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By: Alan Detwiler - [food]
I have been preparing my own meals for many years. Like most people, I
suppose, I would fix only familiar dishes.
That has changed. For health benefits, I began eating more fruits and vegetables,
including some that were unfamiliar. I tried many foods that were new to me, for
example, whole grains, and various types of beans, seeds and nuts. Many of
those became favorites.
I began to more often use unfamiliar ways to prepare food. A few of my favorites
are pesto (pureed greens and oil), raw foods that are normally eaten cooked, and
unusual combinations such as bread with peanut butter, covered with pizza sauce.
Eating became more interesting, more enjoyable, and more of an adventure.
The circumstances of my life encouraged a varied diet. Making do with a small
amount of money gave me a liking for oatmeal, beans, and other very low-cost
foods. Growing up on a farm and having a garden each year provided new fruits
and vegetables to try and enjoy. Having been raised to 'waste not, want not',
helped me not to pass up unusual foods: gifts such as my sister's 'beans 'n'
greens', the landlord's pierogies, a neighbor's gift of venison, and my son's
homemade deer jerky. Some of those unfamiliar foods were not enjoyed at first
because they were so unfamiliar and were unrecognized as a 'goody'. For me, that
recognition is typically made gradually by many small trials. But it seems that the
more often I attempt to enjoy an unfamiliar food, the more success I will have.
The process of trying new foods and having them become enjoyed fare, turns
eating into an adventure. Eating becomes more interesting and more enjoyed.
Meals become more than a time to enjoy what I have enjoyed before. Awareness
is heightened by experiencing the unfamiliar. There is anticipation of discovery of
a new enjoyment. Meals become pay-off times of previous experimentation
efforts. The food is more appreciated for having creative effort invested in it.
Perhaps I have gained a health benefit, saved some prep time, saved money that
can be used for some other purpose, and have added to my repertoire of pleasure.
A cookbook will give you ideas about what new foods to try. A recipe book about a
particular ethnic food or some other unfamiliar category of food would be
particularly helpful. Buy one or get one from the library. Some ethnic categories
are Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, African, soul food, Southern, and Mexican.
Other categories are health food, quick and easy recipes, weight loss diets,
vegetarian recipes, and using food from the garden. You might even enjoy some
obscure categories such as pioneer/early American food, Native American food,
wild food, early European food, food from storage, and low cost food. I particularly
like quick and easy recipe books.
If you need help becoming comfortable with trying new foods, try small changes:
- Eat breakfast foods at lunch or supper. Or try a vegetable at breakfast. If you
normally have a sandwich at bedtime, have a salad instead.
- Try different brands from the ones you normally use.
- Leave out one or more ingredients from your standard recipes. Or change the
proportions - a little more of this or a little less of that.
- Substitute a similar ingredient for a usual ingredient, for instance, orange juice
concentrate or lemon juice instead of vinegar on a salad.
- It may help to eat smaller portions but include a greater number of foods at
each meal. That may help you develop a liking for variety.
- Try unusual combinations such as cooked chicken and raw fruit cut in small
pieces and mixed together...or pizza sauce on a peanut butter open-face
sandwich...or a teaspoon of honey or pancake syrup on a dark green, leafy salad.
Salads are great to experiment with. Use another type of greens instead of or in
addition to the standard iceberg lettuce. Add various amounts and combinations of
any vegetables that you enjoy. The vegetables can be proportioned to subdue or
enhance particular flavors - use less basil to lessen its pungent flavor, use more
carrot to boost its flavor and texture. Add ingredients that are not normally
thought of as salad ingredients such as nuts, peanuts, coconut, cereal, raisins,
whole wheat flour, baked beans, sugar, and fruit. Try something different for a
dressing such as plain oil, pasta sauce, or peanut butter softened with oil.
