Project Food Blog Challenge #1: What Harmonious Grub Is All About

The way we cook (and for whom we do so) often reflects who we are and what’s going on in our daily lives. On Harmonious Grub, I share new recipes for snacks and savories that will keep you and your loved ones feeling happy and healthy and revise old favorites with a healthful twist, while providing valuable information about current health and wellness topics and interesting anecdotes about the origin of recipes and food-related customs.

I have an unpredictable schedule that usually consists of last minute appointments and spending most of my day in a car breathing exhaust fumes (ah, LA). But I realized that when I get home and wander into my kitchen, all of the stress of the day melts away. The time that I spend in my kitchen, bringing together solitary ingredients in order to create something whole and filling, is one of the best parts of my day. It's magical. And it's even more magical when the result is something delectable I can share with the people I care about. 

Sadly, many people miss out on this special experience because they worry about the time it will take to prepare a fresh meal and claim that cleaning up afterwards just takes too long. Some folks dine out - paying 2-5 times as much for something they could have made at home without the hassle of traffic, the cost of gas, and the lack of personal time for themselves. Others stay in and put a hot pocket in their microwave.

To me, throwing a microwaveable, packaged, and processed meal together denotes lack of care - both for yourself and for the people you cook for. Unfortunately many people feel that this is necessary because cooking "just takes so much work." Because life can get hectic at the most inconvenient times; I try to make it easier for the busy folks who can't spend all day in the kitchen to make delicious meals that satisfy. 

I promise: home cooking can be just as quick and easy as a nuked plate - and a heck of a lot tastier! Not to mention you get a little time to explore your creative side and you get to know exactly what you’re eating. 

I've always been fascinated by what we can accomplish with herbal medicine, but holistic care doesn't stop in a tea pot. "Holistic," by definition, means: characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. In other words, health is not something you can buy in a bottle; it's a result of a total life approach. Here, I let you - the reader - know the health benefits of the ingredients I use, sometimes even going to the molecular level to explain exactly how certain foods affect the human body. I believe that setting healthy diet objectives and having a scientifically-based perspective on current food trends, are key to enabling you to make informed decisions about your life - on and off the plate. Information about where certain recipes originated and emerged from makes it all the more interesting. And who knows? Maybe you'll even learn to share my love of research and learning, too!

One of the greatest things I've discovered poking around my kitchen - besides the awesome eats and the warm feeling of sharing something good with the people you love - is the way that cooking has changed the way I see the world. Patience, understanding, problem-solving, open-mindedness, compromise: all these lessons can be learned and relearned in your kitchen. Preparing a meal for yourself and your loved ones doesn't need to be a cooking show or a performance; nor does it have to be a dreaded, daily grind. Instead, it can be as restorative as meditation or as entertaining as a party. Heck, it can be an actual party if you get enough like-minded folks together. The choice is up to you. Is your kitchen a place of harmony or innovation? Self-reflection or triumph?

Take some time. Experiment. Be courageous. Learn. 

Oh, and about those recipes of mine? Go on! Have a peace. :)

-Irenicineri