Live to Eat or Eat to Live?

This week was extremely successful for my WISE project!  I began cooking, and learned more in depth about the basic components of an effective diet.  Yesterday, I met with my mentor, Mrs. Patterson, and we spent time discussing the progression of my cookbook as well as interesting topics that related to my project.  One phrase that my mentor said to me that really stuck with me was "Food is Meant to Nourish the Body".  This stuck out in my mind because although food is primarily meant to keep the body alive, in our society, people use it for taste variety, comfort, and social aspects.  Food is the basic matter of survival.  Without it our bodies lack nutrients and our biological mechanisms shut down.  This is interesting to me because it questions whether or not people live to eat or eat to live.  Most people live to eat; they enjoy the variety of tastes they experience on their pallette as well as the entertaining aspect of sitting down with friends and enjoying a meal. 

Although food is simply an ingredient to sustain life, I still find happiness and excitement in the food that I eat.  Therefore, I am going to continue to create recipes that are filled with variety and taste, while still keeping the necessary nutrients to keep my body healthy.  Today, I completed my first dessert recipe.  I made a 154 calorie serving of monkey bread.  Compare that to the average monkey bread with 437 calories per serving! In order to slim down this recipe I used splenda, light whipped butter, and sugar free syrup.  Other ingredients included cinnamon, brown sugar, baking powder, and Pillsbury dough.  Even though this recipe has less than half the calories, it has double the taste! 

As my first week of cooking comes to a close, I can proudly say that each recipe was a success and will be included in my final cookbook!  Next week I will continue to cook, adding three more healthy recipes to my list!

RANDOM FACT: When using oil, olive oil is a great choice because it contains Omega-3's which can help strengthen your heart!