How I connect cooking with my ethic/value to life ( 3 secrets that I found)

I was a girl who can only cook instance noodles and egg at home because I didn't need to learn how to do it in the past until I study in Australia now. It was a subtle journey that I started to lean it by watching "Tasty". It is a really good idea for lazy and inexperienced people who want to get more inspiration for cooking.

However, today I am gonna talk about how to cook because I am expert. But I do really experience a lot after cooking for myself that I finally found the same way and truth how my value and ethic lead me to cook . Here I wan tot share 3 secrets that I leaned from cooking.  

1. Your ethic is the rule, not the recipe

Most of the time I just watch Tasty instead of really following the recipe. I mean I am that kinda person who hate rules and restriction. Not only for my life but cooking, I think everything should be flexible and fun. So after I watch the video, I'll just quickly note what I want to do and what I THINK I need to buy( again, I don't follow the recipe lol). This first time I made salmon and cheese risotto, I choose the red quinoa rice instead of common rice just becasue I feel like a bit red dressing will look more fancy. I put the cheese on the salmon since it makes the salmon more juicy and rich. As for the baby spinach, I mixed it in to balance the warm tone of the whole dish. All I think about is "ethic" and enjoy the process of making decision from new things. I mean definitely I'll consider its texture but I found that cooking can reflect our personality somehow. When you try new style in order to dress yourself better, most of the time people will see how special you are and then they won't really care if the style really match the trend.

But this point of view could only built on you already watch the video or know what dish you are gonna do, or all the thing you do will be HORRIBLE. (don't burn your kitchen plz)

2. Slow down

I remember the first time I made "pork ribs braised with daikon"it took me about 3 hours to finish. It was bloody crazy for me because I used to be the person who almost feel annoyed to wait for my friend over 10 minutes. I just realised that it's just the time for you to clam yourself. During the time for cooking, I got the peaceful feeling that I have never ever experienced before. You just focus on how to cut the vegetables into sae size or if the fish doesn't overcook. Everything becomes so simple. Even these simple things take so much time, then how could you expect to figure out all problems in your life in minutes or hours. We all need that 10 more minutes to see if the soup could be simmered in stronger taste and feel that sense of achievement which may save your day. When it came time to finally cook, I turned the process into an experience. I put on some good music or listened to a favorite podcast. I poured a glass of wine and meditatively chopped vegetables. Every time I’d start to get frustrated with how long it was taking, I’d take a breath and remind myself that I was cooking for my favorite person on the planet — me.

3. Love

My belief that food is love has always faltered when I’m cooking for one. At the beginning, I didn't let anyone know that I cook everyday because I didn't really feel confident about it. Also, I recently heard some of my female friends said that how good their boyfriends can cook(for them). As a single, sometimes I felt frustrated to cook for myself. (The struggling is trueeeeee) . Until one day my friends tried my spicy fired chicken and praised it a lot, it cheered me not just because the compliment, what's more , I would like to see the satisfying face form my friends. The feeling is like a warm stream flows into my heart. And I finally realised that cooking is love itself, it comes back to you at the end. So even not for friends, you should do this for yourself. 

It turns out that cooking is no longer my least favorite part of being single. Instead, it’s become a new way for me to take time for myself. And there’s no better way for me to express love for myself and people around me than that.