Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Spick Spack Spaghetti

Tonight was one of those "radical revelation" nights. I was standing in my kitchen, not wanting to eat anything for dinner. I stood by the fridge with the door open... staring inside at the bare contents (about to leave town for a week = minimal groceries in the house). I opened the freezer and was staring down frozen dinners and mysterious items (some of which have been in there since my move from NY!). Nothing sounded good. Nothing sounded appealing. I moved to the pantry... same dilemma. With a sigh, I said (out loud) "I don't want anything... processed" - and it just clicked into place.

I eat out a fair amount... I got lazy living by myself and relied too heavily on frozen dinners and quick fixes. I forgot that I come from a family of people that know how to cook and bake and do the food thing really REALLY well. It got too easy to eat the same things again and again - the easy things - the not-messing-up-too-many-dishes things. Yeah, BORING!

So I made an absolutely fantastic spaghetti tonight. Not according to the family recipe. Not according to things I've eaten before. Not according to Renfrew suggestions for the meal. But according to ME. And you know what? It was pretty frickin' fantastic. The secret? I listened to what I wanted... tomato base... mushrooms... turnip greens (was lacking fresh or frozen spinach)... that was the sauce. Spiced to taste... on top of a bowl of whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles. Heavy dose of parmesan-romano cheese... with said cheese also mixed into the sauce. Now THAT is how you make spaghetti! Correction... that is how I make it.

You may be wondering... is this really blog-worthy? HELL YES! I haven't cooked pasta like that in a year. I've ordered it... I've eaten it because I had to... I've made processed pasta (ramen noodles, mac n cheese, etc.) but not the REAL DEAL. Oh wow... hello taste buds, how you doin? I have a dish washer in the apartment... AND a garbage disposal. It's time to start using them. I mean... it's pretty pathetic when you couldn't recall if the certain eye on the stove even worked... or when you have to dust your pots and pans before cooking with them. I'm not really lazy... and you know what? The whole bit where "it's not worth cooking for one" - bullshit! It sure is! Not only does it give me more variety and better tasting meals, but it also prepares me for entertaining others.

This is just one of my "radical revelations" tonight. I'm not just turning over a new leaf, I think I just planted a whole new tree. It includes letting go of certain things... realizing that not everything is as useful as it seems... and that sometimes? Listening to gut instincts about what is right is the most important thing you can do. Things haven't felt "right" for a while... and I'm finally starting to realize why. Changes are afoot... all for the better. Even if my process goes against the advice of others... I know it will work... because it's the process that feels right for me.

Also... had two job interviews in two days... applications in for more positions and a real shot at a fantastic job opportunity. These are all things that encourage this "change is afoot" mentality... and remind me of the importance of focusing on the FUTURE instead of mucking up the PRESENT being stuck in the PAST.

Watch out world... Kayti's back, armed with marinara and tiny strands of whole wheat yumminess.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

well I say......YOU Are ALWAYS worth cooking for.......
bec

Jenny said...

YAY!! That's awesome, Kayti! You rock, and ditto to Becky's comment! Watch out world, cuz here she comes! :-)
-Jenny

Reagan said...

Yay!! And we REALLY need to catch up!!