Food, cooking, Bob Loblaw's law blog :)

Last week was the first time in a LOOOOONG time that I brought my lunch to work every day and ate it every day.

I’ve been a little Suzy Homemaker lately. I've wondered about it, and realized that there are several reasons why:

• Without a roommate, I now have full access to all the fridge and cupboard space. This means I’m not limited in my supplies.
• With my new deep freezer, I’m not as painfully limited in my long-term storage space. I can make that big pot of soup and not worry about having to eat the same darned thing day after day until I want to throw up.
• Now that I have my Roomba, I’m spending far less time on other housework. Yay!!!
• I’ve been reading about modern agriculture and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and have decided to buy organic produce and products as much as possible. Since none of the food courts where I work offer any such guarantees about their food, I’m left to schlep my food in every day.
• I actually find cooking rewarding* and sometimes even meditative. Plus, I am just amazed at the countless delicious recipes that are veggie-friendly (and to think when I became a vegetarian I tried to resign myself to the fact I’d be eating boring food for the rest of my life!).
• There’s a lot of hidden fat in most food-court fare, and I *know* I can avoid 90% of the fat and still enjoy what I’m eating if I make it myself.

(*And to think that when I was growing up, I steadfastly refused to learn how to cook! Mind you, I think I was rebelling against my father's idea that all women should know how to cook. His argument that I should learn how to cook for when I was married was probably not the best argument to use on me, the poor antiquated dear. LOL However, I think even my cooking these days would not gain his whole-hearted approval, as it is without meat. I guess I'll always be a disappointment. LOL)

Today I made a chickpea gumbo that was divine. I froze most of it in individual portions, like much of what I prepare for myself. I find that if I have sufficient variety (say, a different soup for each day of the week), I’m quite happy to forego the food court. And now basically all I have to do is cook one pot of soup for freezing a week, and the variety is sustained. I’d call myself a genius, but it kind of happened without me realizing it. :)

The next step in my food-court independence is baking. I used to bake quite a bit (though nothing challenging or extravagant), but got out of it for several years. Now I’m doing a lot of reading about using alternative flours, healthy sugar substitutes like stevia, and how to reduce the amount of butter or oil that’s needed in some recipes. Baking is going to take more trial and error than my beloved soups, but ever since my last trip to Seattle (where I gorged myself on Lisa’s oatmeal raisin cookies without hardly a vestige of restraint), I’ve been craving baked goods on a daily basis. Not good for the wallet, the blood sugar, or the hips unless I find some healthy alternatives that I can make myself! :) Today I made oatmeal brownies, which totally addressed my chocolate craving (after the second one), but it was far too crumbly. I will try the recipe again sometime with a couple of adjustments, and I’m sure it’ll be terrific.

Okay, I’m done blathering. Sorry for the inane post. It must be quite the disappointment after the Matt Damon videos! LOL