Eating With Your Eyes: A Matter of Perception

"That looks delicious!" It's a phrase you hear all the time. I use it every time I pass an olive bar drooling, or whenever I see a piece of tiramasu. Its the visual appeal of a food that often leaves our mouths watering.  Why do you think people spend so much time on Pinterest pinning recipes that they never actually make?  Why do I spend my afternoons watching Food network? It's the way the food looks.

But what exactly makes a food "look" tasty?

The first thing that pops into my head is frosting, fluffy decadent frosting-- clouds of sugar draped over a rich red velvet cake. Or flavorful vegetables steaming over a pot of grainy rice, each object in sharp contrast from the one next to it.

These foods will look good, regardless of how they taste.

But what about the foods that aren't exactly visually appealing?

Quite frequently  I visit the Asian market with my friend Sam who is from Thailand.   Every time we go there she introduces me to some interesting food that I have never had before.  Have you ever cooked with Thai soy sauce (and actually known the difference between the multitude of types of soy sauces?) or eaten fresh lamyai? If not you are missing out.

But there are lots of foods there that honestly freak me out.  To me, the jars of fermented meat and fish look like scary science projects gone wrong.  To Sam they look delicious.

Yet she is completely grossed out by the thought of gravy.

On my most recent trip she introduced me to Basil Seed drink which, when I asked her to describe, she couldn't.

"Just try it," she said.

I was instantly thrilled by the contents of that can. The drink is sweet with little balls (aka basil seeds) that fill up your straw and can only be described as squeaky because of the wonderful sound they make when you bite into them (Sam thinks they are crunchy, but I don't think that's quite right.)

Later that night I opened the contents of a can into a glass to see just what basil seed drink looks like. One word: scary! It would have been tough to stomach if I had seen it the first time I tried it. The basil seeds make me think of little amoebas swimming in my drink, or, as Sam described it, frog eggs.

But how could that be? This stuff is delicious, like, I want to go back to the Asian market and buy a case full, delicious. That made me wonder, what other wonderful foods am I missing out on just because the look or idea of them bothers me? It's not hard to think that Sam is missing out because of her aversion to gravy, but what about me and liver, tripe, fermented foods? It took me at least a year of convincing to try sushi before I realized how delicious it is.  A friend got me to face it head on and go for some sashimi, despite my head and gag reflex telling me it was a bad idea. Now I love sushi.

Sam thinks that a blindfold is all that it would take before I'd be eating all the strange-to-me foods that she loves, and she's probably right.  That may be a bit of a extreme way of handling things, but I will try to approach each new foods with an open mind.  I'd suggest that everyone do the same.  We wouldn't want to miss out?

But before I go cook up the weirdest foods I can find in my fridge (while sipping on basil seed drink,) I will leave with a parting question.

What's the weirdest food you've ever tried? Did you like it? I'd love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

Monday Photo Dump: Week 7 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

I know I was a bit absent this weekend, but I wasn't able to do my shelter work this week (and may not for a while) so there was no weekly adoptable post to share.  I also spent Saturday celebrating my hubby's birthday which is Tuesday, so I decided to take the weekend off. That said, I'm a little behind on this whole blog thing.  Instead of my usual planning ahead, I have been rushing through in the past half hour or so to edit these weekly photos.

Anyway, let's get right to it, huh?

2-8-14: This was a Saturday workday, cranking out blog posts and working on business cards, among other things.  A photo of my keyboard seemed fitting, since I spent so much time with it.

2-9-14: I followed that up with a Sunday of rest, and a lot of playing with my goofy doberman. He's got crazy eyes!

2-10-14: Let me just warn you right now that this week was all about the food photography.  Judging by the pictures I must have spent this week just eating. Sounds like the perfect week!

2-11-14: As I pulled into the driveway from work, I did this.  Now I get to replace this $300 tire, because I was too lazy to move a jack that was in my way.  I'm a smart cookie! Needless to say, I was a bit angry for the rest of the evening.

2-12-14: Thank goodness I was able to turn that flat-tire attitude around with a day with Sam. She took me to the Asian market where I tried this Basil Seed Drink.  It looks creepy as hell, but it is seriously delicious.

2-13-14: Speaking of weird foods, what better choice is there than celery root?  This stuff looks evil, but it's tasty, I promise.

2-14-14: Ah Valentines day, the day of every year where my lovely hubby buys a little potted rose, and every year I kill it.  Plants and I don't get along. But this year he got it right with some already dead roses (and very pretty ones at that!) along with chocolates just in time to satiate an extreme chocolate craving, shopping, and some lunch at Bonefish Grill. Yup, he definitely got it right!

So there you have it, another week of photos.  I must say, this has been going much better than I originally thought when I planned this 365 project. I thought I'd really struggle, and while I do have some rough days where I have a hard time caring, I've for the most part been really enjoying this project (and all this oh-so-photographable food!)

