Food Is Therapy

I know what you’re thinking – it sounds weird. I don’t mean that food becomes your emotions, it’s just that it helps you express who you are and what kind of mood you’re in.

I have a metaphor that I always use to explain my theory on life to people: life is a buffet, and your life is the plate that you have as you go down the line. You’re allowed just that one plate, and you can load it up as you see fit for the phase that you’re going through at that moment in your life.  Some people are great at rationing and manage to have a little of everything.  More often that not, though, you end up with giant portions of your favorites getting further and further down the line and wondering how you’ll have room for it all on your plate.  That’s me. I get way too excited about one thing and take just a little more than I should. I haven’t quite perfected which cuisine symbolizes each portion of my life just yet, but what I do is get halfway down the buffet line, realize that my plate is already full and that I have no room for anything else. There are portions of my life that are so over developed and figured out that I shouldn’t really be spending anymore time on them (the first few dishes at the buffet line), and there are areas of my life that I have never even explored and should be spending time on (the last few dishes in the buffet line). The moment that I realized that this metaphor related to my life, I knew (well, I always kind of knew) that food was very important to me. Food has never been a crutch to me, just something that I use to express who I am and what I like.

Tonight, for example, I made a pasta salad. Cherry tomatoes, basil, half a red onion, kalamata olives, gouda, and fusilli tossed in a little balsamic and olive oil. I’d had a pretty intense day at work, and I wanted to make something that was tasty, easy, and refreshing. Cooking the dinner helped me process the day, but I realized afterwards that all I was looking for from my food was something light that wouldn’t weigh me down physically or emotionally. I always think of fun summer picnics and bbq’s when I make pasta salad. The taste of pasta salad is a perfect summer day – where you have nothing else to worry about except the moment that you’re in. That’s what i needed at the end of the day today.

The more I correlate my moods and life to food, the more that it makes sense. This is the first of many posts about how my meals are helping me figure myself out on this journey of life.  Each meal and post will have a little life lesson attached to it. This time in my life is all about learning  about myself and being comfortable with who I’m supposed to be in the long run.  Everyone says it, but it’s about the journey, not the destination.  Who says we can’t eat delicious things while we’re traveling through life?

Refreshing Pasta Salad

A bag of fusilli pasta

A quarter of a red onion

5-10 sliced kalamata olives

Half a wedge of gouda

A carton of cherry tomatoes

Fresh basil

Olive oil, salt, lemon pepper, and balsamic to taste

Boil the pasta (10-12 mins)

Chop and prepare the ingredients in a bowl with the balsamic, lemon pepper, and salt

After the pasta is cooked, combine with previous ingredients and stir together and add olive oil

Enjoy!