Wednesday, October 18, 2006

amen to that!

Crystal left me the following comment on a previous post:

"Way to go on the lentil burger - that looks great. And GOOD FOR YOU for being a single person who cooks well for yourself. There are many people at my work who go home to take out night after night."

Amen to that! Since this is something I feel very strongly about, I wanted to post Crystal's comment, and add some of my own comments (a direct quote from my cookbook manuscript, to be precise!) If you are one of those take-out-every-night-single-folks, NOW HEAR THIS:

"I want to add that the saddest thing I hear from single people who don’t cook is the following: “it’s just me – why bother?” We somehow have grown to believe that cooking is only worth the “trouble” when we are doing it for others. Now, I do agree that preparing a meal for friends or family is special, but I also believe, as individuals, we need to feel that we are worth the time and effort cooking takes. We owe it to ourselves to take the best care of our bodies as we can – and part of that is feeding it healthy food!"

As proof, my lunch today, that took a total of 30 minutes to prepare:
example
An ALTT sandwich (avocado, lettuce, tempeh, and tomato,) some extra sliced tomato, and more Asian style coleslaw.

Giant cabbage, here I come . . . .

11 comments:

aTxVegn said...

That's so good to hear. I live alone and people in my office think I'm weird because I cook my own dinner every night. I also use good dishes (no paper plates) and sit at my dining room table every meal. You're right - it's not THAT time-consuming. BTW that sandwich, esp. the bread, looks so good!

Melissa said...

Too true. I cook for myself only, and I love it. If my boyfriend eats some, all the better, but I've been used to no one else wanting to eat my food for a long time. Doesn't mean I should suffer!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, lots of yummy stuff since I've been on vacation!!

Want to know a funny fact about cabbage? You can put a cold green leaf in your bra to reduce engorgement and pain due to engorgement (for any non-breastfeeders, that means so full of milk that your boobahs are rock hard...it's a very strange sensation, lol!). Please note that this should be done with caution, as it can actually decrease your milk supply!

Cold cabbage leaves can also be used to treat broken bones and sprains--they reduce swelling.

Melissa said...

boobahs...LMAO. I'll be using that one in the near future ;)

Harmonia said...

Thanks for posting this! A great read!

Catherine Weber said...

Atxvegan, I don't use paper plates either! (I don't have any in the house, even.) Although I hate washing dishes, I only use real dinnerware. (P.S. the bread is Ezekiel sprouted -- I had a coupon last week at the store!)

Melissa, why doesn't anyone else want to eat your food? It all looks so good on your blog always! (My friends jump at the chance to eat at my house whenever they can, although they are not used to the, ahem, fiber content of most of my meals. They just don't care, though!)

Mary, I use Isa's tempeh bacon recipe, with a few slight alterations (mostly because I couldn't find liquid smoke at my co-op): I use 4 dashes of Tobasco and 2 dashes of cumin in the marinade instead of the liquid smoke, and I don't take the time to marinade the tempeh -- I just saute the garlic in a little oil until soft, add the tempeh slices and brown them for a few minutes, and then pour in the marinade and simmer the tempeh until the marinade is almost completely absorbed -- takes about a total of fifteen minutes to prepare, and I find this method more intensely flavors the tempeh. Mmmmm . . . yum!

Chelsea, you are indeed silly. :) Boobahs. :)

Harmonia, thanks for reading!

Eat Peace Please said...

Right on. That's a nice quote to post (well, both of them). Your sandwich looks wonderful. How was the orientation?

bazu said...

You are so right. Your food always looks excellent- why should you have anything less than that? Some of my best food memories are from when I was living in CA for grad. school and cooked for myself for 3 years. That's when I went vegan, and you learn so much about yourself, your likes/dislikes, and your abilities when you cook and eat by yourself. Very meditative. Thanks for highlighting this issue!

Nikk said...

Amen sister! I could not imagine *not* cooking for myself! Even when it was just me, I would usually cook a meal for myself most nights...and on the occaison that I decided on a frozen meal or something I would try to transform it into something quasi-homemade (very Sandra Lee of me, but I never dress to match my food or my kitchen).

I feel like cooking is so important, whether you make one serving or several so you can feast upon the leftovers or share with others.

Oh and I can't wait for you to complete the cookbook. I'll be one of the first in line! :)

funwithyourfood said...

PSH when I was in college and single I RARELY ate out. 1) cooking is ME time.I get to give myself exactly what I want, how I want it :)
2) It's MUCH cheaper and healthier to eat at home. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want either of those things.

I'm with you- cooking wonderful!


Teddy

Crystal said...

Well said! I like your intro piece for your book.

Seriously...I am drooling over your sandwich. I have been craving a tempeh reuben for quite some time, but no space to cook it yet. I even have all the ingredients! You know what I'm cooking this weekend!

I don't think my friend is coming to town, so we should get together Saturday...

-Crystal