Success Through the Eyes of Evan Rader

I define success as being able to achieve whatever goal you may have even through all of the goals and obstacles that you have to face along the way. One area in my life where i have been very successful is maintaining my health. I have had Type 1 Diabetes for the past 14 years of my life, however I have maintained a relatively very successful and healthy lifestyle. I achieved that state of success through the help and care of others and also through years of trial and error. Jim Valvano once said, "Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first steps to succeeding.'' I define failure as an obstacle on your way to success. One area in my life where I failed is my 9th grade English class. Although I did not actually fail the class I did pass with a D, which in my mind might as well be failure. I think what led to that sense of failure was my lack of overall motivation. Micheal Jordan once said, "I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.'' I personally more motivated by my success rather than my failure because sucess to me is viewed at as a reward.

French Toast With a Side of Failure

Yesterday morning I was in the mood for some french toast when breakfast time came around. So what did I do? I decided to make french toast! Everything from here on out went downhill... About halfway through preparing my french toast (and eggs) I noticed that the bag that the bread was in, was melting and sticking to the frying pan. The bag was almost completely melted to the pan itself, not to mention that while trying to tend to the melting bag, I totally forgot about my eggs and I ended up burning them. Just goes to show that failure can occur even while performing a mundane task such as cooking french toast.

Benefits of Eating at Home

Cooking and eating at home comes with many benefits. One of the many benefits that comes from cooking homemade meals is that you save money from doing so! Some families will spend as much as $200 a month just on eating out. Think of all the money that could potentially be saved just by cutting back from eating out. Another benefit that comes from eating home cooked meals is that it promotes for a healthier lifestyle. Food that is consumed in restaurants typically have a lot more calories and fat than food made at home. Along with this you actually know what you're eating. Some restaurant foods have "hidden" ingredients which may be unhealthy to you, with homemade food you actually know all of the ingredients that are going into your meal. As a result of not eating out as much you begin to feel more energized.

 For more information on the benefits of eating at home check out these articles;

http://www.passivefamilyincome.com/8-benfits-of-eating-at-home-other-than-saving-money

http://ezinearticles.com/?Stop-the-Eating-Out-Cycle---The-Benefits-of-Eating-at-Home&id=526607

Quick, Easy, and Simple

This here is an example of a very easy, quick, and simple meal. It consists of a grilled cheese sandwich accompanied with a bowl of stovetop, beef noodle soup. This meal took me no longer than Seven minutes to actually make, making it a very nice beginners meal to opt to. I apologize for the picture being on its side as this blogging website apparently doesn't present you with the option of rotating the picture.

Recipe Example

3

lb meaty cross-cut beef shank bones, cut into 3-inch pieces

10

cups water

3

tablespoons beef-flavor instant bouillon

1 1/2

teaspoons salt

1/2

teaspoon pepper

1/2

teaspoon dried thyme leaves

2

dried bay leaves

4

cups vegetable juice

3

cups cubed potatoes (3 medium)

3

cups coarsely chopped cabbage

2

cups frozen small whole onions (from 16-oz bag)

2

cups cubed peeled rutabaga (1 1/2 medium)

2

cups Green Giant® frozen cut green beans (from 1-lb bag)

4

medium carrots, sliced (2 cups)

3

medium stalks celery, sliced (1 1/2 cups)

This is an example of one of my previous recipes for a vegetable beef soup that I have prepared in the past. I strayed away from this recipe because it uses certain ingredients that don't necessarily appeal to my personal taste such as the chopped cabbage. 

Last Name Lazy, First Name Really

We've been at this project for a whole three and a half  months now but apparently my overwhelming sense of procrastination has overcome me. Although this is only my 3rd blog post I have made significant progress when it comes to the actual cooking aspect of this project. I started out with the basics; that being breakfast foods. I started making baby steps by preparing foods like hash browns and other various early morning edibles such as eggs, bacon, sausage, omelettes, etc. I have now made my way on to "lunch time" foods. Being that there is so many different things that can be made for lunch I have decided to broaden my horizons. Some foods that I have began to make are grilled cheese, buttered noodles, vegetable beef soup, and various other foods. It is only a matter of time until I make my way to preparing dinner entrees.

Update

Although I have been on this project for approximately 6-7 weeks now, I have yet to make substantial progress. I decided that it would be a smart decision to drop Colleen as a genius hour partner as she totally sucks at cooking and her food tastes like crap. Chef Ramsey would totally disapprove of her tasteless food and morally incorrect cooking techniques.