Let's talk food

I was an extremely picky eater until high school, and I still can be. I never eat less than three meals a day and typically try to eat healthy foods, but sometimes it almost seems like a hassle to eat (and to find things that are vegetarian and yummy). Since I have never had to cook for myself, I have never really appreciated the joy of cooking. I have the cheapest meal plan at FSU because I couldn't imagine eating cafeteria food all day every day, and like many college kids, I end up eating a lot of pizza, spaghetti, macaroni, and PB&J when I'm not at the dining hall. All of the grain gives me gas sometimes, and some of the microwavable dinners just leave me feeling bloated.

About a week ago I decided to really try to eat more healthy and tasty foods, which meant I had to get creative (no more fifty cent microwavable pizzas from Dollar Tree). I took out my cookbooks and recipes I've collected (though I've only tried 1 or 2), and with Curtis' help, decided to make a vegan Shepard's Pie from Peta's Vegetarian Starter Kit (which you can view in PDF or order in the mail for free)

It was very easy and good! The recipe fed me and three hungry boys, a couple of whom went back for seconds. It felt good to try something new and to make something healthy.

So this past weekend, I found some TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein- a soy product) recipes online and chose to make sweet and sour TVP with carrots and pineapple served over rice. I thought it was a little too sweet (perhaps cut back on the sugar) but overall it was exactly as it sounds. We doubled the recipe for some reason, so we have a few servings leftover for Curtis to munch on, since he liked it so much.

I hope to continue making something new every week. I'll try to keep posting on it (maybe with pictures next time).