You Have How Many Taste Buds?

Project 36Smile!

What follows this post is proof that your 9,000 taste buds really can change from wanting fried food and salty, junk food to actually craving fresh and healthy food.

Please continue.....

It's no surprise I like to cook. You will find me in the kitchen every day cooking up something: whether it be dinner every night—and yes, I said every night—or breakfast on the weekends, I'm all about easy recipes that you can make your own.

When I first started cooking, I felt I had to follow the recipe to a T. I got so mad at myself if I didn't have a specific ingredient, I felt the recipe just wouldn't taste right with out that one ingredient. But learning from my mom and grandma, who hardly ever used recipes, I started to improvise. I don't think I have a followed a recipe to the exact ingredient list since then—and I love it.

Monday found me going to one of my favorite recipes, that Chris likes too. It comes from Woman's Day magazine and their 75th anniversary issue. They had a whole four-page spread on different pasta dishes, entitled Oodles of Noodles. I hit the jackpot! Yes, I do get that excited about cooking.

I tore it out and got to work.

When choosing a pasta dish, a tomato-based pasta dish is always the healthier choice. The white sauces are cream and butter based which are full of fat and calories. Not to mention, tomatoes are full of the cancer-fighting antioxidant lycopene. So, eat away!

Click here for the recipe.

I cooked this up with a side of steamed veggies and a plateful of fruits.

Let me just mentioned something here: when I first met Chris about five years ago, he was eating Taco Bell and canned Chili for dinner. There were no veggies or fruit for this bachelor's meal intake. So, what happens when you start dating some one who cooks all the time and eats fruits and veggies on a reg basis? You start to eat them too. And there was no more Taco Hell. Plus, he has said my homemade Texas Chili is better than anything out of a can. Well, duh!

At dinner, he now has a balanced plate and even eats fruit at lunch. You may be rolling your eyes at this "mushy, gushy stuff" but there is a reason why I mention this. Because Chris is real-life proof that your taste buds do change over time. And if you allow them to. You have approximately 9,000 taste buds that are constantly changing. If you have eaten a certain way—say fast food and junk food—your entire life, don't expect a rapid change. Once you allow your taste buds—and you—to appreciate the taste of fruits and veggies and baked fish and chicken. I promise. If my husband can change, then you definitely can too.

Whenever I fix meals like this, I appreciate the fact that he always tells me that my cooking is great and loves it. Makes my Project 36Smile! an easy thing to write about on days like Monday.


36Smile! is blog where Sabrina will be writing about, sharing memories, anecdotes and much more that make her smile 365 days of this year! Too often, we are wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of this crazy little thing called life. We should take time out to enjoy the little things that make us smile and celebrate it! The "S" in 36Smile resembles the "5" in 365 days a year.