Food: my drug of choice

Anyone who knows me probably anticipates that our conversation will probably center around one of two things:

A. My brilliant and oh-so adorable children,

or

B. Food.

BBQ Chicken Thighs

It's sad really.  But this is what my life is about these days, so you'll just have to get used to it.

Bajios style salad with Slow-cooker Salsa Chicken and Spicy Black Beans

Actually, it is possible for me to converse about other things. Of course they're usually really random subjects that don't come up in everyday social situations, like my knowledge of native and non-native noxious weeds in the greater Teton Valley, or my opinion on the reintroduction of wolves and the recent hunting that is being allowed.  Yes, I was a biology major.  More exciting topics would include Poland and it's cultural peculiarities, language, and cuisine . . . but there we are talking about food again.  Man, I'm boring.

Polish Paczki

I remember back in high school my friends and lunch-mates noticing how often I commented on the cafeterial fare.  It may have been simply a lack of something else to say --something to bridge the silence, but I think it was more than that.  It was merely a manifestation of my budding relationship with food.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

I am by no means a culinary expert.  I definitely don't claim to be a gourmet. In fact, I pride myself on meals that require like 5 ingredients or less and take only 20 minutes to make.  If someone gives me a recipe with a list of 20 strange ingredients (strange meaning I don't usually buy it or have it on hand), no matter how good they say it tastes, I probably won't try making it.  Okay, so that's an exaggeration, but only a little bit. To my credit though, I am generally a make-it-from-scratch kind of person.

Chicken Pot Pie in stoneware bowls

However, even though my tastes are anything-but-sophisticated, my style is more on the meat-and-potatoes side of things, and I'm not very inventive or artistic when it comes to food, I believe (and my husband agrees --although we'll try not to discount his vote even if he has been known to eat corn dogs out of the microwave) that most of the stuff that comes out of my kitchen is pretty darn tasty.

Cashew Chicken

Now this is a blessing, but also a curse.  You see, lately, I've had to come to the conclusion that I am addicted to food.  Especially sugar.  I've tried lately to reduce my sugar intake, and it's proving impossible.  Now part of that might be that I am constantly tired, and so my body is craving the instant energy that such simple carbohydrates provide, but that doesn't explain my insatiable appetite for chocolate.  Maybe it's a hormone imbalance.  I don't know.  All I know is that even writing this post makes me want to go find something to eat, but alas, there is nothing.  I have anticipated my lack of self control by not allowing anything to come into the house.  Not even chocolate chips are safe.  Still I don't count that as success in overcoming my food addiction.

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Plums, Butterscotch Krispies

The problem with a food addiction is that we still have to eat. People overcoming alcoholism can completely abstain and when they're thirsty drink other non-alcoholic beverages.  I can't eat other non-food items (although certain super processed food that contain only un-pronouncable ingredients might be considered non-food --but I think that would be somewhat counterproductive).  I guess the problem comes when I am addicted to unhealthy food, although anything in large amounts could be considered unhealthy ... or could it? Can you O.D. on spinach?

Lemon-Pepper Chicken Pitas

I guess you could, but why would you?  We all know that vegetables are just a vehicle for our unhealthy dressings and toppings right?  (Now you know why I look the way I do.) Actually I do enjoy many healthy foods. I just enjoy the others more. Okay, enough of the guilt trip.  I didn't come here to talk about what is or isn't "healthy," I just wanted to talk about food glorious food!

Egg rolls, and Sweet and Sour Chicken

I have to admit, that I find food beautiful.  I don't suggest you hang pictures of it on your walls, but it is a form of art in it's own way.  I'm not even talking about the visually stunning creations you find in fancy restaurants, where there's about a tablespoon of food in the middle of a fancy plate with a drizzle of colorful sauce around it, and some leaf that is just for show on top.  I'm too down-to-earth for that.  Not to mention too cheap.  I'm sure it tastes good, but if it's $50 good, I think I'd want a lot more than a tablespoon worth. I'll just save myself the agony of obviously what could become just another unsupportable addiction --like scuba diving-- and stick with the easy stuff.

Crepes

I'm talking just plain ol' food cooked up in the right way, and photographed in the right light... For example, this site makes me drool. On the other hand, some sites make it all look like dog food even if it does taste good. (I won't bother linking to any of those.)

Homemade caramel apples

I don't really have any aspirations of having my own cooking blog, but you'd think I did by all the pictures of food I take. (They're hardly professional looking, and not as appetizing as some, but it was the best I could do to capture all that yumminess before it got devoured.) I do like sharing recipes though, and what's a recipe without a good picture to go with it?

Grilled Pizza

If you want any recipes of items pictured, just email me. There's an address at the bottom of my blog.
I'd be flattered.