Eat To Make Me Happy

Now that's a title that can mean a lot of things.

Does that mean eat all the goodie, gooey, sweet, savory, sugary, cheesy, chocolatey, salty, soft center, fried things that taste so good in my mouth, but leave me feeling guilty, disappointed in myself, sick to my stomach, too full to move, need to unbutton my pants no matter who's around, make me grumpy, tired, and wanna take a nap, and dread getting on the scale or putting on a pair of jeans?

Or does it mean to eat all the savory, fresh, healthy, cheesy, gooey things that taste so good in my mouth, I can't believe it's good for me, that it's filled with items that I never thought I'd even try, let alone eat it and like it.? And afterwards, no guilt feelings, no beating myself up, and no worrying my clothes won't fit tomorrow, or the number on the scale will make me feel sad.

Well, I'm opting to keep on trying for the second choice. And I really think that's a great way to look at it. If I could just get it across to one person that eating healthy doesn't mean a piece of stringy celery for a snack, or that their won't ever be anything you'll eat that tastes sinfully delicious. Cuz I can make some awesome meals, that I never even label "healthy" because most people automatically turn their mind off from it.

It's like the first time I told Roy about my brown rice mixture. He sorta crinkled his nose and was like, "mm, ok." No enthusiasm. And I know he knows I'm a good cook, but you could tell by his reaction it was saying. I'll pass. But he stayed the night that night because we were in an all consuming ALIAS marathon. Which is what I love about Roy, cause he loves to do stuff like that, and so do I. In fact it was my 2nd time doing the marathon, but my 1st was by myself and it was so much better with him! Love my gay husband! :) He means the world to me, and we have so much fun. But this marathon was taking a toll on our waistlines as we stocked up on hostess pies, donuts, Cheez-its, chips, and take out, pizza, and even mixed a few cocktails. So I woke up and started making it one morning, so it would be ready, and not have to cook it later, and wind up grabbing somethin ese cuz I couldn't wait for to cook when I'm hungry. And brown rice takes about an hour till it's ready. And when I got to the vegetables sauteing, he leans over the balcony and yells "What is that? It smells so good." I told him it was my brown rice mixture, so he came down and watched me finish making it, and then dove in when it was ready. He loved it so much, he went home and made it for his boyfriend, and they both love it and got into it, too, trying all kinds of different things to put into it.

So long story long... :) If you just open your mind to trying something, you might be surprised. And that's a great little goal to have for yourself, Mrs. ButterCream, since youmentioned in your last blog about having little goals - just say one day out of each week, you're gonna try something different that's healthy that you said no to before. A big key to this is using FRESH and REAL ingredients. Not Garlic Powder, or jarred garlic, but a fresh clove of garlic. Good olive oil, real butter. If you use things with good flavor, the taste goes further for making something taste good, and you can use less, as in the case with butter.

And that's one of the reasons Ilike this blog with you, it makes think of things that I'd forgotten about. And it makes me try to hold true to the promises I made on here. Lately I haven't wanted to stand and cook, but I'm not eating any well rounded meals. I'm eating pieces of cheese, some nuts, and those Fiber One bars. And those things are good, lots of fiber, some protein, but still sugar. They;re a treat, not something you should eat 5 a day of! I'm out of control, but they taste so good and are so convenient, lust like cheese sticks, and nuts. I have to donothing. But they are not "meals" and I'm missing out on a lot of nutrients. So I'm making brown rice this week. And I'm going to Trader Joe's, cuz they have these awesome Southwestern Chicken burgers that have veggies in them. They are super yummy and flavorful yummy, and you can eat them just as is, or on a whole grain piece of bread, and put a little pesto on the bread, and salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon, and ad lettuce and tomatoes. Even better with arugula, gives it a nice peppery taste. So many ideas! And just in case your curious:

Olivia's Brown Rice Mixture

Brown rice cooked with garlic, a dash of that yummy vietnamese chili sauce, and chicken stock (sometimes I do part chicken stock,and a small can of fresh organic tomatoes). When it's done, I take it out of the pan, and put it into a big bowl. Then drizzle olive oil, a little more garlic, into the same pan, and saute every vegetable I've got - zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, and spinach. Now toss all that into the rice in the bowl. Now in the same skillet, I scramble about 4 eggs. Toss that in the rice mixture, and then throw in diced green onions, and pine nuts. It's great! And you can change the veggies, the nuts-cashews, macadamia, almonds, add meat like turkey, salmon, chicken (even a rotisserie would be even quicker) instead of eggs, whatever floats your boat for the day, or whatever is in the fridge. And always salt & pepper throughout cooking - again fresh ground pepper, and fresh ground kosher salt is way better!