This morning, one of my Facebook friends said that the thumbnail image of yesterday’s Whole30 dinner “looks like really yummy cat food.” Just two years plus a few days ago, a cousin said of one of my Facebook food photos, “Why do your dinners always sound so good yet look so nasty!! Lol” — and yet another friend followed that three days later with, “Yes, the photos look like alpo. Sorry :( But yes, they SOUND good!”
I’ve followed actual recipes a few times in my life, but most of the time I’m just improvising in the kitchen, figuring out which flavors I like best, which ones work together well, which combinations need to be modified or scrapped over time, etc. In that time, I’ve figured this out to the point that nearly anything I make at home is more delicious than almost anything I could order at a restaurant. So, although I’m no visual stylist, creating food that consistently tastes amazing to me is no mean feat for a guy who used to cook not at all.
When I moved to the D.C. area in 1999 to start work at U.S. Term Limits, I spent four years living in an apartment without a functional stove. Turning on the gas was a bureaucratic hassle, so I decided I’d forget about it and just use the microwave. I spent those years living on garbage like Hot Pockets, freezer taquitos, Lipton (now Knorr) side dishes, and takeout.
I realized recently that in the year-plus I’ve been back in D.C. for my latest job, I’ve never even once used my microwave (aside from using it as a timer for the oven). It’s the skillet or the oven for everything I make. Not that I wouldn’t use the microwave if it actually produced the results I now want, but it’s not up to the task. I’ve developed a style of cooking that may not be attractive, but it’s tailored so carefully to my own taste buds that my love of the food is blind.
Here are my food photos for day 15:
Wednesday, Jan. 29
I woke up at 9:25 a.m. (after heading to bed at 2:35 a.m.).
Breakfast: 10:30 a.m. | 12 oz. sirloin steak, 1/4 butternut squash, 1 oz. baby kale/spinach/chard/beet greens mix, 1/2 sweet onion, 4 cloves garlic, 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, herbs & spices
Leftovers from last night’s dinner.
Lunch: 2:35 p.m. | 3.75 oz. sardines in olive oil, 2 oz. kale chips
Dinner: 9:05 p.m. | 10 oz. ground chicken, 1/8 head cabbage, 1 carrot, 1/2 red onion, 4 cloves garlic, 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, herbs & spices
