The Beauty of Food

If you know me in person, you definitely know that I'm well-known for my notoriously picky eating habits. I have the same thing every day--for breakfast, either maple and brown sugar oatmeal (which I will only eat if it's bought in Canada), or chocolate-chip pancakes.  For lunch, an English muffin, toasted, with melted peanut butter; and for dinner--well, this differs, but my favorites are spaghetti parmesan, ravioli (I love Italian food), risotto, with favorite sides being: green beans, wild rice, asparagus, strawberries, melon (watermelon is my favorite!), and a lot of other fruits and vegetables.  In terms of multicultural foods, my favorite is Italian, but I also like Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican. But those are pretty much the only foods I will eat. 

As I watched my sister and mom cook this summer, their meals were always beautiful.  Israeli cous-cous, risotto cakes, zucchini and cinnamon muffins (they sound disgusting but are actually worth living for), lemon cake with chocolate frosting, etc.  You name it, my sister will cook it.  I don't eat half of the food they serve, but I always wish that I liked it because it's always served in a beautiful way.  Some of it I eat--I love the zucchini and cinnamon muffins and lemon cake with chocolate frosting, and a lot of other foods they have served over the summer.  I think my favorite of the summer were store-bought cinnamon buns, which are TO DIE FOR.  The Canadian food is so much better than the American food!

Seeing all this beautiful food made me realize something--that nature is beautiful. Because we wouldn't have food without nature.  Look at those juicy red strawberries and shining blackberries in the picture above.  They show us that this is our Earth, and we must appreciate it by enjoying all the lovely things it has to offer.

If you want a better way to enjoy eating rather than just gobbling it up, then follow the directions to this simple exercise I read about in a magazine.  Serve someone a simple but healthy food, such as berries and cream, or carrots and hummus.  Walk them through eating it, telling them to taste each bite verrryyy slowly, and to admire the texture and taste of what they're eating.  Make sure that they're eating it slowly! The point of this exercise is to eat slowly and carefully. Don't rush through eating that piece of chocolate cake, or even those mushy vegetables.  Just eat it, soak it all in, relax, and you'll actually find yourself enjoying it.  The next time you eat, think of this.

It may seem really weird at first (it did for me!) and you might not like it because you just want to eat your food fast so you can be over with eating.  But try it, it really works.  And you don't have to do it all the time.  So relax, take deep breaths, and enjoy the wonders of nature. ♥.