Use small quantities of an untested food to begin with until you know how well your
body deals with it. The body will adapt to some foods over a period of weeks or
months but results vary from food to food and, I suppose, from individual to
individual. A couple of years ago eating one spear of raw asparagus was more
than I could tolerate. Now I can cut up two ounces of raw asparagus and add it to a
salad without any problem. Any food has limits; it's just that raw foods tend to
have more immediate penalties for exceeding the limits.
To develop a liking for a new food, eat it at the beginning of a meal when you are
most hungry. Being hungry greatly improves ones ability to appreciate the taste of
a food. Eat only a small amount of the new food at each sitting. For some foods, a
tiny bite, just enough to sense its flavor, is enough to handle at first. Don't give up
easily on a food that at first seems too strange to be enjoyed. Some foods will
require dozens of 'get acquainted' trials.
Other strategies for liking new foods:
- Read about nutrition and health to know the benefits of a changed diet.
- Make a decision to increase the pleasure in your life. Your success in enjoying
new foods will encourage you to try other kinds of new pleasures.
Have reasons in mind to try unusual foods:
- to be able to enjoy healthy foods.
- to enjoy low-prep-time foods.
- to use what you can grow in your garden.
- for the satisfaction of acquiring new pleasures.
- to increase your enjoyment of eating.
Know why liking new foods is difficult. This is the know-your-enemy principle. It
seems to help me. People have an instinctive protection against eating toxic
foods. Nature has provided you with mistrust for new, unfamiliar food. If the food
is enough different from what you are used to, it will not be immediately liked.
This is a necessary instinct that keeps you from poisoning yourself by eating the
wrong mushroom, for example. Evolution along with chemistry eliminated the
gulp-down-anything individuals from our gene pool. The little-by-little
taste-developers survived.
If it's the sugar, salt and spices you depend upon to enjoy food, other flavors will
go unappreciated. To help your fondness for new foods come easier, ease up on
spices, salt, and sugar. That encourages your taste to appreciate a greater variety
of flavors. You then can more appreciate the sweetness of cherry tomatoes, the
sweetness of raw pumpkin, and the sweetness of sweet potatoes, for example.
You can enjoy the mild flavor of raw chestnuts, the richness of nuts, and the subtle
starchiness of cereal grains. Your palate will be more adept at experiencing the
pleasures of subtle flavors. A great many foods that previously seemed mostly
tasteless, can then be enjoyed for their unique flavors.
Your enjoyment of strong tasting food will also be helped by reducing sugar and
salt use. You will be switching from depending on saltiness and sweetness to
getting pleasure from a greater variety of flavors.
Finding new foods:
- Browse at a health food store, a farmers market or an ethnic food festival.
- Take the time to look at all the items at a local supermarket.
- Browse at local ethnic food markets: Middle Eastern or Greek, for example.
- Try raw foods, whole grains and other unprocessed foods. Typically, they have
more texture and flavor. These foods are higher in fiber and so produce more
intestinal gas. Limit portion size to reduce gas production. Load up when gas will
not be a problem. I allow myself to pig-out at a before bedtime meal. If the meal
is low in calories, that large meal doesn't keep me from having a good night's
sleep.
- Do your own cooking. Restaurants have menus that appeal to a majority of
people, not to people wanting something different. Even the person who cooks for
their own family may be unlikely to prepare other than familiar and popular food.
- Have a garden, if you have the time and space. Every year I can try out new
recipes and a new vegetable or two. Otherwise, take advantage of the variety the
large supermarkets offer.
A few unusual recipes can be found at
http://www.leisureideas.com/easy-recipes-unusual-recipes/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Detwiler's website, Leisureideas.com, encourages people to discover new ways
to enjoy themselves. His books are available in digital format and can be
purchased and downloaded on the eBookMall web site. Go to
http://www.ebookmall.com/advanced-search Then do a search for Detwiler.
Visit Site: http://www.leisureideas.com/easy-recipes-unusual-recipes/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Reprint/Distribution Source : ArticleWareHouse.com
I have been preparing my own meals for many years. Like most people, I
suppose, I would fix only familiar dishes.
