Random food post is random. (and long)
So, I eat horribly. I have a pretty bad relationship with food in which I see it as a necessary evil but I know that it can be so much better. I like French and Korean cuisines, to an extent. I really like vegetables that are prepared and treated well. I'm picky but paradoxically open to new food experiences. But daily feeding is about as fun and enjoyable as brushing my teeth or commuting to work. I love fresh foods and am sick to death of processed foods, but I hate preparing foods and don't really have the skills or knowledge in living on a non-processed food diet. That would be an awesome diet. I would love it so much trash wise, too, because I'm sick of packaging filling up my trash can. I keep reading about people who are living off of their kitchen gardens, there's the fake plastic fish blog where a resolution of cutting all plastic out of her life has also changed how she eats, and most recently I found two blogs that are really inspiring. My year without sugar is about cutting out cane sugar (and artificial sweetners) from her diet. A good idea in terms of health and avoiding the scary diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol monsters that are plaguing this nation. The most inspiring blog I've found though is named after one of the coolest kid's books ever: stone soup. It's about minimalist eating and has a series on 5 ingredient meals (or at least entrees) ready in 10 minutes, and the most processed parts of the meals are tinned beans or pasta. There are other posts on snacks or breakfasts that avoid my staples of oreos or lucky charms and I feel somewhat inspired by it. So I started there in thinking of things to fill my kitchen pantry. Thing is, learning how to eat healthily is really hard for me for some reason. I've figured that focusing of building lists of things that are good to eat and are good for me instead of focusing on the "don't eats" is a better way to go about it for me.
Here's a short list of snacks to have on hand:
For good, quick, easy breakfasts, I have this list (mostly from stone soup blog):
The most difficult part of eating healthier for me, I think, will be the beverage part. I'm a coke addict and drink several cans a day with serious cravings and withdrawls affecting me if I miss out on the (fake) sugar or caffeine or carbonation that my dear dear can or bottle allows me. It's a serious problem that I wish I could get over, as I hate having cans lying all over all the time. I need to get over it! But it's another thing that I think would be better if I had options to replace instead of just saying "no more".
So, here's the list of beverages that everyone seems to suggest as the best to drink.
Dinners are a difficult thing to think about, though, especially while I'm living alone and only have to feed myself. This is all preliminary thoughts though, so really when making these lists I thought of how I grew up in meal planning. When she writes the grocery list on Saturday morning, mom sits down and makes a box in the corner with a list of the days and we all input meal ideas for the upcoming week. We also have some traditions or routines, I guess, about what to eat on certain nights. For example, every Friday we have subs from the Company Store deli. Mary worked there for a while and she would sneak candy into the bags. On Saturdays we often have soup and sandwiches, meaning grilled cheese. For some reason, when I was younger, especially when my dad was in charge of this whole meal process, Wednesday was spaghetti day. I think it came from a commercial or something. And then, like many families, Sunday was the day we had the big meal. It wasn't every week but every so often we would have something made from scratch, took over an hour to prepare, filled you up and deserved a little more fancy setting and atmosphere than the everyday fare. It was often eaten at around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and filled us up enough that we didn't really want anything later on. Or maybe a small snack. I really like the idea of rituals like I had growing up. It wasn't anything really formal, but it's nice to know all Friday that when the evening comes we'll sit in the front room and eat cheese and crackers, have a drink mixed by dad and chat about whatev, then dad'll go pick up the subs and we'll have them while watching the week's dvr'ed Daily shows or a movie together. Food is always more enjoyable when it goes along with socialization, sorta like alcohol (as discussed above), or is centered around traditions or rituals (think of Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner or July 4th picnics) otherwise it becomes mundane. I thought of this when coming up with my "meal plan", having a theme for each day's meal.
Monday: Fish, Rice (or couscous), Greens, other vegetables. I love fish and it CAN be really easy to make if you learn how. It also is usually pretty light so allows for some really good sides. Like steamed asparagus (YUM!!!), spinach, other leafy greens, courgettes, etc. And rice is the quintessential accompaniment to fish. Fish is also highly recommended to have at least once a week because of the omega 3 fatty acids it has in it, and tuna is accused of having too much mercury in it. Some people aren't fish people, but I definitely am. I even like that yucky herring you get fresh at markets in Holland. The smell, though...
