Foodie

Hello everyone.

I know it's been a long time since my last post.  The crunch of the semester is starting to clamp down on me, and my good intention to post more often has fallen away to make room for more *academic* priorities.

However, I am taking time away from the vast pile of college responsibility in order to address a matter of universal importance: food.

What can I say about food?  It is something that unites people from across barriers, a source of enjoyment and sustenance.  Everyone needs it, and learning how to prepare food for oneself is of the utmost importance.  As a college student, I am fed up (pun intended) with mundane cafeteria selections.  When I first moved away to school in 2009, I did a reverse "freshman fifteen" by losing fifteen pounds within the first two months.  Yes, a large reason for this shift was the fact that campus life required me to walk much more than I was used to, but another factor was the food selection at school.  It just didn't make me hungry.  I lived on the sparse groceries I could afford (usually fruit and granola) and the few items that looked edible in the cafeteria: cucumbers, flat bread, and water.  Eventually I gained more of an appetite and had a more balanced diet within the slim pickings, but there's no way getting around it: the cafeteria's food is just bad.

I hope I am not being ungrateful or snobbish in my criticism of my school's food.  Although most of my peers complain about it, they seem to eat just fine, and I am more of an oddity in my personal food preferences.  I don't know if "picky" is the right term to describe my taste– I'm generally more concerned with what goes into my body on a holistic level than most of my friends.  This might be due to the fact that I've monitored the reactions of my mind and body to artificial colors and flavors since high school.  I've noticed that colored candy in particular increases my irritability and lowers my inhibitions to impulses.  I'm much more likely to blurt out my thoughts after ingesting something enhanced with dyes and flavors than not.  In short, I know that I don't do well with "fake food."

Being somewhat on my own has pushed me to do more things for myself, and cooking is one of them.  Since I'm now the one who pays for the ingredients, I've had to be conscious of what I can and can't afford.  Time is also something I need to take into consideration.  I can't spend an entire day making some kind of delicacy, not when there's class to go to or sleep to get.

A great help to me has been in the form of "The Healthy College Cookbook."  My mom gave me this wonderful book for my birthday, and it has been a source of foodie inspiration.  (The tag line is "quick, easy, cheap."  What more can one ask for?).  Another motivator to cook has been–as odd as this may sound– the kitchen equipment.  Last semester I came across a set of green vintage enamel pots and pans at the Salvation Army.  The whole set was about $40, but I considered it an investment and went ahead and bought them.  I figured that I would need pots and pans eventually, and I'd might as well get something that looked pretty.  Since then, I have accumulated a retro canvas apron, bamboo heart shaped mixing spoon, and Russian doll inspired oven mitt.  I'm not sure why, but cooking with my new kitchen supplies has made me more eager to cook than ever.

Yesterday I cracked out my cute green pans to make a simple but satisfying meal of Brown Rice with Curry.  Here's the recipe for anyone who is interested.

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup brown rice, uncooked
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon curry powder

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add onion and cook until yellow.  Add rice to pan and coat in butter mixture.  Add broth, raisins, and curry powder and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.