That has changed. For health benefits, I began eating more fruits and vegetables,
including some that were unfamiliar. I tried many foods that were new to me, for
example, whole grains, and various types of beans, seeds and nuts. Many of
those became favorites.
I began to more often use unfamiliar ways to prepare food. A few of my favorites
are pesto (pureed greens and oil), raw foods that are normally eaten cooked, and
unusual combinations such as bread with peanut butter, covered with pizza sauce.
Eating became more interesting, more enjoyable, and more of an adventure.
The circumstances of my life encouraged a varied diet. Making do with a small
amount of money gave me a liking for oatmeal, beans, and other very low-cost
foods. Growing up on a farm and having a garden each year provided new fruits
and vegetables to try and enjoy. Having been raised to 'waste not, want not',
helped me not to pass up unusual foods: gifts such as my sister's 'beans 'n'
greens', the landlord's pierogies, a neighbor's gift of venison, and my son's
homemade deer jerky. Some of those unfamiliar foods were not enjoyed at first
because they were so unfamiliar and were unrecognized as a 'goody'. For me, that
recognition is typically made gradually by many small trials. But it seems that the
more often I attempt to enjoy an unfamiliar food, the more success I will have.
The process of trying new foods and having them become enjoyed fare, turns
eating into an adventure. Eating becomes more interesting and more enjoyed.
Meals become more than a time to enjoy what I have enjoyed before. Awareness
is heightened by experiencing the unfamiliar. There is anticipation of discovery of
a new enjoyment. Meals become pay-off times of previous experimentation
efforts. The food is more appreciated for having creative effort invested in it.
Perhaps I have gained a health benefit, saved some prep time, saved money that
can be used for some other purpose, and have added to my repertoire of pleasure.
A cookbook will give you ideas about what new foods to try. A recipe book about a
particular ethnic food or some other unfamiliar category of food would be
particularly helpful. Buy one or get one from the library. Some ethnic categories
are Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, African, soul food, Southern, and Mexican.
Other categories are health food, quick and easy recipes, weight loss diets,
vegetarian recipes, and using food from the garden. You might even enjoy some
obscure categories such as pioneer/early American food, Native American food,
wild food, early European food, food from storage, and low cost food. I particularly
like quick and easy recipe books.
If you need help becoming comfortable with trying new foods, try small changes:
- Eat breakfast foods at lunch or supper. Or try a vegetable at breakfast. If you
normally have a sandwich at bedtime, have a salad instead.
- Try different brands from the ones you normally use.
- Leave out one or more ingredients from your standard recipes. Or change the
proportions - a little more of this or a little less of that.
- Substitute a similar ingredient for a usual ingredient, for instance, orange juice
concentrate or lemon juice instead of vinegar on a salad.
- It may help to eat smaller portions but include a greater number of foods at
each meal. That may help you develop a liking for variety.
- Try unusual combinations such as cooked chicken and raw fruit cut in small
pieces and mixed together...or pizza sauce on a peanut butter open-face
sandwich...or a teaspoon of honey or pancake syrup on a dark green, leafy salad.
Salads are great to experiment with. Use another type of greens instead of or in
addition to the standard iceberg lettuce. Add various amounts and combinations of
any vegetables that you enjoy. The vegetables can be proportioned to subdue or
enhance particular flavors - use less basil to lessen its pungent flavor, use more
carrot to boost its flavor and texture. Add ingredients that are not normally
thought of as salad ingredients such as nuts, peanuts, coconut, cereal, raisins,
whole wheat flour, baked beans, sugar, and fruit. Try something different for a
dressing such as plain oil, pasta sauce, or peanut butter softened with oil.