Tuesday: "Fast food", meaning the traditional hamburger and fries or such that you get at fast food joints. Only healthy versions. I love good veggie burgers and I think if I can't find the good brands (not the cardboard tasting ones) I can figure out how to make the patties myself. I like the new sandwich bread they have out that's thin, so doesn't overpower with a big bun. There are all kinds of things to put on burgers, like sprouts and tomatoes and avocado (obsessed!!!). Then there's alternative toppings like honey mustard or a vinaigrette with mustard added. Then there are sweet potato fries or salt potatoes or other alternatives to fries I haven't thought up yet! There are other "fast food" alternative meals that I could do, too, like chili, burritos, stuffed potato or mac and cheese or something. I'll have to think more on it.
Wednesday: Again, Pasta Wednesdays are ingrained in my brain. There is so much you can do to/with pasta and I love most of it. Well, I don't really like the white or cheesy sauces, but other than that, even a simple spaghetti with a chopped garlic clove, ev olive oil and fresh shaved parmigiana will do the job. A simple green salad goes well on the side with a simple vinaigrette and pine nuts (for example) .
Thursday: Stir fry, curry or steamed vegetables with rice. This is one of the easiest and most diverse meals that there is, yet it's a learned skill that I don't have yet, sadly. Without too much sauce and oils, and with the right rice it can be really healthy because of all the different veggies that can go into it. Bits of chicken, nuts and seeds, tofu or tempeh can also be added for protein.
Friday: Homemade Pizza. I've had this idea for a while. Making pizza can be so much fun, especially if you have a group of people to work with and make it with. Pizza is usually pretty unhealthy, the way it comes from restaurants at least, but it can be a lot better. The first step is using whole grain flour instead of white refined stuff in the crust and making that pretty thin (like european style). I haven't really tried it, but I think adding herbs like rosemary and thyme to the crust would make it tastier, hence more satisfying. Tomatoes are really the key to a good pizza, and knowing the judicial use of them. Cheese is usually what makes pizza unhealthy, using too much of it. More sauce usually makes me want more cheese, while more and more diverse toppings usually takes away the need for too much cheese. I've started to really like tomatoes as a topping, sliced or diced or even better sun dried tomatoes (yum!!!). Anything really can go on a pizza and that's particularly true about vegetables. It's all a matter of personal taste, I think, and mixing and matching toppings. I like google imaging homemade pizzas to get inspiration on toppings and combinations.
Saturday: Soup. There's this recipe that I found for the world's best soup. Basically it's a vegetable soup with beans and grains and is made in a quantity for 6. It's supposed to have all the nutrients needed in a balanced meal (carbs, protean and lots/wide variety veggies) in a single bowl and can be kept and reheated for several meals (a week's worth lunch). It's a cool concept and a good idea for a simple yet hearty weekend meal that can be repeated or saved for lunches in the following week. I'm not awesome at leftovers, though, so I don't know how this would work for me.
I do live alone, so I'm not sure how feasible this meal plan is, or how "simple" it is for a lazy girl like me. As I said before I have a bad relationship with food. This also encompasses the fact that I hate the WHOLE process. I hate grocery shopping, I hate cooking, I'm getting better about enjoying some eating so I don't hate it that much anymore, but I HATE HATE HATE cleaning up after (dishes, trash, etc.) Cooking these admittedly delicious and nutritious home-cooked meals everyday when my current concept of cooking is turning on the kettle to warm water for my ramen noodles is sorta draining in thought. Then again, I think it's a habit that I just have to and totally can get used to.
For all this, I really need to get better at keeping my kitchen and at grocery shopping. Most of the stuff I get is processed and goes into the cupboard processed. Most of the meals, snacks and breakfasts listed above can be bought in the produce or bulk food section. Bulk food is something that I never really thought of (outside of the candy) but it seems like a good place to get beans, seeds, herbs, nuts, pastas, grains, flour and other staples for cheap and at quantities that I need instead of the packaged quantities. Plus, they store better in glass canisters and such than in the usual packaging once first used. I think I first thought of this with Fake Plastic Fish's kitchen tour, because she avoids packaging of all sorts by bringing her own containers to the grocers and buying bulk. I think I would enjoy shopping with a definite plan to guide me, and without being inundated with all the "choices" of brand names.
