Just Call Me Emeril

Thursday night was a pretty momentous occasion in my life. My parents had just taken off for a cruise, and I was left with a bachelor pad for the week. As dinner time approached, I was hit with the reality that no meal would be set before me unless I myself prepared it. In the past, a situation like this would have left me with a no-brainer. Can you say frozen pizza? I'll have to admit that, again, I was tempted to go the lazy and seriously unhealthy route of pounding about a dozen frozen pizzas this week. I actually got a Jack's pizza out of the freezer and began to preheat the oven, but then, as if struck by a bolt of lightning, I decided that maybe it was time to change before I got ridiculously fat and out of shape. I opened the freezer again, and this time I found some shrimp and a bag of broccoli and cauliflower. I was determined to make the best and healthiest meal in the history of bachelorhood. I started to stir fry the shrimp and veggies, but I wanted to add a little something for flavor. One thing I learned in China is that any vegetable (even broccoli!) is good when it's cooked in garlic. So I chopped up a garlic clove and "BAM!" (just call me Emeril)...tossed it into the pan with the shrimp and veggies. To add to my delicious meal I cooked some rice (Uncle Ben's Instant Rice) and then doused the whole meal with a little Asian zing called Mae Ploy sauce. 

To be honest with you, the meal was good, not great, but it wasn't the meal itself that mattered so much as what it represented in my life.  A turning point...the turning of a new leaf, if you will. No longer would I be held hostage by Spaghettios and frozen pizzas for the rest of my bachelor life. I can actually cook (or attempt to), and I can actually eat healthy. Time will tell whether this is just a phase or a new way of life...

In Unrelated News...

Later that night I went to play some intramural basketball at Bethel, and something didn't feel right. Before our second game, my stomach began hurting. I realized just in time what was happening and rushed for the toilet. What I experienced next was one of the most forceful and awful pukes from way deep down in my stomach that I had ever experienced. All those shrimp and veggies came right back up. What a waste...

Ok, so maybe I'm not the best cook in the world yet, but even Emeril had to start somewhere, right?