Cooking is glorious!
It really is don't you think? I mean when you can take a bunch of ingredients and combine them in just the right way to make something truly satisfying and tasty don't you just feel a little bit giddy? I do and then when it does not quite go right it can be so sad...and frustrating.
I have been working so hard there has not been much cooking except for a quick batch of my cheaters spaghetti which is basically a can of Hormel's turkey no-bean chili(mild) a can of tomato sauce, onions(sweet of course!), mushrooms and various spices like oregano, garlic,a little bit of sugar to cut the acid in the tomatoes salt, and pepper. Cook up some pasta and there ya go! I also sometimes even use a jar of premade spaghetti sauce and skip all that other stuff except the turkey chili and maybe some more spices if needed..
But even cheater dishes can be so satisfying for me instead of 100% premade foods which always taste too fatty, too sweet or too something. I just prefer using my own ingredients when I can! Although, I have also realized that if you add some pepper to certain premade dishes, especially frozen entrees, it can drastically improve the otherwise bland dish. For instances all those alfredo frozen entrees by lean cuisine or other brands taste soo much better with some pepper and garlic added. Of there are some of those frozen entrees where they have already decided pepper is the only spice to use and then it can pretty much ruin the dish...They have gotten better these days but I stopped buying Healthy Choice entrees at one point when it tasted like all they ever used was pepper in EVERYTHING!
Food can also be a fun way to get to know someone, you meet someone new you want to figure out who they are. Seems to me it is very important, after my recent mistake in husband picking, that if you are not compatible with someone on such an important level as food (unless there are health concerns) then how can you even go out to dinner or any other meal for that matter? It just seems that some compatibility in food is intrinsically important. I could NEVER date a vegan, just not possible. Maybe a vegetarian, but probably not for long. People who don't or cannot eat certain kinds of meat but eat others works fine, I have a friend who does not eat anything that has(had) hooves. And I have friends who eat only seafood for their protein, I could deal with that....but I do love a good steak and bacon so I could never go cold turkey, hehehe.
You are probably all wondering how I went from food to dating? Honestly it has a lot to do with all the changes I have been through. Once my husband left I immediately started losing weight, yeah some of it was emotional weight, but it had a lot to do with returning to foods I once enjoyed that he refused to eat; like vegetables! It has me thinking a lot about how we can be influenced by the people in our lives an how it can affect our health. I was nearly 200 pounds at one point, UGH! I did a lot of cooking during those years but I did not cook the way I used to cook, I cooked in volume, yeah I made some good stuff but I was making it not for the joy of cooking, like now, but to satisfy something else, something missing? Still not sure on that point. I also did some of the same thing with my BF before the husband, not as bad but still not completely good either.
I think if you are going to be as passionate about cooking as I am you need to find someone who enjoys it in much the same way you do, not just to fill your stomach but fill your, dare I be a bit mushy and say it? FILL YOUR HEART...enjoy your life but be smart about who you are and what you will do with it. Do not sacrifice what you truly enjoy to make someone else happy and lose yourself, does this make sense at all? Am I being too out there? I do not know all I know is that food is a very important part of my life but for better reasons than it used to be. I want to enjoy my life with food but not let others inability to understand how it can be fun and healthy change me again like it did for soo many years.
I think I am going to be making some more food changes...trying to cut out some of the junk foods I have been holding onto since I was a kid, for the last few months I have found they are more of a emotional and ridiculous habit and it needs to stop. Really start finding new ways to get what is amazing about food without all the over processed crap mucking it all up.
This could be fun, can't wait to get started, anyone want to join me?
I have been working so hard there has not been much cooking except for a quick batch of my cheaters spaghetti which is basically a can of Hormel's turkey no-bean chili(mild) a can of tomato sauce, onions(sweet of course!), mushrooms and various spices like oregano, garlic,a little bit of sugar to cut the acid in the tomatoes salt, and pepper. Cook up some pasta and there ya go! I also sometimes even use a jar of premade spaghetti sauce and skip all that other stuff except the turkey chili and maybe some more spices if needed..
But even cheater dishes can be so satisfying for me instead of 100% premade foods which always taste too fatty, too sweet or too something. I just prefer using my own ingredients when I can! Although, I have also realized that if you add some pepper to certain premade dishes, especially frozen entrees, it can drastically improve the otherwise bland dish. For instances all those alfredo frozen entrees by lean cuisine or other brands taste soo much better with some pepper and garlic added. Of there are some of those frozen entrees where they have already decided pepper is the only spice to use and then it can pretty much ruin the dish...They have gotten better these days but I stopped buying Healthy Choice entrees at one point when it tasted like all they ever used was pepper in EVERYTHING!
Food can also be a fun way to get to know someone, you meet someone new you want to figure out who they are. Seems to me it is very important, after my recent mistake in husband picking, that if you are not compatible with someone on such an important level as food (unless there are health concerns) then how can you even go out to dinner or any other meal for that matter? It just seems that some compatibility in food is intrinsically important. I could NEVER date a vegan, just not possible. Maybe a vegetarian, but probably not for long. People who don't or cannot eat certain kinds of meat but eat others works fine, I have a friend who does not eat anything that has(had) hooves. And I have friends who eat only seafood for their protein, I could deal with that....but I do love a good steak and bacon so I could never go cold turkey, hehehe.
You are probably all wondering how I went from food to dating? Honestly it has a lot to do with all the changes I have been through. Once my husband left I immediately started losing weight, yeah some of it was emotional weight, but it had a lot to do with returning to foods I once enjoyed that he refused to eat; like vegetables! It has me thinking a lot about how we can be influenced by the people in our lives an how it can affect our health. I was nearly 200 pounds at one point, UGH! I did a lot of cooking during those years but I did not cook the way I used to cook, I cooked in volume, yeah I made some good stuff but I was making it not for the joy of cooking, like now, but to satisfy something else, something missing? Still not sure on that point. I also did some of the same thing with my BF before the husband, not as bad but still not completely good either.
I think if you are going to be as passionate about cooking as I am you need to find someone who enjoys it in much the same way you do, not just to fill your stomach but fill your, dare I be a bit mushy and say it? FILL YOUR HEART...enjoy your life but be smart about who you are and what you will do with it. Do not sacrifice what you truly enjoy to make someone else happy and lose yourself, does this make sense at all? Am I being too out there? I do not know all I know is that food is a very important part of my life but for better reasons than it used to be. I want to enjoy my life with food but not let others inability to understand how it can be fun and healthy change me again like it did for soo many years.
I think I am going to be making some more food changes...trying to cut out some of the junk foods I have been holding onto since I was a kid, for the last few months I have found they are more of a emotional and ridiculous habit and it needs to stop. Really start finding new ways to get what is amazing about food without all the over processed crap mucking it all up.
This could be fun, can't wait to get started, anyone want to join me?
Back to basics ... a great approach, Cybele! I just finished making some mayo (easy and better tasting than grocery brands), 'cause I know what I make has the good stuff in it, with no shortcuts!
ReplyDeleteMade homemade eggnog once not only was it supper simple but was so incredibly amazing tasting I really have not bought eggnog since...just can't bear the processed taste of it.
ReplyDelete