It might sound cheesy...

Tonight Sam and I followed the path of our own hunger to happiness. All we'd had that day was a sub-par meal from the cafeteria at 1 pm when the breakfast foods were still out but the iced coffee was no longer cold.

I had the spontaneous idea that we should cook Eggplant Parmesan, a southern dish I had only encountered twice before but found surprisingly delicious. This meal accommodated most of my favorite food requests - no beef, Italian, garlicky, and cheesy.

It might sound cheesy...but I love cheese. I'm so sorry if you're lactose intolerant or have cut cheese to cut calories. Cheese makes me happy. Cheese on sandwiches, on pizza, with wine, on crackers, or by itself in little cubes on a platter.

Anyway, we went online and found out the ingredients consisted of eggplants, olive oil, tomato sauce, flour, bread crumbs, garlic, eggs, basil leaves, fresh mozzarella and parmesan. We first sliced the eggplants long-ways and then made sure to squeeze the leftover moisture out. We then put the flour, garlic and breadcrumbs into one bowl, beaten eggs into another, and in a pan over medium heat, the olive oil. Slice by slice, we took the eggplant slices, dipped them into the breadcrumb mixture, then the egg, then laid them onto the frying pan until they turned light brown on both sides. After doing this to all of the eggplant slices, we got a pan and put sauce, the eggplant, and slices of mozzarella and parmesan down alternatively. We then cooked the dish for thirty minutes and then served hot.

Never underestimate the satisfaction of eating a dish that you cooked that turned out great because you diligently worked hard to make it! I don't cook often, but i'm not sure why because when I ate this dish that I had shopped for and then created, I was ecstatic. I just couldn't help but be proud of myself because it was actually really, really good! I was also extremely satisfied because I hadn't crappy food caved like I usually do. What I mean by this is that whenever I am very hungry, and am waiting for a good meal, but it is a little farther off than I'd like, I sneak food that is way less delicious and satisfying than the meal I am about the recieve, but am weak and eat other food anyways. I shouldn't do this because I half-fill up on the quick food (like a pop tart, or candy, or chips) and then miss out on the complete satisfaction on diving into the perfect meal.

We only ate half of the dish and put the other half away for tomorrow. What we did was very simple, and it made me simply very happy. I know not everyone has the time to play around with new dishes, but it's more about finding something small to concentrate on that will bring you joy. I could have planted a flower, colored a picture, read a chapter in a book, taken a hot bath, or gone to the movies and these things could have brought me the same happiness. Do little things to de-stress and make you happy. Sit outside for a while and study a palm tree. I did.

It might sound cheesy but not only do I feel more relaxed, but because I took the time to try something new and have fun doing it, I feel more connected to Sam. I feel more connected to myself.