shopping for fresh food

Lately, Luis and I have been making an effort to eat healthier and spend more time cooking using fresh ingredients and cut down on the amount of processed food we buy. When Jill, Carey and I moved into our first apartment in college, I think we owned two pots and maybe one frying pan. I spent many a night eating from instant pasta and rice packets and rarely buying fresh veggies. It was quick, easy and I was only cooking for myself so I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I wasn't concerned with what was actually in the food I was eating. After college, I started cooking more, but I often found myself resorting to using processed foods a lot. Now that Luis and I are both working and in school and have crazy busy schedules, we end up going back to college and buying pasta packets again. After getting sick of constantly eating pasta and not very tasty frozen stir fries, and watching Jamie Oliver make chicken nuggets -- I'd had enough. Luis and I decided to start cooking more often, invested in some really good cookbooks (that didn't all revolve around pasta) and began buying more fresh ingredients. I've also gotten really into gardening: growing herbs, green peppers and now tomatoes and cayenne peppers (and ginger!).

My peppers and ginger, in their early stages!

Now that we're finally buying fresh ingredients, and cooking delicious meals from scratch, like this Jamie Oliver sweet and sour pork:
I've noticed that our grocery bills are going up like whoa. This really bothers me. I've always said that I have no problem paying MORE money for BETTER quality food; if you can taste/see/smell/feel the difference, then I'm all for it. But I despise the fact that it costs more to eat healthy than to eat junk food. I understand that it costs more to produce fresh foods, but there is a serious problem in this country if going to McDonald's is encouraged, while eating healthy is discouraged. I am ashamed of you United States! I get the Sunday paper every week, and I always go through and look for the coupons. I used to save TONS of money at the store, but now not so much. Why? Because they don't print coupons for fresh vegetables - just for mac 'n cheese and instant stir fries. I hate that we live in a country that does not encourage fresh foods and healthy eating. I hate that you have to have money to buy foods that are good for you. It seems like, as a whole, we are encouraging people to be fat and eat junk. And that is wrong. I'm a lot happier and healthier now that I've stopped buying as much processed food. And I enjoy cooking with fresh, raw ingredients, even if it does take some time. And the end result is always way better than any bagged stir fry could give.

My new favorite cook book. I don't think we've made a recipe in this that we didn't love. I even made cheesecake, from scratch!

columbus, part two

Recently, Luis and I traveled to Columbus, OH once again to see the Columbus Crew in action. This game was much more intense than last year, and was successful in getting me excited about the World Cup! Columbus Crew managed to pull off the win over Chivas USA, but it was a good game overall.

Before the game, we went to the Columbus Museum of Art. Apparently, pretty much the entire museum, minus their special exhibit, is closed as they are renovating. Luckily, the lady there only charged us for one admission! We saw this exhibit which was pretty awesome.

Then we wandered around trying to find something to eat. Apparently, Columbus' downtown is similar to Lexington's - everything is closed on the weekend. But we eventually found some yummy Cuban food!

Hey Art.

Then, we went to the game where there was a drumline with really small children.

And our seats were amazing! It's crazy how you can get such cheap, good seats in soccer!

The teams warming up.

Good times.