When I Get Hungry, Get Out of My Way

My hunger sneaks up on me. I have no idea it's coming and then I get ravenous - eat your arm ravenous. This is why I firmly believe in two important things:

Snacks and Leftovers

I've upheld this mantra since my youth. After school I needed a snack. Not just because I wanted something to munch on, I mean I would beat up my little brother until my mother provided me with a snack. I was indeed that hungry, plus he was at a pretty annoying stage of life - he's really made some great progress since the age of three. One of my favorite snacks: little faux-tortillas made of salami and filled with cottage cheese.

I've progressed somewhat as well, some of my favorite snacks now include:

• Soy yogurt with cinnamon and a banana (I recommend WholeSoy & Co. yogurt)
  


• Celery and hot sauce (at some point I will write a post on how hot sauce is the universal condiment, stay tuned!)


• Wheat bread and any kind of fun 'butter' i.e. pear butter, cashew butter. I try to find fun butters at the farmers' market.

Now onto the leftovers - a key to my anti-hunger crusade. This requires some background first. During my final year of college I had some unfortunate events involving roommates and our food cleaning habits (read more about the lovely situation here). I quickly learned that cooking for large groups, while fun, ensures that clean up will be a pain. And so began my journey to find ways to cook just enough.

The golden ratio I've stumbled upon is approx. 2.5 generous servings per dish, per person. This allows enough food for all, including the large and hearty men I usually end up cooking for, and just the right amount of leftovers for me to make into a snack!

It's all come full circle now! You see how one is the other and really the world is colored with shades of gray! Revelation of revelations. When I become hungry, I have a fully cooked snack available to me at a touch of a microwave button. This reduces clean-up from the making of the snack as well. I've covered all my bases and allowed my roommate to keep her arm intact. Success!

What can I say, I like to celebrate the little victories in life.