Strange Blogging Locations #2, Cooking Some Food(!) and Healthy Appetite

More strange places I've blogged -  - outside 'the Grog Shop,' a cute liquor store downtown that sells lots of local wines and beers and has a wi-fi shop next door. In the truck (it's seldom warm enough or appropriate to sit outside in that parking lot!)

Another glorious day! I was up at 5.30 (it was still dark - wouldn't have been, a month ago) to make blueberry muffins to send off our guests early. I also baked bread for Phil, who caught a ride north to hang out with a buddy right after we saw them off - we'll meet back up tomorrow, heading to Anchorage for appointments. So here I was with some instant alone-time at the end of the guest-marathon!

After my musings about salt yesterday, here is a Dr Mercola article explaining why mineral salts are good for you. He mentions loss of appetite and depression as being possible signs of sodium deficiency and I know I've had some of both lately, so a note to the wise... With this wonderful, unexpected warmth, though, salt seems like a dehydrating prospect!

Isn't it funny how certain things that are 'work' are also relaxing? I spent most of the morning working on one of the translation projects I'm on, which is serious work, and yet was the only thing I felt 'up to' doing.

Funnily enough too, after all the 'regular food' cooking I've been doing these past weeks, I also ended up spending a fair bit of time playing in the kitchen today, making raw/no-sugar 'Ela-friendly' stuff! I'll talk more about most of these experiments in my next post, but today I want to mention a cooked recipe I tried out from someone else's blog.

Ordinarily, I don't see the point of cooking for myself. I prefer to eat raw foods, and soon discovered that the kinds of cooked foods I like are not the kinds that Phil likes at all. So I'd rather make a salad that we can share and then cook him something he does like. But when I saw this post of Lisa's, all my middle-eastern genes and cultural background prompted me, reminding me of how much I enjoy dal and lentils in general, hinting that sprouted lentils (which I eat fairly regularly) are all very well, but don't quite hit the same spot as well-presoaked, slowly cooked yellow lentils with the spices well-infused. Plus, the tomato and the chutney are good raw complements and my garden is full of mint and cilantro…

So, I did it! And unusually for me, I followed the recipe quite closely. I omitted the cumin, because Phil's tummy doesn't like it and I'd love for him at least to try this. I subbed a dried chili pepper in the chutney because I had no fresh jalapenos. This was a milder dal than I would usually make, but as I expected, the spicy note of the chutney balanced it beautifully.

I couldn't make it look as beautiful as Lisa did - presentation isn't my strongest suite, perhaps because I'm not very visual myself. But I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of juicy but slightly dried tomato, spicy chutney with the epitome of fresh herbs, and the soothingly-textured dal, that wonderful creaminess that comes simply from the legume.

My sincerest thanks to Lisa for the inspiration to do this, and for the recipe.  

I've mentioned several times how careful I need to be with eating 'different' foods, and it was interesting to tune in to my tummy as I ate: there was an initial 'uh-oh, this is something different,' followed by a relaxing 'ah, we know what this is' settling into familiarity. It still feels a little strange - I was nibbling on leftover salad as I prepared this, and there was quite a contrast between how my tummy felt from a bite of salad and a bite of dal. I'll probably take some extra enzymes - between the cooked lentils and all the nibbles of my experiments earlier in the day, it's been a challenging day for my tummy.

But it must be a good thing, right, that I'm finding interest in trying out recipes again?! For months here, I've just been plodding along with salads and barks, coconut kefir and morning smoothies, with very little interest or variation. Admittedly, the sensation of having my tastebuds stimulated, the reaction 'that tastes good, I'd like another bite' is actually a bit scary - I'm afraid it'll lead me to eat more, with all the calamitous associations that that has for me. But the truth of the matter is that I've been stopping way short of 'full' for the most part and my tummy is pretty good at informing me when 'full' is reached.

I am encouraging and nurturing the idea that enjoying vibrant, tasty food, and having an appetite for it, is a good and healthy thing! Sound good?