Here you will find all things related to cooking and meal preparation. It is where I share herbs, seasonings, and recipes I've discovered and enjoyed. This is one of my favorite parts about self-discovery. Flavors!

Easy meals

Featured food

Homemade Ramen

Ingredients

Ramen (I like Kimchi, spicy)
Thin sliced cabbage (red or green)
Green Onion
Onion (your choice) thin sliced
Raw broccoli or raw mixed veggie blend
Frozen vegetables
One hard-boiled egg (boil for 10-12 for hard boiled. Less (3-4 minutes for runny yolk with egg whites) dependent upon desire. Water must be boiling when eggs are added.
Pre-Cooked Meat of Choice (Shrimp or chicken is my choice... I haven't tried beef yet.)

Assemble Your Ramen

* Add the veggies and meat of your choice - if meat is desired. Assembly is not difficult. Use veggies that will soon spoil and any ingredients you enjoy, adding them to a bowl of hot water, noodles, the sauce mix (or make your own- I will add later) and *

My way:

I use my Keurig to make my noodles soft - lazy way!
Add the raw veggies once the bowl is filled and I heat them in the microwave for an additional minute and a half. (I don't like soft noodles, so I avoid overcooking)
Add diced green onions
Add additional seasonings as desired. ( I add red pepper flakes.)

Club Sandwich

Ingredients

Three slices of the bread of your choice.
Ham or chicken
Turkey
Cooked Bacon (3 Slices)
American or Cheddar Cheese Slices
Romaine Lettuce
Tomatoe
Mayonnaise

Items to Prepare

Cook bacon and set to the side
Toast bread slices to your crisp desire

Assemble Your Sandwich

* When assembling your sandwich arrange tomatoes and lettuce so that bread doesn't quickly become soggy by placing tomatoes and lettuce between meat and cheese instead of together or directly against bread.

Add mayonnaise to first bread slice
Add 1st meat (Turkey)
Add lettuce
Add tomatoe
Add cheese
Add second (middle) slice of bread with mayo
Add second layer of meat (Ham or chicken)
Add bacon
Add mayo to the final slice of bread to close the sandwich

(For extra razzle dazzle, add salt and pepper to tomatoes.)

oregano

My first food love is Italian cuisine so there is probably no better herb to start with than this one. Oregano is more known widely for its use in Italian dishes. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the vast varieties of oregano available to integrate and enhance my cuisines. Specifically, Mexican Oregano, a much stronger variety of the many Oregano options out there (40+). I typically use Italian and Greek Oregano in my prepared dishes and have grown an appreciation for using fresh oregano as opposed to dried since the flavor comes through a bit more prominently in my opinion. This herb for me, has been best used in tomatoe soup, soups generally, and pastas. Though fish and shellfish dishes are a great pairing as well - so I've read. In the spirit of exploration, I think I'll try a new oregano - maybe Mexican or Cuban - Mexican food is my second food love!

Featured herb

health benefits

Antioxidant
Inflammation
Respiratory Health (Bronchitis & Asthma)
Digestion
Bone Health
Gut Health
Mild insomnia
Mild Anxiety

Herbal Reference resources

Herbs, Spices and Flavourings
Stobart, Tom

Stobart, Tom. Herbs, Spices and Flavourings. Grub Street, 2017.

Cook's Encyclopedia

Stobart, Tom. Cook's Encyclopaedia, Grub Street, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hunter-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5153840.

Healthline

Ajmera, R. (2017, October 27). 6 science-based health benefits of oregano. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-oregano-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

National Library of Medicine

Gutiérrez-Grijalva, E. P., Picos-Salas, M. A., Leyva-López, N., Criollo-Mendoza, M. S., Vazquez-Olivo, G., & Heredia, J. B. (2017, December 26). Flavonoids and phenolic acids from oregano: Occurrence, biological activity and health benefits. Plants (Basel, Switzerland). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5874591/