Where It All Began

Growing up, my father never ate anything (no offense Dad, I love you). Mayo? Gag. Anything resembling mayo such as sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, really anything with cream in the name? No thank you. And you can forget ricotta cheese, ranch dressing, blue cheese, etc. Really the list goes on. Sensing a theme here? My father would be perfectly happy to eat scrambled eggs, peanut butter toast, and spaghetti day in and day out for the rest of his life. And you know what? That's okay. But it definitely wasn't making our house an experience in culinary bliss. 

As a result, my mother had to adapt. My mother has always enjoyed cooking. Raised in a small town on Massachusetts's North Shore, she is particularly fond of seafood. After 3 years of service in the Army and bases in Alabama, Texas, and Washington, D.C., my mother has also learned to cook almost everything else in the classic American diet. But all had to be Dad approved. There were certain staples I remember: ham steak, pork chops, greenbean casserole, meatloaf, baked chicken, some kind of filet of white fish. Every time I go home and eat one of these dishes it brings back lots of happiness, as well as fond memories of my mother griping to my dad at the dinner table, "Fred, can you just taste it before dumping all of that ketchup on it?" 

If you read the above list you'll note that while good, everything is a traditional meal. Sushi never passed our lips, who ate organic? Unfortunately my taste buds took after my dad's, and I really hated vegetables. You know how at least a third of your plate is supposed to be green? Mine usually consisted of whatever protein we were having, the carb, and not much else. Lots of white and brown. Salad would be in a bowl and I had one of those lovely habits where I would eat one thing at a time until it was gone, meaning the salad would often go untouched. I loved my frozen chicken nuggets, Kraft mac and cheese, and heavily breaded fish sticks. The only veggies I would eat were cucumber, lettuce, green peppers, and green beans only if they were in the aforementioned casserole. 

Unfortunately this pickiness, coupled with a family history of diabetes and heart disease, led me to struggle with my weight my entire life. I was always on the heavier side in elementary and middle school. In 8th grade I lost about 30 pounds and I was swimming on a club team year round. In high school I kept a large chunk of it off swimming and rowing, but by my senior year of high school it had started to creep back on. And while my diet was improving in variety it wasn't necessarily going in the same direction in relation to healthy. The seemingly limitless cafeteria in college further derailed me and I gained the freshmen 15 and then some. I moved home my sophomore year and promptly took it all off and was able to maintain it through my first year of nursing school. However, anyone who's been through nursing school knows how stressful it is and when it comes to school I do not lose weight because of stress. Back on the weight went. By the time I hit my last semester of school I realized that I did not want to be the nurse that is telling her patients to lose weight but doesn't look healthy herself. So with a little patience and a lot of hard work I took off over 50 pounds and it has stayed off for a year and a half. 

During nursing school my palate really exploded. A relationship with someone who truly enjoys food pushed me to try new things and get creative in the kitchen. While I still enjoy chain restaurants such as Red Lobster, now I seek out local restaurants and keep a running list on my phone of places I want to eat. Before I would never touch Mexican or Chinese food. Now they're some of my favorites. I hardly ever cooked and now my favorite room in my house is the kitchen. 

This blog isn't really meant to be a how-to although I'll probably include some recipes, it's more so meant for me to showcase my passion for cooking and eating, something I have really come to love and enjoy very much. I hope you'll follow me on this journey and maybe find some yummy places to eat or dishes to try! 

In the meantime, I'll be here with my less than foodie nighttime snack of wine and gummy bears...but still delish!