Hungry
As you might guess, food is the hardest part of Fix so far. Not eating in restaurants means that I have to think about how to feed myself for the whole day, examining what my plans are and figuring out if I have time to run home and fix something. And this weekend I reached a critical point: I'm almost completely out of convenience foods like cereal and crackers, and I've used up my stores of mac and cheese, frozen spinach pie, and some turkey chili I made and stashed in the freezer.
When I designed this part of the experiment, I was imagining putting more consciousness towards what I put in my body, and integrating food preparation/consumption more intelligently into my lifestyle. I was also envisioning myself as more self-sufficient somehow, not susceptible to the lures of drunk food or street food because I'd already eaten a balanced healthy meal that I prepared myself. Though I've enjoyed a few Fix food experiences very much - some meals I've made myself, an adventurous eating weekend in Boston, making pancakes and bacon with my friend Chad - so far I've basically had the equivalent of what happened in high school when I decided I was a vegetarian and ate pizza, cookies, Cheez-its, and bread instead of the meat my mom prepared. This year I haven't eaten in restaurants - I get drinks or coffee when I go out with friends who are eating - but I also haven't done any serious planning or cooking yet, relying instead on leftovers from work or the aforementioned food stores. The little cooking that I have done relies on the recipes I've used forever: my friend Laura smiled knowingly, "you been making a lot of stir-fries, haven't you?"
So here are the issues:
I'd rather not buy processed packaged stuff -- and I've got to figure out where the line is. I know I can't go without buying any dry pasta this year, but I'm not sure that things like cereal, crackers, and granola bars should be allowed.
I'm athletic and I'm a grazer: I eat often and I require a lot of calories to get through the day.
I'm away from my apartment for long stretches of time, meaning that I need stuff to carry with me (not too heavy!) as well as quick stuff to fix when I get home.
Like anyone trying to solve these problems, I did the logical thing and participated in an email recipe chain letter that came my way a couple of weeks ago. With a cry for help referencing Fix, I received five responses. (I also got a couple "what the hell are you doing sending me a chain letter!" responses - sorry!) I organized my recipe book: of the 60 or so that I have, half are everyday kinds of recipes, and half of those I'm not sick of -- 15 new ideas! Looks like I'm going to have to do a big plan-shop-cook this week...I'm hoping that I'll get used to the process and actually enjoy it eventually but for now it feels really painful. Let me know if you have any better ideas...
P.S. I'll be looking for a crockpot and a blender in my secondhand forays - email me if you have one you're not using.
Megan Metcalf
This would go in comments, but it's particularly relevant here - thanks, Bex!
Hi Megan!
FIX is great! I took a moment to spin around the blog and applaud your
vows. It's a difficult task you face, but quite an amazing experiment!
For health and money reasons, I for the most part do not purchase food
at restaurants either. Certainly not to the extent that you attempt,
but I got a little chuckle at the familiar duty of packing food for on
the go.
There are days when my backpack resembles a small homeless shelter,
with one or two changes of clothes and food for the entire day
(breakfast, lunch, dinner and two or three snacks!) The commute home
is always a little nicer as I've eaten more space into my bag and
carry a lighter load!
If you ever need quick, easy ideas for 1-pot dishes that travel well
let me know! I'm the queen of tupperware lunches!!
good luck with the fight!
bex
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3 Comments
Reader Comments (3)
Uh, oh - my post made Mom a little nervous. She makes some good points:
Buying food, where do you draw the line? You have
to be realistic that you live in a big city and you
have a job, a commute, and other activities. I think
anything purchased at a market should be OK, unless
you want to eliminate prepared deli salads, sandwiches
and things like that. Yes, you should make your own
mashed potatoes instead of buying prepared ones, but
are you going to bake your own bread? grind your own
wheat? grow your own veggies?
No one make crackers or granola bars or cereal. You
can buy the types with less packaging, in larger
quantities, and more healthful ingredients, but you
have to eat something. Even canned soup is a staple -
homemade is nice, but most of it takes hours. Almost
no one makes pasta either. That is an ingredient for
other dishes and should be considered like bread.
One suggestion is to roast a chicken on your day off
and then you can eat the leftovers and make sandwiches
to take with you. It is very easy and takes just one
pan and no other ingredients. It just takes a bit of
planning and a bit of time 1 - 2 hours depending on
the size. You could roast a small cut of beef and do
that too.
When you do make a dish, make a large amount and
freeze some of it. It does take time and planning. I
think the planning is the hardest part.
Hope some of this is helpful. Have to finish my
chicken casserole (using chicken from the one I
roasted the other night) for dinner.
Love, Mom
Totally agree with Mom and the chicken.
My uncle in Tokyo currently makes food in bulk. (When my dad was in town he made him cook like two gallons of clam chowder) and then he puts it in these little one serving bags or tupperware containers and then he freezes it all.
You too can make your own instant meals
Just gotta devote a day to cooking stuff in bulk
Johanna and I had a plan to do that last winter...
Um
It may not have happened.
We never made hummus! You could go for days on hummus sandwiches!
Hi!
Just saw the recipies section, the 'chuck burton' is my brother, via the email chain last month!
:)