My daughter, Abigail and I share a common interest in
nutrition, and we both enjoy a very wide variety of foods and cooking. Abi’s
self-imposed study of nutrition and food sources have led her to consider adopting
a vegetarian lifestyle several times now, the most recent being just last week.
We were hanging out in the kitchen together when she said, “Mom, I want you to watch this documentary I saw yesterday. It's about the handling of the meat we eat.” I
told her I would, but I wanted to know what she had learned from it. She
indicated that it had prompted her once again to consider a vegetarian
lifestyle. Our discussion continued as it had in previous years when she had
brought up the topic. I said, “We don’t really consume much red meat, and many
of our meals include no meat already.” I noted that I was at that moment preparing
a dinner salad absent of any meat and including walnuts as a primary protein
source. She took that in, and we moved on to her anxiety around her pending
college applications decisions.
A couple of days later we were back in the kitchen meal-preparing when Abi, again asked, “So
when do you want to watch the food handling documentary?” Again, I replied that
I wasn’t sure yet. I asked if she was thinking of eliminating fish and poultry
as well as red meat, and she stated that based upon the documentary and the
fact that poultry sometimes upsets her digestive system that she was leaning
toward removing red meat and poultry and keeping fish in her diet. “So, you’re
leaning toward a pescatarian approach then?” She replied, “Yes, I think so.” We continued our discussion on what that sort
of lifestyle change might look like and agreed that we could definitely live a
very satisfying life on fish and plants with the option of adding eggs and
dairy from time to time.
Another
day passed to find us once again in the kitchen, and this time Abigail said, “Hey,
Mom, I’ve been pondering the idea of choosing a pescatarian lifestyle, and here’s
the issue I’m having with it: I’m not
comfortable with the imminent scenario where I’m invited to someone’s home for
a meal, they prepare foods that are not compliant with my dietary restrictions,
so I decline to partake of the foods they have prepared for me. I just feel
that would be very rude, and I know that I would not be comfortable with
accepting their kind invitation and then rejecting their meal.” We went on to discuss our experiences with
encountering this very social situation, and she recounted a time when she and several other of her then 9th grade buddies were invited to
a friend’s home. The friend’s parents were in Europe so her Italian
grandparents were watching the teens. They prepared an Italian summer dinner
feast including fresh bruschetta, eggplant parmesan, and chicken piccata with
linguine among a table full of other fine Italian dishes. Abigail was mortified by her friends
rejecting these beautiful food gifts for this reason or that – “it has onions,”
“it’s purple,” “it’s meat,” etc. Now laughing, Abi said, “The more they
rejected, the more I ate – first, because all of the food was delicious, and
then because these grandparents looked so disappointed that the kids were
refusing to indulge in the occasion, complaining, and picking at what little
bit of food they did put on their plates. I can’t be that person who even
politely declines to at least enthusiastically try all of the dishes that a
host has spent the time to prepare for me. It just feels rude to me.”
Our discussion
moved to a European trip Abi took to Paris, Swiss Alps, and Germany a couple of
years ago and the one upcoming this spring to Athens, Florence, and Venice. “That’s
another reason why I can’t declare myself vegan, vegetarian, or pescatarian –
it will hinder my cultural studies. So much of the human experience is around
foods. I can’t go into another country open to gaining understanding of their
social habits while wholly rejecting their cuisine."
“So, we’re going to continue with the idea of
moderation then?” I asked.
Abi concludes, “Yes, this
is my fourth time considering this sort of lifestyle change, and once again I
am back to the thought of eliminating nothing from my diet, but keeping a
watchful eye on practicing healthful eating habits that include primarily whole
grains, legumes, fish, and vegetables with small portions of red meat, pork, and
poultry infrequently.”
Having
that settled, I went grocery shopping! I’m
also working toward clearing out some small portions of ingredients hanging
around since my Thanksgiving meal preparations. This morning I decided to use
the final bits of a couple of ingredients that usually are not found in my
house: pork breakfast sausage and half-n-half—both
on the list of “small portions and infrequently.” Here is the breakfast I
created around the goal of using up that sausage this morning:
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| More often I might omit the sausage and use skim milk to create a healthier alternative. |
Breakfast Tarts
5 eggs
½ c. sage infused
breakfast sausage
½ c. half-n-half
¼ c. parmesan cheese
¾ c. chopped spinach
3 white mushrooms
(chopped)
olive oil spray
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a tart pan with olive oil. Cook
pork with mushrooms until just done. Add
chopped spinach simmer together for 3 minutes. Wisk eggs together with
half-n-half and add parmesan. Blend sausage, mushrooms, and spinach into egg mixture. Ladle mixture into tart cups. Bake at
350 for 20 minutes.
Another of my once-a-year food treats is Thomas' Cranberry English Muffins. I picked up a dozen during my last grocery-shopping trip and decided they would be great with my breakfast tarts this morning. I was right!
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| Not the most healthful breakfast, and not the worst either! |
