We Become What We Practice.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
—Aristotle

Source

The path of cooking

Finding myself immersed in some recipes sites. I'm truly not sure if it's because I'm getting old, (personally thinks 21 y/o is an age of a seemingly matured adult) or I'm afraid nobody wants a woman who can't cook. Cook as in making oneself feel more homely.

For me, and as a Chinese  I believe eating with family are norms of a daily live. With such attractive technologies and media, people tend to spend more time eating with their devices rather than a human being! I am also one who spends more time with my TV than my family. Which is a little upsetting. Besides, I hate eating alone, especially in public. I rather grab and go than sit and stare. I know it can be enjoyable at times but as a single lady, it reminds the loneliness. Mind the lady who fantasize romance too much. HEH. 

However, health is also a priority as to why I want to cook as well. Getting fit and healthy, and not feeling shitty after eating a whole lot of carbs, fats and red meat. I often do feel so bad I feel like throwing up. Not a good scene. I do think this "path of cooking" is contributed by my close friends too. Seeing my best friends baking makes me feel like baking too. Seeing a guy who can cooks better than me, makes me feel bad for not having a basic knowledge of cooking. Seeing overseas friends being independent and cooking makes me feel obliged to not give silly excuses such as no time to cook. That contributes to the journey of my strong desire to cook.

Speaking about desire, it is also hard to cook as... I would tend to need to cook for 1 person serving because my family mostly don't eat at home, which could lead to food wastage. Secondly, I have no part time jobs nor am I financially capable of buying my own grocery, which I'm already guilty towards my parents, which in the first paragraph I've already stated 21 y/o is already an age where an adult already needs to be mature. It's an age where one could be a mother already. lol. It;s actually not cheap to buy groceries.Thirdly, it's a hassle, but I do find it comforting and a challenge to be able to cook. I mean, cutting veggies and meat are already so troublesome but the effect is rewarding. Fourthly, American recipes are so hard to decipher! Their ingredients are not easily found in Malaysia and if there are, it's horridly pricey which I could buy the actually food than to make it from scratch!

Anyhow, I must anyhow learn how to cook this year. Let's look away from excuses and face our challenges. Furthermore, Pinterest is such an amazing website for cooking ideas. So easy to store and save to read for later. The food I would LOVE to master is Salmon. I hated salmon but came to love it at a sushi king bonanza. LOL, it's healthy too. Why not to love. Heh. Carrot/Sweet potato french fries are good ideas for the junk food day, which minus all the unhealthy fats and you'll feel instantly better knowing that carrot sticks and potato sticks could taste like french fries. Heehee!

Long story short, I just had the whole day browsing recipes, which are kind of unlike me, hence the blog post. Hahahahaha. I do hope I could journey this path momentously and record about it.

Some great finds:

http://pinterest.com/aliciacml/recipes/ - My Pinterest recipes folders which I've saved tons of it.
Fine Cooking - Informative website in general about ingredients, food and how tos.
Delighted Momma - Easy simple recipes this lady have.
Elana's Pantry - Healthy diet recipes in general.
Vege Angel - Everything veggies.
Messy Witchen - Mostly local recipes, where ingredients are easier to find.

YEAR 2012 :)

Update : YES! I've finally successfully retrieved this post that I've accidentally! Awesome meee! Don't give up easily! Haha!

Decided I should do a New Year Resolution for the year 2012.

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1. Be healthier, and fitter.

This has always and will be my lifetime goal. I can't emphasize how much I strive to be fitter yet in a healthier way. This is definitely my number 1 on the list. Must at least exercise 2-3 times a week.


2. Be independent.

I WANT TO BE INDEPENDENT! To prepare myself to be a better adult for next year (21 y/o). Agree, no? I definitely want to do more things by myself like grocery, shopping, movie, errands, etc... I totally SUCK at being independent. Living in my own world.


3. Read more books.

This is definitely a way to improve myself and to upgrade myself in a better way. No doubt reading will improve one selves. At least 1 book a month. Not too bad, eh?


4. Earn my own money.

Been slacking for this semester break. HAH! What else could I have done, though I haven't used up my part time job salary. Thus, I need to earn more and get my dream house (lifelong aspiration)!


5. Improve myself.

Clean a little more, be a little less lazier (nobody's perfect thus, there's always a lazy worm in everyone.haha!), maybe get a new hobby or interest?, have yet to decorate my room! I have all these little ideas on how to decorate but am too lazy and lack of creativity. And I need to improve my vocabulary and common sense and etc.

6. Get used to Uni life.

I need to get used to the whole 'I'm in a university' mode. Side note, I must be a university student-like. Or not how am I suppose to graduate? Need to soooooooo get used to the study motion. Need to constantly revise too!


7. Be positive and be grateful.

I think I need a list of things I'm grateful of and I need to think positively. Because, not thinking positively takes you no where. More like, take you down physically and emotionally.

Alicia

Me.

NOTE-TO-SELF :

HAVEN'T LEARN TO CRAWL, WANT TO WALK ALREADY.

Alicia

Phase.

Can't even take care of myself, how the fish do I even take care of others? So if people think I'm selfish, maybe it's because I can't even look after my own. Look at the way I live also know lah. I totally lose too my lazy DNA and procrastination worm in me. Believe it or not, I'm still in the process of learning and growing. Funny thing is, my parents refuse to look after me. I'm forced to look after the house because of that. HAHA. Not entirely lah, but I miss being a little kid. No need to worry about nonsense and stuff that won't help me grow and learn. But I don't want to live in a emotionless home. Only thing that keeps me in touch is taking care of my dog. Moo. Can't be stupid and naive anymore, time to look up and look forward ONLY. I hope my determination will last.

Alicia

Am I Right?

CML!

Better get moving.

Be inspired!

You are who you want to be!

Alicia

I have no creativity.

1. Knowledge talks, wisdom listens. - Jimi Hendrix
2. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me !
3. Only the wisest and the stupidest of men never change. - Confucius
4. Don’t let your victories go to your head, or your failures go to your heart.
5. Those who criticize our generation forget who raised it.
6. Criticizing is easy, art is difficult.
7. Violence won’t solve a thing. It makes it more challenging to solve, though.
8. I don’t know what the key to success is, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone. - Bill Cosby
9. When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.
10. Not to care for philosophy is to be a true philospher.
11. The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.
12. The best mind-altering drug is truth.
13. Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so. - Lord Chesterfield
14. Don’t look where you fall, but where you slipped.
15. Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry. - Henry Ward Beecher
16. A winner listens, a loser just waits until it is their turn to talk.
17. Guns don’t kill people — people do.
18. He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened. - Lao Tzu
19. If you are not part of the cure, then you are part of the problem.
20. The only time you run out of chances is when you stop taking them.
21. Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. - Jonathan Kozel
22. The best things in life are not things.
23. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. - Benjamin Franklin
24. You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.
25. One should always play fair when one has the winning cards. - Oscar Wilde
26. Think like a man of action, and act like a man of thought.
27. Beware of a man of one book.
28. Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
29. He who knows others is learned; he who knows himself is wise.

Alicia