How to taste a bit of heaven every day?

I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced the same to this extend, but after I started meditating my taste buds and eating pleasures have changed and I have been a lot more sensitive to the taste and the quality of food. Certainly all in a very good way. I actually realised that I haven't been able to stop myself from saying: " wooow heaven, pure heaven", when the food I ate tasted really nice. Others present at the table at that time usually just laugh at me and agree the food is great and they usually say that I can be actually trusted commenting on food whether it’s good or bad. I have been eating mainly organic foods for about 10 years now and even before that and whilst growing up I was lucky enough to have had parents that were cooking everything from scratch and always loved gardening and therefore producing our own fruit and veggies as much as possible. I was also very lucky to grow up in a country that really looks after its children and we always had hot meals during all the years of kindergarten, school and later university. Now I can see how much I took all of that for granted. Not once I thought other children in other (western, modern and well developed !?) countries wouldn't provide something (so simple, so essential and yet so expensive?) as a freshly cooked, tasty and well balanced meal available at school or work. Now my family, my children live in one of these countries. More I see how far this is going more eager I am to  keep cooking well, no processed food involved and from scratch every day.

I can hear it already, many of you are probably saying :"yeah right, who’s got the time for cooking? I come from work exhausted every evening, barely dragging my self and my two feet... " I know, I know, I’ve been there too and still am and I'm sure probably it would be hard to find someone who isn’t feeling like that.

That’s exactly why I thought to do something about it and I know it’s everywhere now; on TV, radio, all over internet, magazines, countless books, … but I will do it anyway just in case I inspire one more person on this world and it’s all worth it for me. So, here it comes, a heavenly recipe for a quick dinner when you come home all exhausted, maybe feel even a little lonely and a little bit sad and all you have in a fridge are some old bits and pieces of veggies, looking pretty sad at you.

So if you are ready for a little adventure I have to warn you that I never measure anything and do everything from scratch but Pesto. So, you’ll have a freedom of doing always your own variety, which makes it that more challenging and faster to learn about the endless options you have. I also found it to be a pleasurable thing and not a chore that needs to be done. You put your favourite music on, pour a glass of a nice drink for yourself and a partner, roommate,... or if you have kids just give them some play dough to cook the same as you will and they can start learning already how to cook. I find my children developing passion for good food through discussions and learning more about the food, especially what they are good for (bones, muscles, brain, etc.).

 

GOOD OLD VEGGIE STEW

1. Chop up different types of veggies in cubes ,even 1 or 2 types will do as long as you have potatoes(peppers, carrots, courgette, potatoes, garlic, onions, etc.), less than half a bowl of fresh veggies = 1 serving

2. Put some olive oil in a (stewing) pot, just enough to cover the surface of a stewing pot

3. If you are an onion lover now it's the time to fry some onions as thin or thick as you like 

4. Add potatoes to half fried onions, keep stirring until gold-ish colour starts appearing on both

4. Start adding other veggies and keep stirring on a medium heat until texture is thick

5. Add a pinch of salt and pepper if you wish, then quite a lot of paprika (hot or sweet) or/and basil or/and oregano or/and parsley and don't forget a pinch of love

6. Now add finely chopped tomatoes or tomato based sauce and keep stirring for a minute or two

7. Now add some warm water and cover with a lid (enough water to cover your veggies, but if you want it thicker just take the lid of for 5 min at the end), stir once again and add a bay leaf , if you are up for a rich taste or expecting some company a glass of red wine in a stew is always more than welcome

8. Keep on low or medium heat from 15-20 minutes depending on how hungry you are :-) and also make sure you can stay close if on higher heat

9. Now you put your feet up and relax before your dinner

You can serve this stew with some bread and butter on a side or if you prefer you can even just add a spoon full of rice, which will make your stew a lot stronger, in case of doing a lot of physical work and requiring energy. There is also a longer version of this kind of stew, which would normally contain some diced stewing beef or even just chicken. The difference is mainly in a cooking time being twice as long as now or even longer. For that 'woooow! this is heaven' effect try to use organic ingredients., not genetically modified if only possible. You will soon realise that small quantities of a good quality food are so much better and satisfying for your body and soul than the rest.

Enjoy your heavenly tasting stew, made with a little help of angels and lots of your love...

Bone Appetit