Monday Photo Dump: Week #6 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Today we are launching the Monday photo dump since Fridays are now my afternoon at the animal shelter and I will no longer have time to edit and post my photos that day. You can find out all about that here. I know I've made a lot of changes all of a sudden, but the format for this post is still the same and the pictures are still from the same part of the week, we are just switching up the days.  With that said, here's last week's photos, the first set for the month of February.

2-1-14: Can I just say that I love food photography.  We see a lot of people posting pictures of their lunch on Instagram and it's kind of a running joke that gives food photography a bad name, but food that is prepared by hand can be gorgeous and really great to take pictures of, like this colorful pork stir fry that I made for a lazy night dinner.

2-2-14: More food! My husband had the random idea to make handmade pretzels for our Superbowl party.  It was actually pretty easy and very successful (I couldn't stop eating them).  A recipe is coming soon.

2-3-14: Just some Jerry toes.  I sure do love Jerry toes.

2-4-14: It's a pretty self explanatory shot of the penny jar.  I just like the colors of the pennies,

2-5-14: What used to be a nice view of a wooded area out of my computer room window is now construction.  They cleared the trees quite a while ago (which I was pretty upset about) and then just recently they started construction.  My work is now accompanied by the sounds of hammers and construction equipment.  This is my new view. I can't wait until they are done building.

2-6-14: X marks the spot, I guess.

2-7-14: This is one of my shots from my day at the animal shelter.  I didn't use this as something to post to get this dog adopted (for obvious reasons), but I do like the moment that was captured.  This dog is anything but vicious, I swear, but caught mid bark he does look kind of mean, doesn't he?

So there you have it, last week's photos.  I didn't do a theme, which left me with kind of a hodgepodge of photos, but I think they captured my week pretty well. As always, if you have any theme suggestions leave them in the comments below.  Otherwise, I'll see you next time!

Chia Seeds (What do you do with that?)

Alright everybody, after some grocery store inspiration last night (Thank you publix cashier), I have come up with a new segment for the blog called, "What do you do with that?"

Let me explain.

Almost every trip to the grocery store I buy something that most Americans would consider to be weird. Maybe I watch too many cooking shows, but for some reason, where most people would give it a glance and walk by, I find celery root, rutabagas, or parsnips in the grocery store and I see them as an interesting challenge.  I often fill my fridge with foods that I have no idea how to cook or eat.

Every time I get in line with these items, the cashier will ask the same question about at least one of them, "What do you do with that?"  I always have the same response: "I'm about to find out."

So this segment will chronicle my experience in figuring out how to cook my unusual food purchases.  I grocery shop twice a month, so you can expect these posts about that often.  So, shall we give it a go?

This week's item is: Chia Seeds

My first step in any unknown food endeavor is to check the internet.  In this world a person can teach themselves just about anything with a little youtube and pinterest.  I am sure to take full advantage of that.

Well according to Pinterest there is approximately a million things you can do with chia seeds. Case in point:

After a lot of browsing I did discover a few interesting things about the little guys.

• They are super healthy.  They are high in protein (great for all you vegetarians out there) and, according to a pinterest user called mygreenworld, they are high in antioxidants, useful for weight loss, good for the heart and brain, and much more. (http://www.pinterest.com/mygreenworld)
• They are also very useful in cooking.  A blogger who goes by Wellness Mama says she uses them as a gluten free substitute for just about everything.  She even uses them as an egg substitute in some recipes (seeds instead of eggs, really? This is where I get a bit skeptical).  She also says that they make a great thickening agent in many recipes, which is something I'd be very interested to try since my cooking usually involves a lot of flour. (http://wellnessmama.com/4981/10-uses-for-chia-seeds/)
• They actually taste very good!  This one I didn't learn with research so much as trial and error.  I happened to be making a tortellini salad last night, and since the Chia Seed bag said they were good with salads, I thought I'd give it a go, so I threw a tablespoon in.  They added a slightly sweet and nutty flavor which went perfectly with my haphazard recipe.  Doesn't it look good?

Does anyone else have any great ideas for how to use Chia Seeds? Let me know in the comments!

And if you are interested in seeing some of the recipes that I use in my cooking (well adapt into my own, anyway) you can follow me on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/mikaelajoyphoto/

A Food Obsession

I've found a new obsession. That may be somewhat apparent by the lack of blogging that I've been doing lately.  I've never been much of a multi-tasker (I am working on it).  That said, my latest obsession is food.

It all started a couple of months ago when I got a new cell phone.  It's a windows 8 phone (I know, I was skeptical too but I absolutely love it) and the first thing I did after getting it, aside from figuring out how to use the thing, was downloading apps.  Sort of by accident I found a calorie counter app called myfitnesspal and decided to give it a try.  I've been interested in food and getting healthy for a while now, but, aside from a plan of eat more vegetables, never really knew what I was doing.  I started logging my food mostly out of curiosity to see how well I was doing.

