So, as promised, I started cleaning out the kitchen (regularly used food stuff was gone through months ago). First stop? Cabinet adjacent to the stove. Although I won't publish the entire list (it's 2 pages), I have picked a few items that might raise a few eyebrows, wrinkle some noses or just make you wanna smack your forehead (or me upside the head):
*Caveat ~ on items where there were multiples, I'm not sure why more than 1 would even be opened other than for the careless fact that I did not have track of what was in my cupboards & bought/used more than was necessary
*(4) jars of Tahini (of which 2 were opened)
*(2) jars of Butter Ghee - FACT Serving = 1 tsp (yes TSP) Cal 120 / Fat 120 (wow, just eat a piece of lard for god's sakes!)
*(1) can of meringue powder from 04/26/2005 (my sister & I took a cake decorating class and I never used it after that)
*(1) can/tin of powdered cultured buttermilk (honestly, why the hell did I even buy this?) but had to be from more than 12+ years ago!
*(1) 3 lb tub of Crisco All Vegetable Shortening - FACT Serving = 1 tbsp Cal 110 / Fat 110 (hey, it's better than the Butter Ghee! More bang for your buck) I never even opened it BUT the "best if used by date" was 11/22/2006 so, if this stuff is good for what, several years, you can just calculate when it was approximately purchased
*(3) jars of organic Maple Syrup (friend of mine tried to convince me to do the Master Cleanse...I lasted 1 day)
*Variety of salts (sea salt, kosher salt, table salt)
*Variety of vinegars (apple cider vinegar, distilled white vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice vinegar [3 bottles...why?])
*Orange blossom water & rose water (for Arabic cooking and upset stomachs - works great kids because when they burp, it smells like a flower!)
So what is my intention here & how does it help any of us? I think that by simplifying our lives this, in turn, helps us to simplify our lifestyles & diets. Yeah it would be great that we were all gourmet chefs that could turn out delicious, low fat, low calorie meals. And by believing in this I would get sucked into that mind set by buying cooking equipment/tools that I didn't need or ingredients that I would only use 1x, if I ever used it at all.
Then, when I would go to whip up that meal worthy of the Food Network, I would become discouraged when the food would not work out or did not taste good or just looked darned gross. Hello, Pizza Hut, how fast can you deliver?
When I lived by myself my diet was simple, easy to prepare, good tasting & healthy. Then I got married & had kids & thought I would have to be SuperMom including the chef part. But you cannot do everything and even if you can, I doubt everything comes out 100+%.
In a way this move to France provides a clean slate, which really felt good when I went to Palm Desert. The apartment will be small so there will be no room. Everything is downsized over there (fridges are considerably smaller). Many places don't even offer a microwave - you're lucky you get a stove/oven instead of a hot plate! Plus, people in Europe live a much simpler lifestyle. Eating is simpler, more relaxing. Something I haven't felt here in a long, long time.
I also went through my closet & got rid of my loose clothing that was there in case of weight gain. I gave it to the girls at work. Not only was a lot of it stuff that would be impractible for me to take or keep, I now have room in my closet to buy stuff for smaller sizes (now THAT's a nice thought).
Some things I learned in the process of this exercise: that any food that has a shelf life is scary - in calories & fat content, plus all those unmentionable or un-pronouncable ingredients; I can easily whip up a good tasting meal by using healthy perishables (meats + fresh veggies + fresh herbs) with simple condiments (olive oil, salt, pepper) instead of getting bogged down in the consumerism of cooking; that it's true what they say about keeping clothes for the "just in case"...just in case kinda happens so if you keep those "JIC" clothes guess what? You'll probably end up wearing them sooner than you think.
I feel a bit weird posting this blog - it wasn't snarky enough for me...but oh well. Tomorrow is another day (actually, my blog on my food for yesterday will be forthcoming shortly so I'm sure I can open up a can of smart a$$ soon enough)
Debbie
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