As I mentioned in the previous post, my family is a foodie family, and as a result, we eat a lot. A few years ago, a cousin stayed at our house for a week–and ended up gaining ten pounds. Yeah.
It has always been a mystery to the various members of my extended family as to why my immediate family never gains weight. Of course, this is untrue, because we are always gaining weight; however, we are always trying to lose it, as well. As for myself, weight has never been a comfortable topic; for most of my life, I’ve been pretty chubby. Being surrounded by fit, skinny people at school has never helped that. As a result, I’ve gone on countless “diets,” but I’ve failed countless times. My weight isn’t threatening to my health–it’s just something I, like many other girls, sometimes get insecure about.
We all have talents. Sometimes it is a hidden talent. Sometimes it’s not.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but my family is a foodie family. Our talents lie in the culinary field; we are a family of cooks, hobby chefs, and bakers. If you are one of the few who can’t whip up a nice meal yourself, then you at least have the taste for one–we know our foods. When it comes to family gatherings, my family is the one to celebrate with–there is good food, and lots of it. I think this is why I (and my siblings) have become such a food brat.
That would be an interesting title for a book. Murder with an eggplant! Maybe the victims turn purple. Anyway, on to the post.
I am one of those miraculous people who love foods like liver, asparagus, beets, oysters, cottage cheese, okra, and eggplant. Woo! The list goes on. I would be the dream child. In fact, I was. (ha) Okay, maybe not.
Of that list, liver and eggplant have to be my favorite. I know what you’re thinking. “Ew! Omg! How can you eat that? Omg gross! So disgusting! Omg!” I can’t tell you how many people have expressed their disgust for these foods in front of me, at me, etc. Yes, yes, I know…and no, I do not eat them together.
There is probably some kind of mysterious psychology involved when I say that I have never been attracted to food on sticks. I don’t mean to say that I don’t like food on sticks, just that I wouldn’t pounce on it as soon as I see it (like I would with every other food…*laughs*). I don’t know what it is; I have always preferred things like, say, beef, on plates rather than on sticks. I wouldn’t call it snobbiness or some kind of class ideal that makes me think this way, because the fact is, kabobs are probably easier and more fun to eat anyway. I still love the flavors and whatnot, especially if they’re arranged creatively and appetizingly. But you could serve me the most delicious chicken kabob in the world and I would still hesitate (just for a second, I promise) to eat it.
As Valentine’s Day creeps just around the corner, there are those of us who are planning dates with our loved ones, and those of us who are, well, planning dates with ourselves. I am of the latter group.
Whether you are overweight, trying to lose weight, or maybe just eating something, you have probably heard of the infamous phrase, “you are what you eat.” Normally (not that it helps), it’s supposed to keep us from eating unhealthy foods–you don’t want to be the lump of fat on a slice of steak, do you? No! So no more snacks, no more indulging. We switch out that bag of oil (and I guess, chips) for a lovely banana. We can’t get more healthy than that!
Usually, that’s what happens. It looks healthy, so lets eat it! We don’t exactly look past the surface of our foods. But the question is, do we really need to?
Let us smoothly transition to the topic of GMOs. What are they, and why do they matter? GMOs stands for genetically modified organisms–they are, in essence, foods/plants that have undergone biotechnological treatment and thus have altered DNA. This new DNA has a few purposes–it helps plants grow bigger, helps them resist herbicides, increases drought resistance, boosts nutritional value, and so much more. As a result, we have more food, and they taste and look better too.
Clearly, most of us don’t think about whether or not our foods are GMOs when we eat them. Doing that would probably be like visualizing the movement of nerve signals through our bodies every time we move. We do, however, need to come to terms with the fact that a huge portion of our fruits and veggies and whatnot are GMOs. They’re not the exact same things people ate 5,000 years ago. This doesn’t mean they’re not natural or are demonic beings that have been released from the depths of our high-technology computers at the hands of evil scientists who are all out to give us cancer. But it does mean that they are somewhat different–and we need to understand that this is necessary in order to sustain and fulfill the needs of our population.
Some argue that the products of bioengineering are unnatural, and are linked to several diseases and disorders–thus, they want all GMO products to be labeled. This is, of course, very reasonable–who wants to put their health at risk by eating blindly? But in my humble opinion (I am not in any way a scientist or nutritionist), it would not do much in the end. Not only are we susceptible to dying/getting cancer just by being on Earth and breathing (though I do acknowledge that consuming artificially produced products may facilitate damage to health), there is hardly any way for us (at least, in the U.S.) to escape GMOs. If all of us wanted to protect ourselves from the “mutant!” foods that are GMOs and tried to turn to organic foods, it would not be feasible–with all the natural risks and threats of nature presenting themselves to agriculture, there simply would not be enough to support our population, and our supplies could not be as predictable.
So do we need to be so concerned about genetically engineered foods? Will eating these “human creations,” in the end, mutate us? I personally don’t mind if my banana is a hybrid banana, if that’s what makes it taste good. What about you?
Meanwhile, I have included a recipe here where you can embrace your inner evil scientist and engineer your own little fruit. It’s a summery recipe, but it’s always summer in California 😉 (even in January).
We’re all familiar with the Food Network, with culinary giants Geoffrey Zakarian, Giada de Laurentiis, Ina Garten, etc–and it’s always exciting to watch them construct new and delicious-looking creations on all of their cooking shows. Their food is delicate, sophisticated, and carried out with expertise and confidence that average people like me can only admire. But it’s also great to look at cooking through other lenses–through people who are not celebrities, but give us the same amount of satisfaction and inspiration with their ideas. Their ideas are simple, but amazingly fun and interesting. I love learning new recipes through looking at videos, and thought I would share one with you all today–it’s a series I discovered last year, but they’ve updated it considerably since then, and I thought you would all enjoy it (I definitely did). It’s super creative, fun, and a really cute way of sharing recipes.
Greetings everyone, and happy new year! It’s been some time since the last post.
What are your plans for this new year?
As the first post of 2014, I thought I’d post some New Year’s Resolutions for this blog that coincide with my personal resolutions!
1) Post more challenging, but more awesome food recipes
Okay, maybe not more challenging, but definitely some more delicate, detailed recipes. I’d also like to harness my own cooking/baking skills and see if I’m up to making them myself. Doesn’t this look incredible?
Once school calms down and I have more free time, I’d love to take up challenges like this.
2) Post more fun recipes
I always browse the internet and end up seeing things like Monkey Bread Pizzas, and I’ve always wanted to make them. So much. They look super fun, and I’m sure there are a ton of variations and things you could do to liven up the flavor. How can you resist bite sized pizzas? They kind of remind me of the bagel bites we used to have when we were young.
3) Post more healthy recipes
For a long time now, I’ve been trying to eat more healthily, only because I know I’ve indulged in a lot of delicious, but terribly unhealthy things up till now. It’d be great if I could find (and share) some easy, healthy recipes that are just as delicious as the ones with multiple sticks of butter in them (Hi Paula Deen).
juliasalbum.com
4) Post more often
Of course! I hope you’ll look forward to my future posts.
Sometimes life is like a burnt cracker. We throw everything together and hope for the best. And sometimes it works out.
But not always.
As we make our way through high school, through college, and to life beyond, things get overwhelming–we close our eyes just momentarily, and it seems as if everything has gone wrong. It’s just like a cracker–all the goodies are in there, but one look away from the oven, and all your hard work has been wasted. We can only watch as our lives (and the crackers) burn to a crisp.
foodienaut 