Well that one little free app made me realize just how often I get "too busy" for food and end up with hamburger helper and pizza.  I realized that I was often eating double the portion size that I should have been and that my lazy eating was affecting my waistline and how I felt about myself.

At first I ate the same foods as always, just less of them.  From a weight loss standpoint, that worked.  I lost about five pounds in the first two weeks.  But that was hard to maintain.  My daily calorie goal (which is relatively high compared to many other app users) seemed impossibly small.  It wasn't until I spent a lazy day on the couch watching food movies and documentaries on netflix that something clicked.  I realized exactly why my getting healthy plan wasn't working quite like I wanted.

As of today I am approximately 20 pounds and 2 jean sizes down.  I feel great, am full of energy and my calorie goals are easy to meet.  So what miracle secret did I tap into on the couch that day?

The answer is cooking. In the past few months I've spent more time and money at the grocery stores and farmers markets than ever before.  I'm buying eggplants and beets and kale--things I've never bought before.  I'm spending hours in the kitchen watching cooking shows, reading food blogs, and eating fresher, better-tasting, and healthier food than I ever have before.

I'm lucky enough that I enjoy cooking.  If I didn't this would be an impossible change.  There is just something so great about picking out ingredients, prepping them, and putting them together into something handmade, beautiful and unique.  I get a huge sense of accomplishment from each loaf of bread or ricotta that I make and share.  Putting work into my food makes me savor each flavor and appreciate my food instead of sitting on the couch eating chips and hardly paying attention.

I should probably mention that my diet solution doesn't consist of flavorless diet foods.  I'm eating full fat milk, cheese, and sour cream.  I'll even have some ice cream sometimes.  But I'm have smaller portions and everything I buy is good quality. I'm buying more organic foods, tons of farmers market vegetables, and becoming aware of every ingredient in every meal that I prepare.  My bank account is taking a toll with the new grocery bills (maybe my next obsession should be couponing to support this habit) but I'm eating great food, losing weight, and having so much fun doing it.  That right there is definitely worth the price tag.

Recipe-- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This week I have basically the perfect schedule at work.  I spend the early mornings working and then have the entire rest of the day to do whatever I want. I decided to spend today in the kitchen making one of my favorite comfort foods– Homemade chicken noodle soup. The recipe is pretty simple and the ingredients are mostly lined up in the picture, but here’s the rundown on how it is made:

First you need some chicken stock.  You can buy it from the store, but I would highly recommend making your own.  It is easy, healthier, and saves you money if you use leftovers to make it.  I like to make a whole chicken in the oven the night before (maybe I’ll do a post on that another time) and then use the leftovers for soup the next day.

All I do is take the leftover carcass (after picking as much meat off as I can) and throw it in a  stock pot and cover it with water.  Then I add whatever veggies I can find in my fridge (usually celery, carrots, a slice of onion, garlic) along with some herbs (usually just a bay leaf or two) and simmer it for a few hours (4-6).  The longer the simmer the more concentrated it gets, so the amount of time all depends on how strong of a flavor you want.  I add a little salt at then end of cooking time, to taste. During cooking the salt gets more concentrated, so adding at the end gives me a little more control of the flavor.  During the simmer sometimes I cover the pot and sometimes I don’t.  It doesn’t seem to change anything too much.

For making the stock, that is it! Talk about easy.  And if you don’t have a whole chicken to use, just roast some drumsticks and thighs in the oven and use them the same way.  I wouldn’t recommend using breast meat because you will come up with some very bland broth.

So once the broth is done I just strain out all of the bones and veggies and put the liquid back in the pot.  The steps for making the soup are basically the same as making the broth.  Cut up some carrots and celery and whatever other veggies in the fridge look good and throw them in.  Let the whole thing simmer for another hour or so (until the veggies are tender). When it’s done, add the leftover chicken meat back in along with some already cooked noodles, and there you have it– Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

Once you try this, I can almost guarantee you will never want to eat the stuff out of the can again. It’s got no creepy mystery meat, no chemicals and preservatives, just pure flavor. And there’s something about making a meal completely from scratch that just feels great.

When I make this recipe I usually make a lot.  It freezes very well (just leave out the noodles when you freeze) and makes for a quick easy dinner on those nights that I don’t have all this motivation to cook.

So that’s that.  I’m not going to post a cut and dry recipe of this, because this isn’t that kind of cooking.  Recipes are great, but it’s good to be flexible with the ingredients sometimes.  This isn’t an exact science, so put what you think sounds good into the pot and give it a try, you’ll most likely end up with something wonderful.