Tonight I need to talk about something pretty serious. I had a little breathrough!
I was reading Healthy Girl this morning. The latest post is about the first time you had a weird experience with food. As a child and a teen, I never thought about the food I ate, I simply ate. I had my favorite foods, and foods I wouldn't eat, but I had no concept of amount or calories or fat, or anything! Food was simply something that filled my tummy and tasted great.
Simple right? No. I was overcome by a memory at a seafood restaurant. I was about 10 years old and ordered a sandwich that came with a basket of fries. There were a lot of fries. I remember thinking that I really wanted to eat all of the fries. I did, and my dad was so proud of me. I associated eating all of my food with doing a good job. It was a way I based my self worth. I noticed that my parents were happier with me if I ate all of my food. This didn't lead to weird eating habits at the time, because I was pretty picky and usually wouldn't eat all of my food. But with my dad's mac and cheese, I knew he was proud of me for eating it all in about 3 minutes! I felt like I was a very good girl when I ate all of my food.
This is where the problem comes in. What happens when you grow up, become a young adult, and gain weight from always cleaning your plate? What happens when your father, who once praised you for eating a lot, tells you that you should go on a diet? Your world flips upside down!
This is a little breakthrough for me. I never thought about this before. I always assumed that food issues never happened when I was little. But the fact is that the seeds of my food issues were planted as a child.
Thankfully, I love food and cooking now, and have started to see my self worth in my passions. The meal I cooked up tonight was AMAZING! The idea for it came to me while I was walking to Barnes and Nobles.
For a side: Half of an avocado with corn and tomato.
Simple and delicious!
For the main dish, one of my favorite dishes with plantains. I have never tried to make this, but I came up with an easy way to put it together! This involves ripe plantains (not black, but yellow).
I cut them into lengthwise strips and lightly fried each strip. Then I made a bottom layer in each of 2 rammekins.
I cooked up some ground beef in onion and garlic and scooped it into the layer of plantains. I put some slices of mozzarella cheese, too.
Then I topped this off with more plantain slices.
This got baked at 375 F for about 20 minutes.
When finished, the rammekins were inverted on the plate. They look like little houses of amazingness.
I haven't had these in a long time, but they smelled and tasted just the way I remember. This was heaven for dinner. Seriously, this is a must for anyone who loves plantains or wants to try them. I cannot wait to make this again in the future!!
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what an interesting realization!
ReplyDeletesleep tight tonight :)
bec xo
thats profound! omg i cant believe i never associated the same thing, and i can definitely relate to your story. my dad always told us "eat everything" and when i did and licked my plate he would pat me on the head "good job kels" .. when i got older and would bring a bowl of chips downstairs to watch tv with him he would say "WOAH, thats a lot! gonna go straight to the hips, u'll be such a HUGE girl!" ... mixed messages!
ReplyDeletei think those kinds of mixed messages really messes with an emotionally fragile and young mind. it confuses us and makes us question what is asked of us and what we have to do to get approval!
thank you for sharing <3
xoxo
I agree that a lot of our issues can stem from our childhood, but you also have to remember that for most parents, they just want their kids to be healthy and happy. Feeding their kids is something that makes them feel needed and like they're doing their job, so to speak. For a lot of parents, food really does equate to love (right or wrong.)They would rather have a slightly pudgy toddler that's healthy than a skinny little kid that gets sick all the time.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are times parents completely abuse this resource and for sure use food as more of a weapon, I also think it's up to us to decide how we interpret those actions. I know I always stress if my pets don't eat enough or go to the bathroom as often as normal. It's just a nurturing thing, I think ;)
P.S. You are so damn creative with your recipes. I am amazed.
That looks extremely yummy! Do plantains have more sugar than a regular banana?
ReplyDeleteHi pretty girl!!! how are you?? We have to catch up. I am working in chicago right now but have a quick break so wanted to stop by and say hello to my favorite blogger in the who blogosphere (spelling??) hope you are well :)
ReplyDeletecheck out the awesome pics this photographer I met took of me. we took turns me her and her husband. we got some Ah-mazing shots!!
miss ya!
I was a lot like you when I was younger, no sense of limits or anything like that in relation to food. It's hard to shift your paradigm and learn to care about portion sizes, healthy eating, etc!
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