Supersize Me and Food Inc. did nothing for me. Ageless fries and corn pumped cows were of no concern. It took a satirical headline photo from the Daily Show to care that the health of the animal I eat, affects my health. It's not that I didn't understand it before, but I grew up with the idea that there was prestige in always getting the best deal. Why would I buy one chicken breast for $6 if I could get a pack of 6 for $11? It never occurred to me that I needed to shop for the best deal for my body. I can't remember what the bit was on the Daily Show, but the photo was of four pigs in a pig farm lined up like sardines on their sides. Aside from their pen being filthy, it was just sad to see. That's when I made, what I hope to be permanent, a turn. Educate myself more about the meat (and food in general) I eat. I was given a couple of recommended knowledgeable butchers in town that sell local and ethical meat. It's a bit difficult to visit them during the weekday before closing hour, but I've accepted that I probably shouldn't eat as much meat as I do. So visiting the butcher on the weekend and only bringing home a brown bag enough for one or two meals per week really isn't a deprivation. I'm trading in my previously frozen $10 pack of 4 steaks for one juicy grassfed tenderloin.

First attempt was at Windsor Quality Meats on Main. I was meat shy and didn't inquire as much as I should have about where the meat was from, or what was a good cut for how I was cooking that night. I just pointed at the tenderloin. "Is there a piece you want in particular?" "Uh, just a good one, please." I have a long education ahead of me.

Jamie Oliver walked me through this one. Red wine sauce for my tenderloin and thyme oven roasted carrots. The next night I repeated the sauce and made a fried patty which was originally intended to be coconut flour pasta. Despite the internet telling me that coconut flour makes poor pasta, I wouldn't believe the opinion of many until my dough crumbled all over my pasta maker.

Earlier this year, Aaron and I went to our friends', Mike and Krista, place for dinner. Mike served up a fantastic Indian themed meal. I'm not huge on Indian food because I've had some bad experiences. Well, I've never had bad experiences with any of my friends' mom's cooking, but I've had bad experiences with eating out. So when I normally get Indian food, I get the white washed butter chicken. Anyway, Mike's dinner inspired me to give it a go and I thought if I can control what goes into the pot, then maybe there's less chance of chaos. The result: delicious! I still have to say, Mike's curry was much better because 1: His recipe came from Vij's and mine came from Jamie Oliver who described his recipe as "a bastardized British dish". And 2: Mike is a better cook than me. I'll continue to try to perfect my curry paste!

Some ingredients for my vindaloo paste posing with my lovely bamboo cutting board (from Aaron) and my incredibly precise knife (from Jordan). You can't tell here, but I can cut slivers of onion slices with that knife.
Our dinner from last night. The big success of the night
were the bhajis (shredded carrots, onion, and ginger with cilantro all deep fried).

We had some leftover curry so I took it home for lunch today. I layered the curry with some freshly cooked rice and fried onions in my rice pot and baked it for 20 minutes. I enjoyed today's leftovers more than last night's fresh pot. It may have been because yesterday's curry was a bit too watery and the extra rice from today probably took away some of the moisture. Also... I love rice.


Update
I almost forgot about yesterday's lunch. I prepped some pasta I made Tuesday night. I mixed the dough with cooked and blended spinach, and rolled out the sheets with the Kitchen-Aid machine. The pasta was hand cut so I could get the ho fun-like thickness. I had to preserve my energy for that night's dinner, so I stuck with a simple canned plum tomatoes recipe.
Fresh basil with leftover snapper.

Yesterday I made my first pasta without a tomato sauce base. I was uncertain balsamic vinegar would taste good with pasta and when I measured it out, its dark colour intimidated me more. It was another Jamie recipe, so I had to trust it would turn out okay. It turned out way better than I expected. I wish I could brag about my cooking skills, but it would have been a bigger surprise had I screwed up this two step meal.



The lunch menu for today was set for pea soup (Jamie). I always forget to check for all my ingredients before I start chopping and cooking. I was so sure about there being peas in the freezer because we're never low or without it. Today we were without. I had to improvise and went with corn instead. It tasted fine, but when my stomach is set on eating something, it doesn't like to settle for anything else- no matter how great the replacement dish.

Behind the soup is a snapshot of Char and me. This meal was sort of dedicated to Char.
I'll never forget the time she projectile vomit corn soup. Chunkeh.

I love eating and I love cooking, but I'm only good at one of those. Correction, I'm great at it. Ever have one of those All You Can Eat dinners where you and your friends are sitting around the table, looking at all the excess food that was ordered? Even after hiding pieces in tea pots and napkins there's still too much on the table to not get charged extra. Well, I'm one of those people who will take a deep breath, pull my sweater over the waist of my jeans, undo the belt and button, and keep chewing and shoving food down until there is enough to not be charged. I've puked on two occasions. That may be seen as a defeat, but I was a champion during those moments I helped clear the table.

Cooking on the other hand... well, like I said, I love it! I can make food that is okay enough for me, but never good enough to serve, even though I still do (poor friends and family). My biggest problem is that I have no patience. I feel like food should be ready NOW. I'm slowly learning. I'm getting better at letting things marinate longer so the flavours can really come out instead of drizzling and sprinkling more and more sauces, juices and spices because I can't taste the flavours right away.

I'm a big admirer of Jamie's Food Revolution. We won't see McDonald's going away anytime soon, but I think it's important that kids (and parents!) understand that strawberry milk doesn't give you the same nutritional value as milk. French fries shouldn't be counted as part of your suitable veggie intake. It sounds simple, but you'd be surprised to hear what some schools are serving the students. Let's make one thing clear though, I'm guilty of eating crap. I told you, I love food. I love my Panago pizza, take out calamari, shawarma plates and cheap hot wings, so I can't preach to any one. I'm just saying, Jamie Oliver knows what he's talking about and he has influenced me to eat less of those old favourites and to look for healthier options that could eventually become my new favourites (if I cook it right).

Today, I took Jamie Oliver's gnocchi recipe. This is my last day, second to last meal, of Wild Rose so I did have to modify it. No flour, which meant there was less hold, but I liked the slight mushiness! And no parmesan. Even without those two it was pretty darn good. I could only imagine how much better it would be with cheese.



(Pardon the jumpy layout and formatting. I should have decided on a template before I started but I really wanted to get started. This was a canned layout, so expect it to change again.)