Seeing as how food has such a significant role in my life, I'm surprised I haven't mentioned it sooner. But I guess its prevalence disguised its urgency as a topic. And as I regularly read a plethora of the food blogs out there, I figured there couldn't be much more I could contribute on the subject.
Being holed up in my room studying all day, however, with nothing to do but eat to break the monotony, has led to an observation of my independent living eating habits. Living in a share house with easy access to a kitchen is definitely a step up from the microwave meals I was limited to in my dorm. But living and cooking by myself has its limitations as well. I go shopping every week and have worked out my produce essentials to a very estimated--yet quite commendable--science. I'm restricted by perishable time constraints as well as price restrictions and quantity control. I also have no working oven, very few kitchen tools, a limited array of spices to work with, and might I add, quite a sensitive palate to satisfy.
And nothing short of a raw pepper will do.
I don't think my creativity has been exercised this much. I'm continuously expanding my repertoire of dishes even though they've consistently been mediocre for the most part. Hopefully this is only due to my lack of resources and not my lack of talent...
I've also noticed a few staple food items that I cannot do without, even though I never used to think much of them. Peanut butter for one is probably one of the most versatile ingredients but always took a back seat to any other food pairing. Bananas were a highly underrated fruit when I lived at home. Oatmeal was a food that I usually opted out of eating on normal occasions. And crackers were the last resort before a big grocery shopping trip was in order. Now, I seem to eat these foods on a regular basis. Almost to an unhealthy excess I think. But I believe them only to be a temporary placation of comfort foods before I go home and engorge myself on all the salty, sweet, and fatty goods America has to offer.
