Simple Pleasures

When I was a kid, I used to love weekends and breaks from school for one simple reason - I got to make my own lunch leisurely, using whatever I wanted in the kitchen. There was plenty of food since we had a family of five, so if I wanted to use part of a bell pepper, someone else could have the other part or it would go into dinner. There was none of this: 'oh, I can't eat all this food by myself so I only have a limited selection of groceries in the fridge' ordeal that comes with living alone.

Now those of you who knew me back then are probably saying, 'Wait a minute! You ate ramen for lunch! It's not like you made real food!' And that's true. I ate a lot of ramen. Something about the guilty pleasure of eating a salty soup (maybe with some chili pepper in it) on a hot Houston summer day, steaming up your face and giving yourself a little more sweat than that lovely glisten you already had...

I also made a lot of egg drop soup - after learning how easy it was to make reading through a cookbook. A little fish sauce, a little sesame oil, and all of the sudden I could make something that was foreign and exciting! I love Asian cooking, and egg drop soup opened the door for me to realize that I can make food as good as restaurant Asian food in my own kitchen - whereas before my attempts were less than stellar (I remember one occasion stir-frying ham... which is already pretty salty before you add soy sauce...)

The real epiphany came to me watching my sister and my mother: after seeing my mom add veggies to mac 'n cheese (you can do that?!) and my sister applying the same concept by adding fish sauce and sesame oil to her ramen (no way!!), I realized that boxed and prepacked foods can be a template for a meal! Shocking, right? Hey, I was like twelve at the time...

What does my little mind do? Make egg drop soup and put ramen noodles in it. Instant success! Make ramen noodles and add veggies to it. Instant success! Make egg drop soup and add veggies to it. Instant success!

And here I am, all these years later, sitting in a warm apartment on a Saturday afternoon, hoping to get some work done at some point. And what do I make for lunch? Ramen (the vegan kind) with veggies in it.

Sometimes, it's the little things in life - like waking up on your own instead of your alarm clock waking you, or having a hot cup of tea after sledding with friends - that really make your life better. No matter how crazy work is, no matter how hurt I am after a break-up, no matter how cold and miserable it is outside... going into the kitchen, looking at all this food I have, and deciding on a simple bowl of ramen just makes it all better.

:)