As for implementing this plan, I suppose the first step is cleaning out my kitchen. It's a mess right now from laziness, and the pantry is rather cluttered. I think to start off with, the snack, breakfast and beverage parts can be put into motion, along with a partial detox of Diet Coke (i don't have to give it up completely!) I know I can and will eat (and drink) those things and will enjoy that change, though I will have to get used to grocery shopping more often. As for dinners, I'll have to figure it out. As I said, it's difficult living alone and finding the motivation to make dinner every night. No matter how "simple" the recipe is. Sometimes I'd rather just run out to a restaurant or whip up a ramen packet.
Lunches are still something I'm working on. One idea is a baguette half (or 1/3), meat (salami, ham, turkey...) and cheese (goat, mozzarella, guyere) and a fruit. AKA, the french on-the-go meal or picnic. There aren't boulangeries around here, though, and the qualities of both meats and cheeses are nowhere near the french standards. And the American PB&J just doesn't stand up to the task.
So, this is just my rambling mind's planning and organizing obsession shining through, and I don't know if it will go anywhere, but I like the idea and I hope to at least begin to eat like a normal adult and not survive off junk and fast food my whole life. It's not going vegetarian or falling for the anti-sugar anti-glutten hype going on, and if I implement a plan, it's not going to be so strict that I'll beat myself up for having some tootsie rolls or a can of Dr Pepper. It's more that I'm sick of crappy processed or fast food that are full of stuff that isn't good for me, is making me fat and lethargic and probably ill, and costs more. I'm sick of saying I can't cook because I'm stuck in a pattern of not cooking using basic ingredients to make my food. I'm sick of tons of packaging in my trash. Let's hope I can make some sort of change.
Here's a short list of snacks to have on hand:
- dried fruit (banana instead or potato chips, for instance)
- nuts (there are so many great types of nuts out there and they are that GOOD fat people talk about)
- trailmix (make my own or by the mix in bulk foods)
- fruit (ex. apples and peanut butter, a bunch of strawberries, fresh cherries, HUGE berries, orange - any of the many varieties, kiwi...)
- veggies with or without dip (hummus, ranch, dill, whatever.)
- avocado (OMG, give me a ripe avocado and a spoon, I am happy.)
- tortilla chips and salsa (i do live in New Mexico after all, and they have the high quality, non mass produced healthier stuff available here)
- pretzels, cheese or ham cubes and mustard (yes, those are listed for the mustard more than anything)
- crackers and a spread (peanut butter, tuna fish, avacado, hummus, sardine spread, idk...)
- radishes and salt (you don't realize how good this is until you try it, srsly. dip the radishes in sea salt, eat, repeat)
For good, quick, easy breakfasts, I have this list (mostly from stone soup blog):
- oatmeal (of which I already have a huge canister in my pantry that is going unused. Need to get toppings and learn best way to make.)
- granola (can make at home for cheap and easy, or so I heard...)
- muesli (God, I miss this stuff. I ate muesli with drinkable yogurt all the time in Holland but it was cheaper there. Maybe I can make it?)
- fruit
- yogurt (or Kefir which is an amazing thing that I love - basically the drinkable yogurt I was talking about above.)
- eggs (scrambled eggs don't need ketchup on them, did you know that? Weird.)
- toast (for making an egg, avacado and cheese sandwich? Or peanut and honey if I'm craving fattening comfort food)
- avocado (just to throw that in there. I wish they weren't so expensive, but I love them, I do I do I do-oo.)
The most difficult part of eating healthier for me, I think, will be the beverage part. I'm a coke addict and drink several cans a day with serious cravings and withdrawls affecting me if I miss out on the (fake) sugar or caffeine or carbonation that my dear dear can or bottle allows me. It's a serious problem that I wish I could get over, as I hate having cans lying all over all the time. I need to get over it! But it's another thing that I think would be better if I had options to replace instead of just saying "no more".
So, here's the list of beverages that everyone seems to suggest as the best to drink.
- Water (obviously. I might start keeping some in my fridge so I have cold water, cuz it tastes better that way, I think)
- 100% fruit juice. (I used to hate orange juice. I've changed. Grape is awesome and there are other good juices. Maybe with seltzer or sparkling water a good soda replacement?)
