Author: gracefulfitness

Chicken or coleslaw

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It is an ongoing process for me in my quest to “make good choices” to be able to politely decline food.  I am always worried about offending people or bringing too much attention to myself.

Case in point.  One summer Tate and I were sea kayaking in Alaska.  We were a full days paddle from Juneau and decided to set up camp by a cabin inhabited by two older couples from Georgia.  The women took pity on us (it was raining) and invited us up for dinner.  I offered to bring some vegetables but they said they had everything we needed.  When we sat down to eat I was dismayed to see BBQ chicken and coleslaw covering the plates.  I have been a vegetarian all of my life and while I do occasionally eat chicken broth I’d never actually eaten a bite of meat.  And I despise mayo so much that my sisters used to chase me around the house with a spoon dripping with it to tease me.

So, rather than offend these generous Southerners and their hospitality, I pushed the cole slaw around, shaved off the tiniest little bites of chicken, and guzzled beer.   Tate came to my rescue by scarfing his down and emptying my plate onto his.  Our hosts must have though him a controlling husband or something when he said “she’s had enough” when they tried to offer seconds! When we got back to the tent I feasted on raw broccoli and carrots.

Have you ever been in a situation where you ate something you weren’t interested in or more than you wanted to avoid bringing attention to yourself or causing offense?  How do you gracefully handle these situations?

Dahl Baht

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I always prefer to eat whole grains.  I find their taste and texture far more interesting and satisfying  and, of course, the nutrition is superior by miles (especially B vitamins, fiber, and protein).  Finding whole grains while on the road can be challenging, especially in the while rice obsessed cultures of South America and Asia, where I have spent the last 16 months.

I am fully over the white rice.  If I ever eat white rice again it will be too soon (o.k., sushi clause, definitely a sushi clause to this statement).

What really did it for me was the Dahl Baht lunches eaten while hiking in the Annapurna area of Nepal a few weeks ago.  Dahl Baht is the mainstay of the Nepali diet and a cheap source of energy while trekking through the Himalaya, the “dahl” is the mung beans and the “baht” is the rice.  It is served up on a pie pan-like tray and consists of  small bowls  of very salty and watery mung beans, vegetable curry (the best of which is full of green beans and cauliflower, the worst of which is just potatoes), a papad (lentil wafer), and a giant mound of white rice.  The traditional way to eat Dahl Baht is to dump the contents of the bowls over the rice, mix it together with you right hand and scoop it into your mouth.  My way of eating Dahl Baht is to chow down on the dahl and curry and hope the server isn’t to confused when he comes around to offer seconds of everything and my rice pile is still a mile high.