The secret to living well in any home, first begins in the kitchen with Kitchen Secrets!
Secrets To Picky Eaters
PICKY EATERS! Few two-people have the same taste in… well, Anything. Food is often a potential battle ground, particularly as we grow older; how we like our meat cooked, to eat meat or not to eat meat, seafood vs yucky fish, allergies, to sugar or not to sugar.
Yet often, in a home, the person doing most of the cooking will lean towards the food they like. Totally not fair to their partner or family.
My Kitchen
In my home, I am the chef. I prepare all of the meals, by choice (I love it!). Yet, I AM the picky eater! Why? I grew up on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, which I love.
I can cook just about anything under the sun, well, not insects or Rocky Mountain Oysters (bulls testicles).
Wisdom With Years
I have traveled extensively and lived in Brazil for three years, eating the most amazing food. So why am I picky now? AGE… I am entering my seventh level of life.
A few years ago I picked up an intestinal bacteria, a parasite, from eating raw oysters. Good grief, I have devoured them my entire life. The affects of it were MISERABLE!
In the process of getting rid of it, I began to read books on aging and our intestines. Ugh. Every dang thing seems to rebel against aging. Inflammation was said to be the primary cause for most late-in-life diseases or physical ailments.
Nutrition
While having a chat with a very young nutritionist and explaining how ‘perfect’ my eating habits were; organic, cook everything from scratch, rarely fried, no preservatives and on and on, she mentioned a book I might want to read. A diet.
A diet not for weight loss, or any of the gazillion new eating fads being adhered to, but an in-depth understanding of how different our blood type will make our body respond to food.
Eat Right For Your Blood Type
Eat Right For Your Blood Type, was the name of the book. She said it was popular in the early 70’s but lost its steam when the Adkins diet came out. The young nutritionist probably wan’t even born when this book came out, but her wealth of knowledge amazed me.
Living Well
Living well, simply means being well. I don’t do diets, and I don’t recommend this diet to about 90% of you reading this blog post.
Why? Two reasons: It absolutely changed my entire body, its systems and how my body feels, and… it is almost impossible to stick to unless you prepare most of your meals at home.
How is that for a dichotomy! Needless to say, I AM NOW THE PICKY EATER, in our home! I have not strayed from this (holidays are the exception), for many years and I feel Fantastic!
Hubby. He is British, spent 30-years of his life living in Hong Kong, grew up in East Africa, and has a cast iron stomach! The man could eat shoe leather, thrive and never get sick! So, you ask, did I force him to eat my way since I do all the cooking? No. Little by little I found ways to manage the kitchen preparing what I need and what he likes, with very little hassle for me.
New Ways To Living Well
In this new year, I thought I might try something a little different to ease meal prep time at the end of the day: Meal Prepping. Hubby loves all meat and very little seafood. He loves his carbs and looks for them in every meal, even though he would never admit to it. So, I tried something new, and it worked!
I had roasted both a beef rump and a lamb leg over the weekend. I made a small (2 cups each) amount of rice, mashed potatoes and pasta.
Prepped several varieties of veggies, sliced the leftover meats into chunks and was a able to prepare eight delicious hot meals, exactly as hubby would like and it took me only one hour and a half:
- A cottage pie, with beef, peas, carrots, a wine simmered gravy and garlic mashed potatoes
- Black beans (Brazilian style), beef, jalapeños, tomatoes, mushrooms, and topped with cheesy rice
- Lamb, green beans, cauliflower simmered in a harissa and tomato sauce and topped with pasta and sheep cheese.
- Lamb or beef, garlic, onion and potato broth (from prepping the mashed potatoes), and loaded with a medley of cruciferous for a hearty soup
All are now tucked into separate baking dishes, tightly wrapped and stacked in the freezer so I am free to make my picky food and know that something yummy is already prepared for hubby.
Kitchen Secrets
My food? I am a B-Blood type. I already loved the things I am able to eat, have accepted (without complaining), the things I am not suppose to eat, and have had a blast learning how not to go without the things I love, instead I simply prepare them with substitute ingredients.
For example, bread. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE bread, but wheat is out. Not gluten, just wheat, so I learned to make the most delicious breads using spelt, which is a gluten, just not processed wheat. I would venture to say that many folks who do not have celiac disease but still are practicing gluten-free eating, would be just fine on spelt. Here is my SPELT BREAD.
Being creative in the kitchen can certainly make us healthier AND happier. Just ask hubby! For a detailed recipe on any or all of these dishes, simply ask and I would be delighted to share with you!
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.