- Tea (there are so many great teas, huge variety and it's a great way to make water taste better. and I have awesome kettle.)
- Coffee (I love espresso, black and thick enough to chew... okay exaggeration, but for serious, I'm picky about my coffee. most is too weak and tastes horrible, and the stuff I do like I can't have too often because it WAKEs me up and later leaves me to crash and have a horrible headache. That's why you should only drink a shot glass amount of it, right?)
- Wine (I'm picky about wine too and avoid it most of the time. An occasional glass of something good is nice though.)
Dinners are a difficult thing to think about, though, especially while I'm living alone and only have to feed myself. This is all preliminary thoughts though, so really when making these lists I thought of how I grew up in meal planning. When she writes the grocery list on Saturday morning, mom sits down and makes a box in the corner with a list of the days and we all input meal ideas for the upcoming week. We also have some traditions or routines, I guess, about what to eat on certain nights. For example, every Friday we have subs from the Company Store deli. Mary worked there for a while and she would sneak candy into the bags. On Saturdays we often have soup and sandwiches, meaning grilled cheese. For some reason, when I was younger, especially when my dad was in charge of this whole meal process, Wednesday was spaghetti day. I think it came from a commercial or something. And then, like many families, Sunday was the day we had the big meal. It wasn't every week but every so often we would have something made from scratch, took over an hour to prepare, filled you up and deserved a little more fancy setting and atmosphere than the everyday fare. It was often eaten at around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and filled us up enough that we didn't really want anything later on. Or maybe a small snack. I really like the idea of rituals like I had growing up. It wasn't anything really formal, but it's nice to know all Friday that when the evening comes we'll sit in the front room and eat cheese and crackers, have a drink mixed by dad and chat about whatev, then dad'll go pick up the subs and we'll have them while watching the week's dvr'ed Daily shows or a movie together. Food is always more enjoyable when it goes along with socialization, sorta like alcohol (as discussed above), or is centered around traditions or rituals (think of Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner or July 4th picnics) otherwise it becomes mundane. I thought of this when coming up with my "meal plan", having a theme for each day's meal.
Monday: Fish, Rice (or couscous), Greens, other vegetables. I love fish and it CAN be really easy to make if you learn how. It also is usually pretty light so allows for some really good sides. Like steamed asparagus (YUM!!!), spinach, other leafy greens, courgettes, etc. And rice is the quintessential accompaniment to fish. Fish is also highly recommended to have at least once a week because of the omega 3 fatty acids it has in it, and tuna is accused of having too much mercury in it. Some people aren't fish people, but I definitely am. I even like that yucky herring you get fresh at markets in Holland. The smell, though...
Tuesday: "Fast food", meaning the traditional hamburger and fries or such that you get at fast food joints. Only healthy versions. I love good veggie burgers and I think if I can't find the good brands (not the cardboard tasting ones) I can figure out how to make the patties myself. I like the new sandwich bread they have out that's thin, so doesn't overpower with a big bun. There are all kinds of things to put on burgers, like sprouts and tomatoes and avocado (obsessed!!!). Then there's alternative toppings like honey mustard or a vinaigrette with mustard added. Then there are sweet potato fries or salt potatoes or other alternatives to fries I haven't thought up yet! There are other "fast food" alternative meals that I could do, too, like chili, burritos, stuffed potato or mac and cheese or something. I'll have to think more on it.
Wednesday: Again, Pasta Wednesdays are ingrained in my brain. There is so much you can do to/with pasta and I love most of it. Well, I don't really like the white or cheesy sauces, but other than that, even a simple spaghetti with a chopped garlic clove, ev olive oil and fresh shaved parmigiana will do the job. A simple green salad goes well on the side with a simple vinaigrette and pine nuts (for example) .
Thursday: Stir fry, curry or steamed vegetables with rice. This is one of the easiest and most diverse meals that there is, yet it's a learned skill that I don't have yet, sadly. Without too much sauce and oils, and with the right rice it can be really healthy because of all the different veggies that can go into it. Bits of chicken, nuts and seeds, tofu or tempeh can also be added for protein.
