As my parents would tell you should you ask them, my eating habits and diet are not exemplary. For one thing, I only tend to eat lunch on weekends. During the week I wake up, go to work, and then I'm working so I don't get to eat until I get home and make dinner. On weekends I usually have the time to each lunch, although this weekend I did not. And I oh so seldom eat breakfast, as I'm not a morning person.

This is the kind of routine I've had since my first regular job after college, some six years ago. To make up, I eat a whole lot of food for dinner, easily making up for missing lunch. Now everyone who hears this says that it is quite unhealthy, and I agree. But I'm used to it, and I don't get hungry at lunch so I don't think it's as bad as it could be.

So what do I cook for dinner? I'm not a great cook, I'm not even a good cook, although I could probably do all right by following a cookbook. But I'm not a picky eater either. For my meals I want meat, starch, and maybe some vegetables.

Just about every meal has some kind of meat, usually chicken, but beef, pork, or fish is common. Rice is my starch of choice, and it's included in a good 80% of my meals. Pasta or potatoes substitute occassionally. And I hate eating just meat without any starch. For vegetables, it's usually corn, or lettuce, or mixed vegetables. Usually I get frozen vegetables and fry it a bit to make it taste better.

This brings me to another point with my cooking. I use quite a bit of oil. I fry my meats and sometimes my vegetables. I'm not much for salt, although I use a little, but I do like the taste of oil in my food. Most of the time I bread my meats with this prepackaged bread crumbs that have herbs in them. That way I don't have to add other spices of my own.

What's a typical meal for me? I tend to cook according to templates, and I only have a couple of templates. The contents vary a bit, but the templates are quite recognizable. They're simple to make and come out quite well, at least for my tastes.

The first template is one of my favorites, based on Cream of Mushroom. Fry some meat covered in breadcrumbs, with a little more oil than usual. You have to use oil, otherwise the bread- crumbs burn. Add a can of condensed Cream of Mushroom (Campbells) and a can of milk (I like 2% or whole, nonfat milk is practically water). Lower heat and let simmer for 10 minutes or so. If I'm eating corn with this I also add the corn to make corn/mushroom sauce. The oil and meat add flavor to the sauce. I usually use some kind of steak or other beef as the meat, as the juices help to flavor the sauce. Chicken is too dry, and I don't fry chicken anymore. Pork or fish is ok too. For starch it can be mashed potatoes, rice, or some sort of noodles.

The second template is more common. Bread meat (usually chicken) and oven bake it at 375 degrees F for an hour, turning it over every 15 minutes or so. Cook some rice, microwave vegetables and that's it. I try to use fatty chicken so the juices get into the breading. The vegetables are usually creamed spinach or broccoli and cheese or just corn. Maybe a salad. Other vegetables don't go well with this.

So that's a glimpse at my dietary habits. I'm not into soda or junk food or dessert. Not that I don't like them, but I've always rather eat more normal food rather than eat dessert or snacks. Eventually I'll pay for this lifestyle, but for now this is the way I live.