I don’t proclaim to be a cook by any means. I worked in a pancake house from 16 to about 23 and I can make a mean French toast and perfect over easy or poached eggs, but I’m not a cook. My husband says I can cook, mainly because I can follow a recipe and not burn down the kitchen in the process. To me cooking means, I can make something that my family has never seen before and have it smell, look, and taste so delicious that it will appease their appetites. Most of the meals I eat now in my 30’s are the same meals I ate as a kid. They are based around a meat source either chicken, roast, pork, or steak with sides of limited vegetables. Potatoes, corn, or green beans were the most common and most frequent vegetables I can recall eating. Let’s not forget the staples of macaroni and cheese or Stove Top stuffing. Even when eating out I’m more likely to stick with the familiar and not venture out of my comfort zone. I will scour the menu until I find something that has basic ingredients or can have things like mushrooms and olives removed. I will request chili beans be removed from chili, if it’s available. I didn’t recognize my limited food options until I had a family of my own and started to notice how each week we were having the same meals: spaghetti, tacos, beef stroganoff (from a box), chicken, pork chops, or roast. In the last two years I have become braver. I added spinach, Brussels sprouts and kale to my menu. Over the last year I have put a lot more focus on trying to eat healthier; but what does that mean to a Midwesterner that was raised on roast and potatoes with a side of bread as a standard meal? In efforts to increase the healthiness and variety of our meals a change is definitely required. Now my husband and four girls are not people that enjoy change. They cringe at trying something new and will gladly proclaim a free for all, in which they make themselves frozen pizzas or ramen noodles. I thought about slow minor changes, but if I do something I have a tendency to use the “Go Big or Go Home” philosophy. So thus the challenge begins. This year for lent. I’m giving up red meat. What does that mean for someone who has always had some sort of red meat in their meal…I better learn to cook. After publicly announcing my plan I realized, outside of fish I’m not sure what it is that I will be cooking that will necessarily be healthier. The numerous food blogs and recipe sites on the internet have enabled me to google various recipes. During this “surfing” process, I discovered something very important. I don’t know what half of these ingredients the recipes calling for are. Now I feel that I am an intelligent woman with a well-rounded knowledge, but I feel extremely inept right about now. One recipe called for capers and another for shallot? What exactly are lentils and quinoa? Lent starts tomorrow, what am I going to cook? doihavetoeatthis.blogspot/2014/03/what-no-red-meat-what-would-i-eat.html
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 02:55:54 +0000
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