You Know You're a Foodie When...

You know you're a foodie when: -you get truly excited to go grocery shopping. I look forward to seeing what new finds there might be at my small grocery store, and even more so get amped up to go to larger stores to stock up on items I can't find at my primary store or explore for more obscure ingredients.

-you enthusiastically share your recent good deals or special finds with friends and family. And like anything that I'm passionate about, I enjoy sharing them with those closest to me when the opportunity arises.

-you find said friends and family looking back at you with that look telling you you're just one monkey short of a circus. I found some ancient grains (a mix of farro, quinoa, & wild rice, if I'm remembering correctly) at Aldi a couple weeks ago, and tried to convey my excitement to my family that night at dinner to share in the joy with me. Let's just say they were less than impressed by my discovery.

-you carefully curate and regularly reference a ten-tab Excel spreadsheet on Google docs with all of the recipes you hope to make someday. The tabs are labeled by category, the sheets are further sub-divided into smaller categories, and there are headers for each column. I even have a tab for cooking tips and tricks. I put an asterisk by recipes I've actually made and enter notes about my adaptations and results. It's where my love of food and love of organizing come together in beautiful harmony. It's also a fantastic resource when I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

-you plan out your meals up to months in advance. I add cooking meals to my to-do list, selecting the date I want to make particular things for dinner (and subsequent meals of the leftovers). I have so many recipes I want to try that I often go overboard in scheduling them out far in advance.

-you binge-watch cooking shows. I have been doing this a lot lately. I started with the episodes of Alton Brown's Good Eats on Netflix, but quickly plowed through those 20-minute episodes and progressed to Iron Chef America. Man, it's crazy to notice just how much my head starts spinning with all sorts of crazy ideas as I learn more about cooking.

-you intentionally read lengthy articles about different kinds of carbohydrates, sources of protein, "good" and "bad" fats, and comparing honey to sugar. I never took a nutrition class in college, but I am genuinely interested in learning about food and the body now.

-you get really sad when you have to take a cooking moratorium. This happened to me a couple months ago. I went so crazy trying to use up all the squash and apples I accumulated in the fall that I reached a point where my designated spaces in the fridge and freezer were completely full. I had to actually stop making more food because I had no place to store it. I practically went through cooking withdrawals during that period, greatly missing my beloved hobby until I had eaten enough that I could resume cooking.

-you use unexpected income to splurge on kitchen tools. I managed to save more money than I had anticipated when I created my monthly budget, and I chose to allocate it to buying some kitchen tools that I've been coveting lately (measuring spoons that include a tablespoon since ours doesn't, a grater, a ladle, refillable salt & pepper grinders, a set of cutting boards, and some other wonderful little things). I can't put into words how good it felt to finally be bringing those items home after wanting them for so long. I truly had been meaning to get a grater and pepper grinder for MONTHS. Now I feel more like a real cook.

-you find yourself feeling affection toward your cookware or kitchen tools and expressing gratitude toward the people who invented them. I have actually thanked the creator of the slow cooker out loud numerous times, sometimes in the presence of others. More recently, I've also been very thankful for my Ninja blender and food processor, which was a Christmas present I've already gotten many uses out of.

Do you find yourself doing these things? Would you add anything to this list?