happy Food Revolution Day! Not sure what this new-fangled holiday is all about? Don’t panic! You can still join with Jamie to make today special in a few super-simple ways!

Food Revolution Day is Jamie’s own personally-designed holiday to celebrate fresh, healthy foods and the ways in which we prepare them! Too often, our modern eating habits are characterized by quick and impersonal grab-and-gos and a little too much processed food. Jamie hopes that Food Revolution Day will encourage folks everywhere to spend a little extra time and attention devoted to thinking about the way we cook and how we eat. FRD is a wonderful opportunity to gather your family and friends and rip up the kitchen with homemade dishes. Break out the traditional from-scratch recipes with family or begin new healthy traditions with your roommates! FRD is also a wonderful opportunity to show your support to the restaurants, markets and shops in your community that are making it easier for us all to ‘get back to our roots’.

Plan a simple meal tonight from a few of the recipes on our site or check out the restaurants in your area that are participating in #FRD2013! In LA, they include tasty hotspots Picca, Mo-Chica, Paiche, The Pikey, Chego and Pressed Juicery – join in all the revolutionary fun!

Here are a few of Jamie’s own favorite tips for cooking the revolutionary way. Read them all and enter to win a copy of Jamie’s Great Britian cookbook below!

1. Learn to cook: Let’s cut to the chase, cooking is really fun to do and it’s going to make you more popular as everyone likes to be cooked for – knowing how to cook is knowing how to love – whoever you’re cooking for.

2. Cook seasonally: This is about being smart and embracing cooking with seasonal produce when it’s naturally at its best – and at its cheapest. You can back that up with nutritious frozen veg where appropriate, which can be a great value and wonderful in certain, but not all, dishes. Either way, it’s about making sure you get more of the good stuff, which tastes delicious, on your plate.

3. Cook with whole foods: Using whole foods isn’t about being worthy, it’s about taking this principle and making it a part of your everyday life because you want to eat damn tasty food, not because it’s the right thing to do. We’re much better at doing things for pleasure than ‘because we feel we ought’ to do them, so why can’t it be the same with food? The scary reality I’ve seen in many homes I’ve visited over the years is that there are too many people just eating processed, refined rubbish, then they’re surprised when they end up with type 2 diabetes at a really young age. In a funny sort of way, the front line of Food Revolution Day starts in your shopping cart – if you only buy bad stuff, that’s all you’re going to eat, but buy good food and you’ve got a chance.

4. Think about portion control: I’ve spoken to a number of the most brilliant scientific people who can talk for hours in incredible detail about our diets, but in all honesty, even they say that, in the end, portion control is our biggest enemy. Ultimately, a lot of the time, portions are simply out of control. So take a look at your plate, cut down what you’re consuming to a realistic size, and it will have a dramatic impact. I know it’s easier said than done, but real, good, fresh food has the capacity to fill you up really easily. Think about ways that you love to eat where you can really up your veg intake – add a homemade 10-veg kick-ass slaw with a nutritious dressing to a meal, do a side of wok-fried greens or hide extra veggies in a tasty tomato sauce for pasta. These are all easy ways I love to eat more of the good stuff, and you’ll find loads more inspiration on my website jamieoliver.com!

• 5. get the recipes!

  British food may get a bad rap, but Jamie is quickly changing our perception of how the Brits' like to chow down! Win a copy of Jamie's jam-packed cookbook, Jamie's Great Britain and find a few of this chef's royal recipes like the Kate and Will's Wedding Pie!

  Tell us how you'll be celebrating #FRD2013 in the comments below and we'll pick two of our favorite reader responses to win the book!