The Joy of Cooking

I have never been the greatest or most adventurous cook. I'm OK with simple and I have no moral objection to frozen meals. All that has posed a serious challenge as I've undertaken a new nutrition program.

I started on Sunday, and this first week is quite a radical shift. In the first seven days, the goal is to cleanse the system of all the processed, unhealthy foods we normally consume. (I think that's probably true of the pizza I ate a couple days last week, among other things). One of the mandates, which I didn't think much of at the time, was that the seasoning that I used to cook needed to be sugar and or salt free.

Apparently that washed over me because I don't read labels. Because when I started reading labels, I discovered that really limits the options. It's amazing the ways that sugars and sugar derivatives enter our lives. I think that could actually be a good analogy for the problem of sin, but that's probably another blog post...

So last night, as I watched Butler miss almost every shot it took in the title game, I realized I was going to have to get creative. It was with much trepidation that I gave it a try and, actually, discovered a new way to make chicken that I would consider eating even if I wasn't on this restricted nutrition plan.

It made me realize that sometimes it's the unexpected paths that end up being the most fun and rewarding. That's true with making meals, and it's true for life. I don't know if I'll feel the same every night, but I was glad I found something new yesterday.