Mr. Lovely finds it (epi)curious what has happened to the food life in our family. Curious and if the truth be told, sad.
We used to be a family of carnivores for one thing- we wouldn't fret about little things like healthy diet or ethical considerations or wheat belly or complexion. We would all happily chow down on cheese steaks on white buns with sides of potato salad and cokes -ah, those were the days, right Mr. L? Nowadays we have three vegetarians, another who won't eat "white carbohydrates" and sugars of any kind, one just trying to eat healthy and live a quiet, simple life (guess who that is?) and one who remains stuck in his meat and carb diet, his processed food, and his junk-a-holic ways
 |
| www.pizzadelivery.org |
First off the vegetarians. They are real vegetarians, not pescetarians, (will eat fish) or semi -vegetarians aka flexitarians ("mostly" vegetarian but will eat meat, chicken and fish rarely)- a real term according to wikepedia. Semi vegetarian! Flexitarian!-do you mind? I can't keep track of what my vegetarians consume from week to week-are they are ovo-vegetarian, (yes to eggs, no to dairy products) lacto-vegetarian, (yes to dairy products- no to eggs), or ova-lacto vegetarian-oh what the heck- yes to both. My daughters have tried being vegans for a time, which excludes all animal products including eggs, dairy, beeswax and honey. Seriously who eats beeswax and I just don't get honey- maybe somebody can clue me in.
They ingest stuff that we know vegetarians eat like nuts, seeds, tofu, both the more and less firm variety, and almond milk but also "crazy" stuff like seitan, t.v.p. ( textured vegetable protein) tempeh, quinoa, and soy cheese. Oh my!
And Mr. Lovely can't seem to remember that they don't eat animals at all- he is constantly offering them bites of his hamburger or chicken wings or shrimp cocktail or getting excited about the great roast beef meal we can all enjoy for our next family gathering. When I point out "but Lovely they are vegetarians-" he will get this surprised ( as though this is the first time he is hearing this even though they have been vegetarian for a very long time- Ed for over 6 years and Meg and Phil for close to 2) and then mournful and dejected look on his face, and then he will commence to moping.
Thankfully they are all excellent cooks cause for sure they would be having salad and soup all the time when they visited if it were left to me. And Mr. Lovely- well he would just buy them processed "box vegetarian" dinners. Yes he is a big fan of the boxed "fudes"-boxed Indian meals- [korma in a box, butter chicken in a box}, (more like a cardiac arrest in a box), boxed lasagna, boxed chicken wings, boxed pizza- you get the idea.
 |
| sikharchives.com |
He is further befuddled by Al, who won't have milk, white pasta bread or potatoes or sugar of any kind -a bit for his body but mostly for his face- he wants to keep his complexion clean and clear and thinks those items interfere with that agenda.
So Mr. Lovely can't just rustle up some spaghetti (and by that I mean- good honest spaghetti- not that whole wheat stuff) and meat sauce (his favourite meal) because he has no takers- not a one. We are all living healthier these days.
 |
| (Tiger Print for Vegetarian Food Fair by Lemon) |
That looks like just the sort of box dinner Mr. Lovely would ADORE: the tortured chicken and triple MSG, I can just seeing him rubbing his hands and opening a beer!
ReplyDeleteHe would really love that pizza, with onion rings, tacos and perogies.
ReplyDeleteMy hands are up, I had a big bowl of quinoa and butter for lunch everyday this week, I'm an omnivore but love quinoa. Oh is that what's on that pizza above? I stared at it and failed to identify any of its parts. Phew that's a lot of different diets to keep up with, I'd give them all toast!
ReplyDeleteI think the pizza has onion rings, perogies, tacos and maybe potatoes with cheese. It would be pretty gross to eat. I really like quinoa too- have not tried it with butter but will now- thanks.
DeleteWe are certainly heading in your direction, though in our family, son is vegan, son's girlfriend, husband and I are flexitarians - nore more meet than 3 times a week and eat very healthy - daughter is out right carnivore and was obviously and unbeknownst to, raised by wolves - she detests fruit and veggies. She will eat some if hidden and will eat peppers and greens. I do know that our pantry looks much different now than 20 years ago, although I am trying to enjoy all things in moderation and did enjoy a teeny piece of that dairy queen ice cream cake last night!
ReplyDeleteI would consider myself a flexitarian too and definitely see the health benefits. From time to time I try to give up sugar and that is hard too. I agree everything in moderation with some treats from time to time.
DeleteHey B! Great post. I think one reason for the variety of diets may be because there are so many reasons to be vegetarian. I know in my life, my vegetarian philosophies have changed and matured.
ReplyDeleteMy first attempt was an experiment - to see if I felt healthier. At the time, I felt that eating fish was healthy so I continued to do so. This lasted for a year and even though I believe it made me less lethargic over all, I missed eating meat and went back to my carnivorous ways. (Note: I believe there are two types of vegetarians likened with the analogy of being celibate vs asexual. You may enjoy eating meat but refrain from doing so - celibate. Or you may not find meat appetizing at all - asexual. I'm of the celibate variety).
Years later I read Gandhi's autobiography wherein he wrote about his vegetarian philosophies very elegantly and in a way that deeply resonated with me. From this work, I concluded that if I was able to maintain a vegetarian diet in a way that was healthy (#1 priority is always my own health) then I no longer could justify the privilege of eating meat as any suffering it caused would be undue. This was a very powerful idea for me and since then I've never felt comfortable with my own carnivorousness.
My wife's vegetarian attitudes are more environmentally based. She believes the millions of cattle we support cause a toll on the environment by how much methane gas they produce (the #1 cause of green-house gas on earth). Because cow's milk is a significant factor in this, she prefers almond milk.
That my diet seems flaky is completely understandable and that's ok with me because it's the result of a lot of chewing... Chewing over what is important to me and what I can do about it and I expect these things to change over time. It's a fluid thing. But what remains constant is the satisfaction I get from being critical of my diet and having the resolve to act on it, regardless of how it's perceived or what the norm is.
Quinoa - or the ancient grain - as some call it - is a throwback to prehistoric times as far as I'm concerned. We have already refined grains so that we can make white bread . Why go back. We need to move forward - eat a meatball or two with our pasta and call it progress.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Mr. L
I get it. Meat is delicious. I know that the vegetarians in my family have ethical concerns about it. Hard to figure that out. Some of us are not not even that ethical about the human beings in our world - so hard to figure out the animals. It's just plain tough to get everything right.
ReplyDelete