First, I want to shout it from the rooftops... I have lost 20 pounds an 9.5 inches all over my body total!!! Okay, onto what I wrote while at work, to fight boredom and be productive while doing calf raises at my desk.
This weekend I tried using recipes for the first time, to make hummus, granola bars and turkey burgers. What I got was...frustrated and a kitchen disaster. I've always been a "Do it yourself/experimental" type of girl. However, since I haven't been healthy, I figured following a recipe may, in fact, be helpful in creating foods the correct way. Thinking about it though, I've decided I've always had the basic essentials to making healthy foods, I've just chose to ignore them...Until now. I'm sure I am still doing a few things wrong as I stumble through this, but the challenge and satisfaction come in when I am able to think of substitutes for the unhealthy additions to food.
A few people have told me to write recipes for the yummy, good-for-you treats I have come up with, but honestly, I don't have much method to my madness. Still I'm not quite sure how to share recipes so maybe I should share the parts of the equation I know and have you add them up to create your own creative answer...guide not direct. Recipes for me are "more like guidelines really," right?! :) I feel that the freedom to experiment and create happy accidents may create a better, more sensual relationship with our food.
Food should not fill an emotional void (like it has for me for more than half my life), but in the same breath, I dare say, it shouldn't be bland, tasteless and unenjoyable...cardboard. Food was put on this earth as first a way to sustain life, but also as something to enjoy. If food was only meant for survival and nothing more, it wouldn't have so many different flavors, textures and varieties...It would all taste like sawdust.
Imagine yourself as a child again. Taste your food for the first time. Decide if you like it, hate it or don't really care for it. As adults we have been trained to appreciate convienence over quality. Our fast paced lives dictate our taste buds. Think about what tastes you have been trained to prefer... For example: Salt, Sugar, Grease, Fried, White Flours, Canned, Heat Lamped, Butter, Artificial Sweeteners, Corn Syrup, Fat and more.
All of these detrimental "flavors" cause addiction and cravings. So when you take those flavors and replace them with fresh, healthy, non-processed, whole foods our thinking tends to lead to words like; boring, unflavorful, non-filling. Where I won't deny that that CAN be the case, we need to try and in essence retrain our bodies to conquer the cravings of our junk food.
I will be the first to admit, that it is easier said than done. But if we let our taste buds expand, as we do as unbiased children, we can be drawn to these fresh foods of preparation.
I know it has been especially challenging for me because I'm lazy. I don't want to prepare my food, I want my food ready when I'm hungry. In the past month and a half, I have created a rule of thumb for myself. After grocery shopping, I immediately make my fresh ingredients more accessible. I peel, wash, cut and store these foods so they are on-the-go ready. I also make a healthy dip (usually salsa or hummus) to go with any of my snacks or meals. Preparing my food to be convenient makes the need for foods of convience and lack of preparation way less appealing.
I am not in the habit of meal planning (it works for some, but not me. All the power to you! I have issues with authority). Do what works for you.
I have also learned that salt and butter are not an essential seasoning. I am very excited to learn more about different spices and using the foods' natural flavors to compliment each other. All in all, recipes are lost on me, but learning to cook and taste and experience food has been a fun and ever-changing challenge.
I love food! I will always love food! However, I will not respect food as a force that has the power to rule me if I let it. I choose to take control and prepare for the unexpected.
One of my favorite things to make is salsa:
Add the ingredients into a fine mixer.
Tomatoes (5 or 6)
Bell Pepper (1 large)
Onions (don't be afraid of them...you need the flavor)
Jalapeno (a little goes a long way)
Garlic (to taste)
Cilantro (a whole bushell)
Plum (1)
Peach (1)
It will be dark green and look sort of nasty, but it tastes really good.
If it makes too much, put some in the freezer. Fresh means no preservatives so, it will go bad faster. Enjoy!!
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