Food has a lot of meaning to me. I don't really consider myself very culturaly Mexican, but when I was older and started feeling as if I had no roots and no home, I learned to cook the dishes I grew up with. That was enough to make me feel at home. I have not been very conscious of my nutritional cravings and desires, until I realized that my ex's menu plans were not working for me. Her idea of what was edible early one was odd: things from cans and boxes, frozen chicken nuggets, deep fried potatoes. A nice meal was as exciting as ham, potatoes and corn (Nebraska here). I eventually got things a bit more interesting, spicier, textured and threw in some nice vegetables (she would never touch them), but it was always in the name of a good meal, not health. And, even after, macaroni with velveeta cheese was a lot easier to eat than having to fight the entire family to get something 'strange' on the table.
My diet is a bit on the odd side now that I'm single. I've got some sorely needed me space and am paying attention to what my body tells me, but I'm also on a very tight budget. And even though I like to cook, I'd rather spend my energy on other things than going gormet every night. My body has prompted me to make some very interesting changes. First of all, I've elimated almost all prepackaged goods.. double especially any goods making use of corn syrup. I always feel sluggish after ingesting that sort of stuff. Second, I've mostly lost interest in meat. Almost all my protein is from eggs, beans, tofu, or dairy. I'm not a vegetarian, though, and I grab a burger every once in a while. Mostly, I end up making various things with what I have in the fridge. A bed of rice or noodles is conductive to all improptu dishes. Also, the tortilla is amazingly versitile.
Lately I've been getting into having food rituals. I really like my morning bowl of oatmeal. And my favorite time of the day is having tea in the evening when I'm winding down. I'm going to make scones tonight to go along with it.