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May 2013
Porridge and Parrot seed
18 May 2013, 07:29
Pea shoots and Dandelions
08 May 2013, 18:51
Leeks and Rhubarb
01 May 2013, 08:12
April 2013
Peanut butter and Cod
by michele on 26 Apr 2013, 08:24
Now if I had another two, or four or however many slices of lovely nutty, seedy bread I could get from this loaf, it wouldn't be a great choice. I might feel full and bloated and slightly out of control. But the fact is I really don't want to or need to because I know I can, and possibly will, eat it again next time if I want to.
And that for me is the crux of the matter. Not that I am obsessed with peanut butter on hot crunchy toast you understand, but I want to enjoy it when I have it. Because it is really delicious.
This for me is especially a diet for foodies- people who love taste and cooking and good things. Who don't want to spray dubious 'oil- like' things into their frying pan or listlessly stir another endlessly dull quorn mince 'bolognese'. It is about enjoying what you eat and appreciating it all the more because sometimes you just don't.
An example would be cod. Now, apart from being unsustainable for the most part as fishing stocks deplete, it was in my opinion a rather unappetising fish. Alright then - in some batter perhaps, but really why bother if you could have brill, or mackerel or well, pretty much anything really? And yet.. oh my...it has in been elevated into a dish fit for kings and queens on Fast days. What a delight to have that moist filling delicate flavour all mixed up with oven roasted peppers, courgette, a hint of parmesan and a flash of breadcrumbs! My recipe book will be out soon...joking. All hail the Hairy Bikers!
But that is the point in a way. Good food, good cooking, even on fast days. Now of course sometimes it is not necessary or desirable to fiddle around in the kitchen on those days. Salads are good, veg soup is good, whatever you fancy. But non of this is about making food the enemy but rather celebrating life and health and being who we are. And that is the beauty of it for me.
Somewhat ironically I enjoy shopping on a fast day. Perusing the aisles, selecting tasty tidbits for my family, choosing what I might have the next day. And curiously not warring, debating, arguing with myself - 'if I have that of crisps and then don't sin again (sic) til the end of next month, I CAN have it'- because I am just fasting, and it is simple.
As it happens I find that I haven't wanted a packet of prawn cocktail crisps for some time. Some might baulk at the thought of course. Especially the Grab Bag size...But just knowing that I can if I want takes the whole debate onto a new more happy, self confident and empowered me.
Foodie yes, but no longer with a compulsion to eat EVERYTHING today, because it doesn't run out and there is always peanut butter on toast tomorrow, if you want it.