times they are a changin'

as some of you may remember from my skinny bitch post, i have sort of taken a new approach to the way i eat. well, i have decided to include some of my new way of life into my blog so i can share it with those who are interested :) there have been a few things that have influenced me and have helped me a lot in my little food journey. first and foremost was going to spain last year. living in spain forced me to eat a million things that i would have never eaten in my life (meats, fish, seafood, tons of salad, different kinds of fruits and veggies, a variety of soups, etc). pretty much my whole life ive been suuuper picky and pretty limited in what i ate. but living with a spanish mama that did not understand the words "i dont like it" made me change pretty quickly!! while i was there, i also developed an interest in cooking...totally new to me! when i lived on my own for the first time in college i could count the number of times on one hand that i had warm food in a week...i only ate things like cereal, yogurt, turkey, crackers...cold things that didnt need cooking or even preparing. my dad is a chef and my mom is also an AMAZING cook, so i really did not have any real need to cook because both my parents were so great at it...and when they didnt cook, my sister gladly (most of the time) stepped in to make me something! so i guess what we can take from this is i was definitely a spoiled brat when it came to food!! that aside, spain changed me and i got the cooking bug! i often watched/helped my spanish mama cook and and took notes on her recipes and ingredients. we went shopping together a lot and to different outdoor markets and it was so fun! i also took note of the way she cooked and planned...she made big batches of many things at a time and then froze them in portions--which is genius and something i do allll the time now. my mom gets offended by this though because apparently this is how she cooks too (and did do my entire life)...but i guess i never noticed so i gave credit to my spanish mama....uh oh mama drama!! haha! anyway, when i came back to the states i started my new life of cooking and i really liked it!! i discovered that i actually like to follow a recipe and try new things (my new roommates thought i was like susie homemaker!! haha little did they know i was a total poser!). the next thing that shifted my interest in food and nutrition was my friend over at cooking with kate (check out her blog, she is amazing and i love her!!) who started a food blog and thus introduced me to the crazy world of food blogging! i have learned about soooo many cool new ingredients and interesting recipes from the food blogs, which has helped to keep things exciting and fresh as i started this healthy/different eating kick! lastly, i have been reading books like skinny bitch (ignore the name and read it, it will change your life!!) and fast food nation, researching online, watching the food network, randomly trying new ingredients, tapping into my inner chef, which my dad tells me is innate....oh yeah and calling my mom millions of times. all of those things combined have influenced a lot of my food-related decisions and have really changed the way i eat!

anyway, that was just a little intro into me, so now from time to time ill tell you whats going on in my food world with any new ingredients or new recipes that i try so you can try (and enjoy!) them too!! until next time......