My Platter, My Terms.

I am someone who likes my meals to taste and look a particular way for me to actually enjoy them. Heavy on the taste, I think it’s the main reason I love to cook. It doesn’t matter if the sky is falling, I’ll always make my own meals. Right now, I’m convinced it’s a family trait because whenever I visit my sisters, they won’t let me cook their meals.

Now, about the looks, I used to judge a meal by its appearance. Bright-colored food just draws the eye more, and that’s the secret of restaurants and fast food places. Have you ever seen a plate of well-garnished rice? The green peppers, the neatly placed veggies, and all those colors? Very appetizing.

But my mom? She doesn’t really care how a meal looks. At least, not as much as I did back then. For example, she makes noodles and starts adding green vegetables, tomatoes, onions... Palm oil? Crayfish?!

Trust the typical Igbo woman to add crayfish to almost every meal.

I’d always tell her, “Mom, this is not soup! It’s noodles!”

And she’d just look at me with that sarcastic response, “This is how you should eat it. Not that death you cooked the other day and pretended to enjoy.”

Oh, I cook death now? 😂

Maybe I’m not so obsessed with how food looks anymore. I’ve tasted meals that looked far from appetizing, but they turned out to be some of the best things I’ve ever eaten. So now, I focus more on nutrition, because let’s be real, someone is not getting any younger. I learned that some long term health issues old ones suffer, resulted from their eating habits when they were younger. It's not going make sense eating recklessly and suffering endlessly later on in life. Anyway, I just hope I start trying some of the native meals my mom claims packs the best nutrients because right now, I'm still skeptical about them.

When it comes to portion sizes, I don’t really care much. I do get overwhelmed by large portions, but on days when I feel really hungry? Bring it on. However, I prefer eating multiple times a day in small portions, probably with snacks in between to keep me going.

One thing I don’t see myself doing, though, is going on a diet for whatever reason. What do you mean I can’t eat this or that? Or I have to wait till 12 noon for breakfast? Or eat dinner at 6 pm? Nah, that sounds like prison. Unless it’s because of my allergies, I love to eat what I can, how I can, and when I can. Even if that means waking up at midnight to eat something. And no, I didn’t say snacks, I don’t care about your potato chips.

That said, I am trying to quit midnight eating. I'm the only one in my house you'll catch eating by 10pm or even 11. Sometimes, others might have even slept for 2 hours, while I'm still walking up abd down the kitchen. As much as I hate to admit it, it doesn't let me sleep well. My heart beats fast than usual , especially when I eat and lie down to sleep alomost immediately, not to mention yhe bloating that happens the next day. It’s a struggle because I’m a night person, staying up late doing one or two things. Naturally, I get hungry, and there we go again, another day of eating in the middle of the night.

Honestly, food is a gift. The fact that we can all enjoy its varieties depending on our preferences makes it much better. If you haven't actually been hungry, you won't understand why food is a gift.
Nevertheless,as much as everyone loves food, it is also good to develop good eating habits, at least for the sske of our everyday wellbeing.