Ilike challenges.  I also love to teach.  When several members of my team decided they would enjoy and greatly benefit from learning to cook, I decided this would be a very fun activity to do together.  And from this, my FCKC Cooking Club was born. After just one meeting, it did not disappoint one bit, and I am anxiously awaiting our next cooking date.  I’m not saying that it all went smoothly, but we had such a great time, and in the end made one very delicious meal.  Let me break it down for you…

Cultivating:

• to prepare and use land for crops or gardening…that’s somewhere on the right track.
• to try and acquire or develop a quality, sentiment or skill…that’s probably a bit closer.

Cooking:

• the practice or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients…yup, that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Queens:

• a woman or thing regarded as excellent or outstanding of it’s kind…we are working on this part.

And from all of this was formed, ‘The Cultivating Cooking Queens’.  The name itself was an unplanned happening, where in a moment under pressure, some words that sounded great together became our group text name, and before we knew it, this was how we started to refer to ourselves.   Only a little later did we actually learn that the group namer (she shall not be named to protect her identity) actually had no idea what all the words really meant.  Somehow, it all worked out in the end, and this catchy name will be with us forever.

Meet The Queens (in no particular order):

• Alex – organizer/very eager learner
• Des- very determined/excited to learn
• Katelyn – pure entertainment/sad to see her go
• Shea – videographer/eager learner
• Mandy – a late addition.  She couldn’t take all the hype and insisted on joining after our first meeting.
• Myself – I am Chef B.  The leader of the pack.

Some key moments:

• Alex got a cucumber instead of a zucchini.  She claims a zucchini could not be found, and just assumed that a cucumber was similar.
• Katelyn lost a bet and had to take a bite out of an onion.
• Katelyn claiming to not like what we were actually making, only to find out she had it confused with a completely different food.  And in the end enjoyed it so much she had seconds.
• All kinds of antics going on around me and I had no idea until I actually watched the video.

During our first meeting, we made a delicious Thai Green Curry dish.  It was filled with great flavor, and lots of fresh, crispy veggies, all served over some brown rice.  It was quite a success and hit with the group.  We decided to video our adventure.  To see our first Episode, please check out my YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe for future postings.  A big thanks to Shea for editing the piece. Stay tuned for future episodes.  As always…eat well and be merry!!

 

I LOVE FOOD!! There, I’ve said it, and there is no hiding this fact, but it’s something you should know about me from the start. I don’t just love eating, but I’m passionate about preparing and cooking my own food. In my mind, cooking is an art, and I’m very much an artist at heart. There are many reasons I love to cook my own food, and I will get into them shortly, but I want to make it very clear that I am in no way an expert in food, nutrition, cooking or anything to do with any of these areas. Yes, I have read many books, spent countless hours watching cooking shows, and I am obsessed with cookbooks, but by no means do I have any kind of background, education or degree in this field. Everything I am going to share with you is what I believe in and what works for me. No two people are alike, and everybody needs to find out what works best for himself/herself.
I have been told by so many people that I should start a food blog. Now that I’m finally starting my own website, I figured this would be a great thing to tie in with it, because I believe that food, nutrition and sport all go hand in hand. This may not be like most blogs that you read or follow, but then again, I’m probably not like most other people. Here are a few very important things you need to know about me: I don’t like sweets. I don’t like chocolate. I try to avoid added sugar and processed foods as much as possible. I have never actually been tested or diagnosed with celiac disease, but I have been eating gluten free for over 3 years now, and in that time I have felt so many positive changes from this diet. I have many personal reasons for why I started eating sans gluten, and have been extremely amazed at how much better I’ve felt since doing so. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it is difficult, especially when constantly traveling and on the road, but in reality it’s also the way I like to eat – lots of fresh fruit, produce, meats, etc. all made with minimal other ingredients. I’m sure you are asking how can this possibly taste good? Just because food doesn’t have a lot of ingredients doesn’t mean it can’t have a lot of flavor, and I’ve cooked for many people who can attest to that fact.
I’m going to use this blog as an opportunity to share my thoughts, meals, etc. I truly believe that you should carefully consider what you are putting into your body, and one of the best ways to control that is to prepare your own food from fresh ingredients. I love to frequent farmer’s markets and eat what is in season, and I try my best to know every ingredient that is in my meal and I’m putting into my body. I don’t really follow recipes. A lot of times I may use one as a guideline, but that is all. I rarely measure. I love to adapt and be creative in the moment, and I love to try and take normal foods and create a healthy, gluten free version. The only downside to cooking like this is that you never ever get the same exact flavor twice:) But who says that is a bad thing? I hope that you continue to follow me on this blog as I share foods I like, recipes, meals, and more. Enjoy the journey and remember, you are what you eat, so choose wisely.

Hi, and welcome to ‘Barnie’s Bites’.  I want to personally thank you for visiting this site and I hope you’re as excited as I am for this journey.  I’m very passionate about food, and have been told by so many people that I should share my love for food with others.  Unfortunately, I’m not at a place where I can open a cafe (which I think would be so much fun to do one day), but I thought that this would be a great place to start.  In my mind, food plays such an important part in our lives, especially in sport, and I want to help you be more aware of what you’re putting in your body. Food can be simple, yet still very delicious, and I can’t wait to start teaching you my art of food making. This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while now and I’m very excited to start this journey with you. Please check back soon for my very first post. Until then, eat well and be merry!