Food is love.

I love food. I would rather give up booze than food. And I did, so no big deal, but food? No way! I couldn't do both. I really do admire those woman who can restrain themselves from eating all the delicious things life has to offer, pasta, meat, butter and cream, duck, BACON, everything that tastes good usually is not great on the physique.... Salads and skinny lattes really are much better for a small ass and tiny waist. Like I said, I gave up booze, give me my 2% latte.

And although I am considerably lucky, I am not a large person to begin with, but that's because I have learned to be moderate with what I put into my body. In addition, I am an active individual. Nothing too crazy, you can by no means call me a 'gym rat', but I love to hike, horse back ride, bike, run outdoors, etc. It's very simple really, if you want to eat more than your body expends on a daily basis, you really need to do some exercise. Not to mention how GREAT you feel after you workout. I am honestly a nicer person when I exercise.

So my girlfriend B is a nutritionist. She also went to grad school for nutrition and now writes as a food nutrition editor for a renowned food magazine. She is my hero when it comes to making food taste good AND be healthy. I have a hard time cooking this way. I love to use butter, bacon and cream when I cook. I once had the Sailor ask me if there was anything I DIDN'T put bacon in. My response to him was something like, "I'm sorry, are you complaining? Because I'm sure I could find 20 men who would never find a problem with it...." Well, he did have a point. I put bacon in everything: Brussels sprouts, green salads, chicken dishes, risotto dishes, wrapped around steak and scallops, you get the idea, everything tastes better with bacon! Well, then he accused me of trying to make him fat so no one other than me would want him... which was untrue. But again, a good point, I did want to keep him for myself:)

So, recently I have committed myself to cooking healthy 75% of the time, and giving myself a 25% reserve for weekends and lazy nights. B has been wonderful in giving me the nudge in the right direction. She has healthy magazines around her place and she is always cooking healthy alternatives, and I recently began to workout with her, so I feel like I'm reporting to my life coach on my eating patterns and workout regimen. It's been very good. Just the kick in the right direction.

Last night I spent an evening with the Sailor and offered to cook dinner, which he of course jumped at, and I wanted to make it healthy, delicious, and frozen-camp/no water friendly. (We were at his summer house on the lake... it's February, i.e. no water.) I decided to grill a couple of steaks (fillet), oven roast some asparagus in a little bit of olive oil with some fresh grated parmesan, and serve this all with fresh linguine in a no-cook tomato sauce. It was perfect. Gorgeous colors on the plate, quick cook time, little prep, little clean up. And the flavors, all so fresh and wonderful, it was a man's dinner, minus the bacon, butter and cream. (The parmesan was not a Olive Garden "tell me when to stop" amount. It was just enough for flavor.) The sauce was great, I will make this over and over again! And the best part, Sailor loved it. And he loved it even more when I told him it was healthy for him! See, I'm learning...

I'm really excited to begin cooking differently, still creating delicious meals with less fat. It will just make me feel that much better when I hit the treadmill in the winter months. But please, do not ask me to give up my cream and sugar in my coffee, just isn't gonna happen...

xoxo, Christina Marie