Nutrition and Health

 So recently I decided to go back to school to finish what I started and get a Bachelors Degree at Northern Illinois University. My most recent class is Nutrition and Health and I was tasked to answer the following questions 

1. What is your first memory of eating?  What were your first favorite foods?  Were any foods restricted when you were young?
2. What messages did you get about food when you were young?  (good/bad foods?  This food will make you hyper/strong/etc.)  Where did these messages come from (parents, siblings, school, doctor, etc.)?
3. How and where did you eat as a child?   (in the car, never at restaurants, in front of the TV/computer?)
4. How would you describe your eating now?
5. What influences what and how you eat now?
6. How do you think what you were told and exposed to as a young person has impacted your attitude/mental models* towards food and eating?
7. Are you trying to make any changes in your eating behaviors? How long have you been working on these changes?
8. If applicable, what strengths do you bring to this class (background in biology, work at a grocery store)? 

This was my response: 

Nutrition Identity

         My first memory of eating was trying some smoked fish from my mom. She handed it off to me when I was probably 2. My favorite foods are/were pickles. I would be used as a party favor to my parent’s guests while they were entertaining at our home and making rumaki. They would ask what I wanted to me when I grew up, and I would proudly say, “A pickle!” I guess I wasn’t ever clued in on not being able to be my favorite food. I remember eating Cheerios and my dad’s fancy cooking—he liked to make stock and make meals from scratch. Additionally, my mom’s roasted chicken, ribs and delicious toast! I don’t recall being hungry and the message I received about food, was eat it! Dad made it or mom made it.

            I was not raised on fast foods, and we ate around a table up until we all moved out. We did get Nancy’s deep dish pizza and Chinese food as well. I don’t recall eating out at restaurants, but then, now that I think about it, we would all go to Ponderosa for steaks and the giant salad bar.

            I would describe my eating as focused on making great meals for me and my partner Charley. When we first met, 11 years ago, I asked him what he can make for me for breakfast and dinner. He proudly told me, waffles, as I had a waffle maker he remembers his grandma using when he was growing up, and sloppy joe, from scratch. Needless to say, I am a catch because I can cook and bake almost anything, but I needed to know my partner wouldn’t shy away from the kitchen.

    My current influences of what and how I eat now are really based on my grocery shopping. When the pandemic happened, I was set. I had yeast and bread flour to make bread, and a potato to make gnocchi. It was a rough time deciding what to make every day, but after a while I found myself making a list of foods to make and bake. I even made chili! Which I never had growing up and a pot roast. I actually asked my partners mom for a recipe I could make for Charley and give it to him as a gift for Christmas. So now that is in my wheelhouse.

            Next, I keep cookie dough on hand to cut and bake cookies as we want to eat them, and not a terrible amount of snacks actually. Mostly Craisins, raisins and nuts. I do admit, I have a chocolate box. It has all sorts of varieties of chocolate—chips, cocoa powers, unsweetened chocolate, dark chocolate and bittersweet too.  My overall thought on food is based on the Slow Food Movement (https://www.slowfood.com/). Alice Waters is an Author and chef and was an inspiration I learned about while in Pastry school and my group had to do a presentation on her. I love that I used a perfect apple as an example of what type of cook she is, seasonal and local. Nothing better to me than just steaming vegetable or roasting them with salt to bring out the best flavor without covering it up with butter.  

            In the past few years I have really focused on eating breakfast to get my metabolism going. Mostly fruit and Fage plain yogurt, but lately I have gotten into smoothies with Kale and some yogurt. I believe my strengths I bring to class is that I am a creative foodie. I don’t brag, but I know I can make suggestion when someone says, they don’t know what to make. I love talking about getting creative with friends who love to cook. I have instituted a meatball challenge, where I got to an Italian place and only order a side of meatballs and see what I get. I go home, make some fresh pasta, or just toss some angel hair in a pot and make the affordable dinner. I did this once at the Italian Village—an Chicago institution, and ordered a side of meatballs and got 2! And some bread too all for 4.95.

Since the passing of my dad 3 years ago, I often call my great friend Pete Magliocco to talk food, as he taught me how to make gnocchi when we lived in Macomb. 20 years later he taught me to make Chicken Paprikash. I think it’s important to talk about food, and eat well. I don’t eat just eat, I eat because I have a curiosity about food. Once in culinary school I wrote a paper on my likes and dislikes. My like was pickles, and my dislike was mustard. I said there was nothing good about this condiment and if it was added to anything it would make it taste bad. Flash forward to a party in NYC where all they had to snack on was pretzel rods and a big variety of mustard. I let someone know I didn’t like mustard, and she thought I was crazy! I realize that I only ever had yellow mustard, and this variety of tastes opened up my mind to the variety of mustards out there.

As a baker and cook, my idea is, I will try it. If I don’t like it, I will carefully spit it out and save the calories for something better. Or have someone taste it, and give me feedback. Maybe it was all the time I worked in kitchens, but I really didn’t like to never hear what people thought of what I made for them. So here I am now, a home cook with a blog storing my recipes and ideas of food. Please check it out http://bakergonebye.blogspot.com/ and check out my essay about my tour of the Vienna Beef factory https://bakergonebye.blogspot.com/search?q=vienna