Birth of a (Not-Really) Foodie

I've never been a big fan of food. I've often joked that, if it were possible, I would live off photosynthesis. I say "joked," but really, I mean it. If I would never get hungry, I would probably never eat.

This isn't to say that food doesn't sometimes taste good to me, or that I don't enjoy cooking. On the contrary, there are some flavours that I absolutely love, and experimenting with food is one of my favourite things to do. On the other hand, unless I am allowed free reign with my food preparation, I am likely to just grab the first thing I find that can be prepared in under 15 minutes, so long as it does not heavily feature beans, seafood, mushrooms, eggs, organ meat, chili peppers, et cetera. I am rather picky, and it would be easier for everyone if I just didn't have to eat.

All of this is much to the chagrin of my last two long-term partners, who were both borderline-obsessive about food. It was a point of contention between me and my last partner. He wanted to cook large gourmet meals, bake homemade bread, and only use fresh and homemade ingredients whenever possible. The food he made was delicious, but I think my insecurities made it feel pretentious to me. Yes, I prefer fresh produce over canned, frozen, or powdered goods, but I am not opposed to using processed foods, inasmuch as they last much longer and I don't eat enough to make fresh foods not wasteful. Suffice to say, he and I got into more than one argument when I wanted to go to Denny's instead of eat a homemade dinner, or when I was craving Ramen and he wanted to make salmon. Also at hand was the issue of cooking together. He loved for cooking to be a communal effort, and I admit that cooking together CAN be a wonderful experience. On the other hand, given the difference in our cooking styles, putting both of us in the kitchen at the same time would almost inherently result in arguments and a feeling of inadequacy on my part. This is not his fault. This was my frustration with the fact that we could not see food in the same way.

When we broke up, it occurred to me that for the first time, I could prepare what I wanted to eat when I wanted to eat it. Since then, I have been enjoying the most blasphemous bastardisations of cheap food that I could think of.

And that's why I'm here; to show you all the amazing and terrifying dishes that I make up on a tight budget out of whatever I can find lying around the kitchen.

Cheers,

Dominic