3.31.2009

bean girl.

(A peak inside of the bean drawer)

Hello; so, as many of you know, up until about a month ago I never cooked. Truly. Actually, 'not cooking' had become a hobby for me. I believed I just did not have an interest in cooking, didn't have time for cooking, and didn't have the gift of cooking.

Then, something weird happened and I suddenly took an interest in being intentional about what I put on my plate. I'm not going to talk too much about this conversion other than to say it has been an exciting journey these last few weeks (in future weeks but not yet, check out my foodie blog: life eating to read about this conversion).

And, guess what my favorite food learnin' has been so far? Cooking does NOT necessarily take that much time; but it does take planning. My favorite food these days. Beans! Whoa! There are about a zillion kinds of beans. And you can prepare them in about a gazillion kinds of ways.

Also, sometimes I get really annoyed by people who talk too much about what they eat or why they eat the way they do. Because nobody is better than someone else just because they eat a certain way. I realize that how/what/why we put the food we do into our bodies is really a vulnerable and sensitive issue. So I'll just admit that up until a week ago, I almost daily ate a snickers and some cheetos a either lunch or dinner. Wherever you are at on the 'food' journey, three cheers for you. I've found that it's just a pretty neat feeling to start being intentional about what I eat rather than totally random and oblivious of its implications.

A book I've read lately is: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I'll leave you with one of his tips: AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS THAT ARE CONTAINTING INGREDIENTS THAT ARE A) UNFAMILIAR, B) UNPRONOUNCEABLE, C) MORE THAN FIVE IN NUMBER, AND D) INCLUDE HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Seems like a good starting point.

Thanks for reading; I'd love to hear about any of your own intentional eating tips. Do you like beans? Any good recipes?


Peace first,
Em


5 comments:

  1. I love the part about ingredients being unpronouncable! haha

    ReplyDelete
  2. i love beans too. don't eat them enough though (note to self - eat more beans).

    my boyfriend and i have a very simple recipe that involves your fav bean over your fav rice with scallions (or green onions) on top. we like either brown basmati or jasmine rice and black beans. it's so simple but yet so good. sometimes the simplest dishes can be the best.

    i'd love to read that book. i've eyed it up several times (practically every time i go to the bookstore). i will get it eventually. also your post reminded me of a book that you might be interested in (seemed along the bullet points in your avoid foods that...) is dr. weil's 8 weeks to optimum health. it tells about how to slowly (week by week) cutting out certain foods that contain not so good ingredients.

    i look forward to hearing more about your food journey. it inspires me to have more of a conscious awareness of my own relationship with food.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Emily!
    I bookmarked your blog so we can enjoy your creative outlet as well :)

    Adam and I have become more "intentional" eaters a couple years ago. I 'feel' everything you said.

    We just made lasagna the other night with black beans. We cooked, pureed them with diced tomatoes in the lovely Magic Bullet :) and stirred them into sauce with various herbs. Then, we followed the rest of the lasagna recipe with cheeses and whole wheat noodles...delish!

    Pureeing beans is a GREAT way to add it into SO many different foods. Good protein too :)

    have you done anything with lentil? We're searching for good recipes for them.

    Peace!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Emily!
    I bookmarked your blog so we can enjoy your creative outlet as well :)

    Adam and I have become more "intentional" eaters a couple years ago. I 'feel' everything you said.

    We just made lasagna the other night with black beans. We cooked, pureed them with diced tomatoes in the lovely Magic Bullet :) and stirred them into sauce with various herbs. Then, we followed the rest of the lasagna recipe with cheeses and whole wheat noodles...delish!

    Pureeing beans is a GREAT way to add it into SO many different foods. Good protein too :)

    have you done anything with lentil? We're searching for good recipes for them.

    Peace!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the part about ingredients being unpronouncable! haha

    ReplyDelete