Use small quantities of an untested food to begin with until you know how well your
body deals with it. The body will adapt to some foods over a period of weeks or
months but results vary from food to food and, I suppose, from individual to
individual. A couple of years ago eating one spear of raw asparagus was more
than I could tolerate. Now I can cut up two ounces of raw asparagus and add it to a
salad without any problem. Any food has limits; it's just that raw foods tend to
have more immediate penalties for exceeding the limits.
To develop a liking for a new food, eat it at the beginning of a meal when you are
most hungry. Being hungry greatly improves ones ability to appreciate the taste of
a food. Eat only a small amount of the new food at each sitting. For some foods, a
tiny bite, just enough to sense its flavor, is enough to handle at first. Don't give up
easily on a food that at first seems too strange to be enjoyed. Some foods will
require dozens of 'get acquainted' trials.
Other strategies for liking new foods:
- Read about nutrition and health to know the benefits of a changed diet.
- Make a decision to increase the pleasure in your life. Your success in enjoying
new foods will encourage you to try other kinds of new pleasures.
Have reasons in mind to try unusual foods:
- to be able to enjoy healthy foods.
- to enjoy low-prep-time foods.
- to use what you can grow in your garden.
- for the satisfaction of acquiring new pleasures.
- to increase your enjoyment of eating.
Know why liking new foods is difficult. This is the know-your-enemy principle. It
seems to help me. People have an instinctive protection against eating toxic
foods. Nature has provided you with mistrust for new, unfamiliar food. If the food
is enough different from what you are used to, it will not be immediately liked.
This is a necessary instinct that keeps you from poisoning yourself by eating the
wrong mushroom, for example. Evolution along with chemistry eliminated the
gulp-down-anything individuals from our gene pool. The little-by-little
taste-developers survived.
If it's the sugar, salt and spices you depend upon to enjoy food, other flavors will
go unappreciated. To help your fondness for new foods come easier, ease up on
spices, salt, and sugar. That encourages your taste to appreciate a greater variety
of flavors. You then can more appreciate the sweetness of cherry tomatoes, the
sweetness of raw pumpkin, and the sweetness of sweet potatoes, for example.
You can enjoy the mild flavor of raw chestnuts, the richness of nuts, and the subtle
starchiness of cereal grains. Your palate will be more adept at experiencing the
pleasures of subtle flavors. A great many foods that previously seemed mostly
tasteless, can then be enjoyed for their unique flavors.
Your enjoyment of strong tasting food will also be helped by reducing sugar and
salt use. You will be switching from depending on saltiness and sweetness to
getting pleasure from a greater variety of flavors.
Finding new foods:
- Browse at a health food store, a farmers market or an ethnic food festival.
- Take the time to look at all the items at a local supermarket.
- Browse at local ethnic food markets: Middle Eastern or Greek, for example.
- Try raw foods, whole grains and other unprocessed foods. Typically, they have
more texture and flavor. These foods are higher in fiber and so produce more
intestinal gas. Limit portion size to reduce gas production. Load up when gas will
not be a problem. I allow myself to pig-out at a before bedtime meal. If the meal
is low in calories, that large meal doesn't keep me from having a good night's
sleep.
- Do your own cooking. Restaurants have menus that appeal to a majority of
people, not to people wanting something different. Even the person who cooks for
their own family may be unlikely to prepare other than familiar and popular food.
- Have a garden, if you have the time and space. Every year I can try out new
recipes and a new vegetable or two. Otherwise, take advantage of the variety the
large supermarkets offer.
A few unusual recipes can be found at
http://www.leisureideas.com/easy-recipes-unusual-recipes/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Detwiler's website, Leisureideas.com, encourages people to discover new ways
to enjoy themselves. His books are available in digital format and can be
purchased and downloaded on the eBookMall web site. Go to
http://www.ebookmall.com/advanced-search Then do a search for Detwiler.
Visit Site: http://www.leisureideas.com/easy-recipes-unusual-recipes/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Reprint/Distribution Source : ArticleWareHouse.com