i ate a dog snack.
yes, imagine the faces of the 8 other women in the nursing committee meeting as i blurted that out randomly after describing my current resolution/eating experiment. it went something like this:
(them smiling at me and listening intently, SO admiring of my resolve and intentionality)...
ME: "i am trying to eat only foods made from ingredients you can find in rural nepal for 14 days as part of my new year's resolution. it will not only help me get back on a healthy track, but it helps me to be respectful of the fact that there are millions of people all over the world who don't have 700 choices a day regarding what they eat. they have to eat what is available, and many times that is insufficient and very limited. this helps me to step away from my dependence on food as entertainment, and helps me to not take it for granted. i am truly appreciating not only the abundance we have, but every bite of this food that i am eating- regardless of whether or not i WANT to eat it."
one of THEM: "oh that is so wonderful. you have such amazing resolve (me doing little mental pat on the back while she speaks). i couldn't do it. you are such a good person and have such strength! how is it going so far?"
ME: "it has been hard, but i am learning a lot and putting together some interesting combinations with the ingredients i have available (nodding from the others)....(pause)...last night i had a little meltdown and i ate a dog snack."
(SILENCE)
okay. i can explain. actually, no i can't. there isn't anything to explain. i was putting my dog to bed and i gave her a dog snack- really more of a "cookie" than a biscuit. then i had one myself. truth told, it was delicious. i never realized that those dog cookies in the bins at petco are actually cookies. i swear those were real chocolate chips in there! i am going to now attempt to regain what little dignity i can by saying that i only ate one.... i had a whole bag staring me in the face, and i ate one. after the behemoth cravings i've been having the past 10 days, putting them down was a feat of monumental proportions. i can take pride in that. i will also qualify it by saying that in my life and my travels, i have eaten mice, goat vertebrae, iguana, chicken backs, and oats with more weavils than oats, so dog snacks weren't really a stretch.
neither was the bag of cheese. sigh. yes, i also ate one already-opened-partial-bag of swiss cheese. i will blame my sister for sending it home with me. there you have it. in the last 11 days, i have had only foods available in rural nepal, one dog snack, and one bag of shredded swiss. i am now back on track (the snack and the cheese were on adjacent days) and eating a steamed potato with sauteed onions on it as i write this. i may be down, but i'm not out! 3 days to go!
Can you use fenugreek? It adds something to Indian dishes. My best trash-save ever (making something amazing out of leftovers) involved leftover spaghetti sauce, plain yogurt, lemon juice and fenugreek and a few other spices, all over rice. Voila, kinda veggie tikka masala!
ReplyDeleteyep! i think i can use fenugreek- though i don't have any. i ran across a recipe for a nepali potato salad a few days ago that called for it. is the flavor similar to any other spice?
ReplyDeleteone great thing about this "experiment" is that it has gotten me out of my spice box! i haven't used basil in weeks. lol.
I can't think of anything it's similar to, it's one of those spices that when you taste it, you realize why Indian food tastes the way it does. Kind of like when you use fish sauce in Thai or Vietnames food.
DeleteSo are you bringing dal-bhat-tarkari to the church dinner tomorrow?
ReplyDeletewell i should have thought of that! it's too late now unfortunately- it is "no lights night" at my house and cooking in the dark is dangerous. i could write a whole blog post on that subject! lol.
ReplyDeleteWith your history of eating strange things, a kinda a dog snack is really nothing to compare to. I gave one to my dog and wondered if that was real frosting on the thing?
ReplyDeleteyes- it is real frosting. and the vanilla sandwich creams taste like vanilla sandwich creams (found this out about a year ago). i swear they are just cookies in a bin at the dog store.
ReplyDeleteThis is completely off topic of this post, but I'm slightly computer illiterate. I wanted to contact you directly, but I'll just have to leave an open post.
ReplyDeleteOn a blogpost a while back you asked how people heard of you. My sister is Angie W. RN from LMH. God Bless you. You've given me some great ideas. I have been trying to think of ways to save $ on our grocery budget and to eat healthier, so that we can give more to others. I also have to do some soul searching to see if I am a separist. I will have to look the word up first. :)
I am a stay-at-home mom right now, but some day, I want to go on medical missions. I have been out of nursing for almost 4 years, so I'm a bit rusty. My time has not come, yet, but God is preparing me.
I want you to know that God NEVER makes mistakes. I'll pray for your endeavors, your increased faith, and for many people to be uplifted through your service and brought to the feet of Jesus.
Christina
christina,
ReplyDeletethanks for the post...and i don't mind it being on my open forum :). i checked out your blog, too, and am enjoying it. it is nice to know there are others that struggle with the fine line between this world and god's will. sometime's we get it SO right, and others SO wrong. i appreciate your transparency and your self-questioning. i recognize myself in your thoughts.
i admire all that you're trying to do while raising a large family. i have to admit that i have it easy, being single. the only person i really have to answer to is ME (after God, of course). i am not sure i could stay this course if i had to consider all the wants and needs of my family, too.
god bless you- and you are right. the timing is HIS and not ours. you'll end up on that medical mission trip someday, rusty or not. no worries- he'll take care of the WD40 to get you moving again. lol.
peace and blessings to you,
karin