February Update

Hello & thanks for reading!

I have not posted during February, because I'm sad to report I have not been cooking. At the end of January I injured my knee and I am now awaiting surgery. It's been too difficult for me to stand in the kitchen to cook much of anything. I have been mostly purchasing convenience foods like boxed soup, and frozen foods. Which I will report 2 observations about this type of eating. First, it is expensive! As you've read the past few months, I've posted about eating healthy on a tight budget. I've managed to cook healthy & filling whole foods for myself on a budget of about $30-40/week. Not cooking for myself and eating pre-packaged food has actually doubled and even tripled my weekly food budget! So this really disproves the argument that healthy food is more expensive. My second observation is how eating convenience food has immediately effected my digestion, my skin, my energy and my mood. And, please understand I'm not talking about my eating "junk food." I've been buying natural food brands of convenience food. But, even so, this kind of food is still loaded with sodium. It also lacks a lot of fiber and fresh vegetables. I think it's interesting to note that after 2 weeks of eating this kind of food in lieu of my typical home-cooked, balanced, whole foods diet I have come down with a really nasty flu for the past 5 days. Typically my immune system is very strong and I can shake of viruses pretty quickly. But I do think the combination of injury, stress, and diet change made me more susceptible to this flu.

I am looking forward to some healthy home-cooked meals friends have promised to cook me while I rehab from surgery. I am also looking forward to returning to cooking and gardening so that I might share my adventures with you.

In Health,
Miss Jolie An