How Do You Think About Food?
by GrowingFlowers
After more than a decade of nourishing my daughters before, and after they were born they have begun to feed us. Both girls love cooking, not just baking, but the creativity of planning a meal from recipe books and creating an entire menu. And they are good at it! Both pay attention to the aesthetics of the meal as well. It’s important, I believe. We love the colors and the beauty of the food and the arranged plates. They both take a lot of time thinking about how to present it. They have been cleaning up the kitchen behind them. I am enjoying this bunches!
one of three loaves!
Food is important in our lives. We can’t live without it, even when it feels inconvenient to sit down and eat – or just eat on the run. I have learned, I can’t skip eating too much. As a mother I’ve gotten so healthy about food – when it wasn’t about just my body anymore, I was able to realize the importance of food. It used to be purely functional for me. I wasn’t a “foodie” as my daughter calls it. I was an – “OK, I have to do this to live, kind-of-person”. Strange, now when I think back on it. I still have that tendency but I have created a framework in which that way of living works and is consistent with my other philosophies. We have a garden and good food in the house, in order for me to be able to grab a handful of carrots, some fruit, a bag of nuts or some other easily simple meal. (Runner beans!? – No, those weren’t actually mine anyway. But the reason that happened to me is because of this way of eating. Whole foods, often raw.) We are actually quite lax and not restrictive. We eat wheat, dairy, Kaya and I eat meat, we eat sugar, honey, maple syrup, yum. We only restrict foods with labels that have long lists of ingredients. Hopefully we can buy food with lists of only 3-5 ingredients or something like that. Our tortillas only have three ingredients, but many have a paragraph-long list! It’s fun when the kids are motivated to make the food instead of us buying it. Like Bread.
So what is a “foodie”? Treska is – I’m realizing. The way I understand it, it is someone who loves good food and will take the extra time to make it. Yesterday, for example, Treska made herself a black tea. She grated a little ginger into it and made it creamy with half and half. Very simple and very special. That’s all, I think.
Kaya's french toast breakfast waiting for Treska and I after yoga yesterday....
So we have dinner together every single night. It is a sit down dinner, table set, sometimes a candle – sometimes Dee! Sometimes haphazard plates, mismatched utensils. It all works! The meal isn’t always elaborate, actually, mostly it is not. Lots of zucchini and pasta, greens and pasta, zucchini and pasta, lately. (Did I mention zucchini…..) But we sit down, we chat. Last night Treska, Falko and I sat around for more than an hour after dinner just talking. A glass of red wine and a great discussion. Now – that isn’t always the case. But I love it when it is. A friend of mine always said a blessing before the food. Sometimes it was a silly one, sometimes a serious one, but always a grateful one.
Always grateful for this food we have.
Would love to know what brand of tortillas that you use. Only three ingredients…I’m intrigued!