FOOD GUILT

I started to get hungry at about 5pm and couldn't decide what to eat because my fridge is starting to get a bit empty and I didn't want to spend a couple of hours figuring out what to make, prepping, cooking and then cleaning up.  So I went over to the mall thinking I would get something there.  I wandered around trying to figure out what to eat and started thinking about WHAT NOT TO EAT.  I live in an area that has an over abundant amount of Sushi and Korean and other Asian type of restaurants.  I started thinking about Sushi.  I love Sushi Pizza and love raw Tuna and Salmon but I started thinking about a couple of things.

1.  Tuna isn't a sustainable fish.
2.  Lots of fish has mercury in it and also sometimes a risk if eaten raw.

Even though I was craving a Sushi Pizza and some tuna tartare I decided to skip that because I need to limit that to eating it less often.

Then I went down the street to get something and passed The Burger's Priest and thought a burger might be good for dinner.  But then I had a couple of issues with that.

1.  I just saw on the news another case of Mad Cow Disease and thought that there is always a risk of eating meat that clears the system but shouldn't.
2.  Eating red meat is bad for the environment because it takes so much resources to process beef.
3.  Eating red meat adds risk for heart disease.
4.  Eating charred red meat can also be toxic as some people have said in the past.
5.  Eating a burger has fat, and is placed in a white bread processed bun and topped with high salt and high sugar laden condiments.

Skip that idea.

Then I thought about getting Chinese Food.  Had a look at the food in the food court and changed my mind because:

1.  Most of the things that looked good were breaded and deep fried.
2.  Chinese food sometimes contains MSG.
3.  Chinese food is high in sodium because of the Soya sauce and other sauces used sometimes.
4.  A lot of the food didn't look very fresh and was mostly high fat meats and bland or sauced up vegetables.

Skip that..

Then I thought about having Greek Food,  probably the best of the bunch but I wasn't in the mood for that and in thinking about it there are still a couple of issues but not as bad as some of the other things.

1.  Pita bread is made with processed white flour and doesn't have much nutrition.
2.  Feta cheese is high in sodium and can be high in fat but luckily not loaded on to salads too much.
3.  The salad they use is typically just iceberg lettuce so there aren't a whole lot of nutrients there.

Skipped that because I just wasn't feeling it.

So after an hour of wandering around and trying to figure out what to eat I was not at the point of "I need to eat something now" stage.  So I gave up on the What is the best thing to eat hunt and broke down and just got the typical:

FAST, EASY and CHEAP dinner.   but Oh did I ever have a lot of guilt eating it, but at the same time it tasted so good.

What did I eat?

 

Yup I gave in and at a Pepperoni Pizza from Pizza Pizza.   The only saving grace on my food guilt was that I at least did it as a charitable act.  This week if you order a medium pepperoni pizza from 

Pizza Pizza they donate money to charity.

I never get Pepperoni Pizza's and would probably have gotten more veggies and skipped the pepperoni but after eating it I can see why so many people order Pepperoni Pizza's.   Because they taste GOOD.

I still have food guilt because the pizza had white crust, more processed bad white stuff, and then there's the mozzarella cheese,  let's add some more fat to the pizza and then there is the Pepperoni.. the worst offender of the lot with most likely some sort of beef and most likely nitrates and who knows what else in it.   The only semi healthy thing on this pizza was the tomato sauce but if it came from a can then there is always the BPA in the can and whatever else they used in the processing of it.

FOOD GUILT..   It's really bad but I can see why so many people give up on their diets or are challenged when they try and become Vegans.

I love Food,  I love a variety of Food, and I love Food that is sometimes bad for me.   

Sometimes it's just a lot harder to find fresh, organic, local, healthy, unprocessed, un junked food when you are hungry.   So if you are like me,  you just crumble and give in to your screaming stomach and eat what it wants instead of what you brain knows you really should be eating.

Maybe there should be a Food Confessional where people could go to confess their Food Sins.   Oh Yeah.. that's what this Blog is for.     

Feel free to confess your Food Sins here in the comments section.

There is always tomorrow to do better.

Food that's not worth making at home.

Sometimes it's just not worth cooking food at home especially when you live in a small apartment.
I know you don't know where your food is coming from when you eat at restaurants, but there is also economics and time and convenience that factor into dinner decisions.

I have decided that there are a couple of things that just aren't worth making at home for me.

1. Sushi - because I don't live next to a fish market with sushi grade fish and can't always make it right away so it's just not worth making the rice and going way out of the way to get good fish and then having to be careful about preparing it.

2. Indian Food unless you are just having something easy like butter chicken with the sauce that comes out of a jar. Cooking indian food requires a whole lot of spices and a whole lot of time to prepare a lot of the dishes. Most of the tasty sauces require layering flavours slowly and allowing them to simmer to develop the intense flavours. Then your house smells like indian spices for days afterward. It's a nice smell when you are eating the food but I don't think you want to smell it when you are eating pizza the next day. The other thing I love about Indian food is the Naan bread but it's not going to have the same taste at home without the tandoor oven and it's not likely that any apartments in the city are ever going to have them any time soon.

3. Korean food is the next thing that I probably won't make too much of at home. I can buy the kimchi in any store now but it's the other Korean foods that just aren't worth hunting down special ingredients or trying to figure out how to make them. Then there is the way they prepare and cook it.
The other reason it's just not worth it for me to cook Korean food at home is because I can walk across the street and take my pick of at least 2 Korean restaurants to eat in.

I just had this Bim Bim Bap at a Restaurant a quick walk across the street from where I live. Total time walking there was less than 10 min. from my door. There was no ttc, gas or parking involved. Just the old fashioned walking to get your food. For under $20 including tip I had the BimbimBap and kimchi, and other assorted Korean small dishes and of course the tea.

The best part was that it was delicious. I didn't have to go to a specialty Korean grocery store or find a supermarket that carries the ingredients, which means that I didn't have to spend an hour or possibly more going to the store, parking, trying to find the ingredients, bringing them home and putting them away or preparing them, then cooking the meal and then cleaning up afterwards. I would say about 3 hours in total of time spent to make a meal like this. And I am sure I would have spent a whole lot more than $20 on the various ingredients needed to make all of these things. The reason you pay more to eat at restaurants is because they save you all the time it takes to have these meals.

Then there is my least favourite part after making something at home.....DOING THE DISHES. I am much happier spending the $15-$20 to have someone else do the dishes...thank you very much.

Anyway... I figure the total time spent having dinner tonight was a half an hour, giving me the time to now write this blog.

Some times you just have to leave certain cooking to the experts that do it for a living everyday and spend your time doing other things that they aren't doing.

So thank you to the nice Korean restaurant for making me a satisfying meal and giving me some more free time and keeping my apartment clean and my wallet with a little more green in it.

What foods do you prefer to let someone else cook for you?