingredient for every “recipe” is Love.

262. I love how you now cook with love!
     It improves all areas of our life immeasurably doesn’t it 💗

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