Friday: Homemade Pizza. I've had this idea for a while. Making pizza can be so much fun, especially if you have a group of people to work with and make it with. Pizza is usually pretty unhealthy, the way it comes from restaurants at least, but it can be a lot better. The first step is using whole grain flour instead of white refined stuff in the crust and making that pretty thin (like european style). I haven't really tried it, but I think adding herbs like rosemary and thyme to the crust would make it tastier, hence more satisfying. Tomatoes are really the key to a good pizza, and knowing the judicial use of them. Cheese is usually what makes pizza unhealthy, using too much of it. More sauce usually makes me want more cheese, while more and more diverse toppings usually takes away the need for too much cheese. I've started to really like tomatoes as a topping, sliced or diced or even better sun dried tomatoes (yum!!!). Anything really can go on a pizza and that's particularly true about vegetables. It's all a matter of personal taste, I think, and mixing and matching toppings. I like google imaging homemade pizzas to get inspiration on toppings and combinations.
Saturday: Soup. There's this recipe that I found for the world's best soup. Basically it's a vegetable soup with beans and grains and is made in a quantity for 6. It's supposed to have all the nutrients needed in a balanced meal (carbs, protean and lots/wide variety veggies) in a single bowl and can be kept and reheated for several meals (a week's worth lunch). It's a cool concept and a good idea for a simple yet hearty weekend meal that can be repeated or saved for lunches in the following week. I'm not awesome at leftovers, though, so I don't know how this would work for me.
I do live alone, so I'm not sure how feasible this meal plan is, or how "simple" it is for a lazy girl like me. As I said before I have a bad relationship with food. This also encompasses the fact that I hate the WHOLE process. I hate grocery shopping, I hate cooking, I'm getting better about enjoying some eating so I don't hate it that much anymore, but I HATE HATE HATE cleaning up after (dishes, trash, etc.) Cooking these admittedly delicious and nutritious home-cooked meals everyday when my current concept of cooking is turning on the kettle to warm water for my ramen noodles is sorta draining in thought. Then again, I think it's a habit that I just have to and totally can get used to.
For all this, I really need to get better at keeping my kitchen and at grocery shopping. Most of the stuff I get is processed and goes into the cupboard processed. Most of the meals, snacks and breakfasts listed above can be bought in the produce or bulk food section. Bulk food is something that I never really thought of (outside of the candy) but it seems like a good place to get beans, seeds, herbs, nuts, pastas, grains, flour and other staples for cheap and at quantities that I need instead of the packaged quantities. Plus, they store better in glass canisters and such than in the usual packaging once first used. I think I first thought of this with Fake Plastic Fish's kitchen tour, because she avoids packaging of all sorts by bringing her own containers to the grocers and buying bulk. I think I would enjoy shopping with a definite plan to guide me, and without being inundated with all the "choices" of brand names.
As for implementing this plan, I suppose the first step is cleaning out my kitchen. It's a mess right now from laziness, and the pantry is rather cluttered. I think to start off with, the snack, breakfast and beverage parts can be put into motion, along with a partial detox of Diet Coke (i don't have to give it up completely!) I know I can and will eat (and drink) those things and will enjoy that change, though I will have to get used to grocery shopping more often. As for dinners, I'll have to figure it out. As I said, it's difficult living alone and finding the motivation to make dinner every night. No matter how "simple" the recipe is. Sometimes I'd rather just run out to a restaurant or whip up a ramen packet.
Lunches are still something I'm working on. One idea is a baguette half (or 1/3), meat (salami, ham, turkey...) and cheese (goat, mozzarella, guyere) and a fruit. AKA, the french on-the-go meal or picnic. There aren't boulangeries around here, though, and the qualities of both meats and cheeses are nowhere near the french standards. And the American PB&J just doesn't stand up to the task.
So, this is just my rambling mind's planning and organizing obsession shining through, and I don't know if it will go anywhere, but I like the idea and I hope to at least begin to eat like a normal adult and not survive off junk and fast food my whole life. It's not going vegetarian or falling for the anti-sugar anti-glutten hype going on, and if I implement a plan, it's not going to be so strict that I'll beat myself up for having some tootsie rolls or a can of Dr Pepper. It's more that I'm sick of crappy processed or fast food that are full of stuff that isn't good for me, is making me fat and lethargic and probably ill, and costs more. I'm sick of saying I can't cook because I'm stuck in a pattern of not cooking using basic ingredients to make my food. I'm sick of tons of packaging in my trash. Let's hope I can make some sort of change.