senior citizen
08-30-2012, 09:36 AM
Just some food for thought as far as the role that joy and bliss play in good health and overall happiness in general.
Everyone who has them , knows how much delight young babies and children bring into our lives.....and how these little ones bring back the joy of raising our own brood, baking them cookies before they came home from school.....birthday parties for their toddler friends and then school classmates..........all the major celebrations that require repast..........
Food plays a big role in our culture. However, for quite some time now it has become difficult to balance what we all know to be healthful eating habits vs. feasting as we recall from our immigrant grandparents' days and our own parents' prime of life...........times have surely changed,.
But here's a cute little observation I made recently........after the list of restricted eaters, which I also made ..........
Some of my memorable guests and what they could or could not eat.
.......with a surprise ending..........
Irritable Bowel Syndrome cousin.........no beans, no three bean salad, no onions, no nuts, no raw veggies and on and on....
Lactose Intolerant folks............no milk, no cheese, no ice cream or whipped cream.....no dairy in general.....so, no stuffed shells, no lasagna, no baked ziti al forno.....no eggplant parm, no cheesecake.
Those on certain heart meds; blood thinners.........many restricted vegetables and fruits and spices.........
For understandable reason; double blood thinning.
Vegans and vegetarians.........nothing with a face.
The purists are doing the right thing. The ones who eat soy shaped into chicken or fake burgers, I don’t think so.
Those on a health kick.............you name it......”I cannot eat that”.........but they’d pop open the baggy of supplements.
Our grandparents and great grandparents ate everything during the holidays as they ate sparsely inbetween........and lived very long lives....irregardless.
With our over abundance of food in this country..........there is no need to gorge on rich foods every day.
However, how rigid could one be, to not even partake on a holiday or special birthday occasion?????
WE treated our visiting one year old grandbaby to a big German family dinner at the *Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe Vermont. *Sound of Music fame........
When the waiter carried out this HUGE whipped cream and strawberries cake for her birthday..........I wished I could bottle her expression.
PURE JOY.
Dozens of lit candles..........most babies cry on their first b.day. She was delighted.
Now, she sure doesn’t eat like that every day.
She eats healthily of organic fruits and veggies and home raised eggs............etc............but it was a festive occasion..........for all her other little cousins as well as us older folks.
After the waiter cut HUGE SLABS........for all the guests..........the baby carefully smoothed out the top of her “slab of cake”.........and licked the top. She was very reverent in smoothing the top of her cake.
She took off each and every strawberry............it was her party.
Her smiles of delight and happiness warmed our hearts.
We have wonderful memories. I can’t imagine someone bringing her a carrot with candles on it.
Although she does love the carrots in her garden at home.........and she loves fresh sweet potatoes.........mom is a gardener and whole foods advocate. But, this was a special occasion.
EVERYTHING IN MODERATION and as suits the occasion.............we’ve known plenty of vegetarians and vegans who died young, sad to say........who were also athletes & did everything right.
Our other grandchildren were also raised to eat healthily but they still are allowed to have their treats on special occasions.........all in balance.
I never rationed food in our home while my now adult kids were growing up. We ate a well balanced diet which I cooked from scratch and sat down as a family to eat our meals.........not drive through a drive up window for fast food.
Our kids are all tall and thin and healthy......and passing on the good habits to their own children..........but I never forbid the goodies in the house. They did their own "self monitoring". They always leaned towards moderation and healthy fresh grown salads, etc. but they ate meat and now prefer the free range type and organic type of everything.
Everyone who has them , knows how much delight young babies and children bring into our lives.....and how these little ones bring back the joy of raising our own brood, baking them cookies before they came home from school.....birthday parties for their toddler friends and then school classmates..........all the major celebrations that require repast..........
Food plays a big role in our culture. However, for quite some time now it has become difficult to balance what we all know to be healthful eating habits vs. feasting as we recall from our immigrant grandparents' days and our own parents' prime of life...........times have surely changed,.
But here's a cute little observation I made recently........after the list of restricted eaters, which I also made ..........
Some of my memorable guests and what they could or could not eat.
.......with a surprise ending..........
Irritable Bowel Syndrome cousin.........no beans, no three bean salad, no onions, no nuts, no raw veggies and on and on....
Lactose Intolerant folks............no milk, no cheese, no ice cream or whipped cream.....no dairy in general.....so, no stuffed shells, no lasagna, no baked ziti al forno.....no eggplant parm, no cheesecake.
Those on certain heart meds; blood thinners.........many restricted vegetables and fruits and spices.........
For understandable reason; double blood thinning.
Vegans and vegetarians.........nothing with a face.
The purists are doing the right thing. The ones who eat soy shaped into chicken or fake burgers, I don’t think so.
Those on a health kick.............you name it......”I cannot eat that”.........but they’d pop open the baggy of supplements.
Our grandparents and great grandparents ate everything during the holidays as they ate sparsely inbetween........and lived very long lives....irregardless.
With our over abundance of food in this country..........there is no need to gorge on rich foods every day.
However, how rigid could one be, to not even partake on a holiday or special birthday occasion?????
WE treated our visiting one year old grandbaby to a big German family dinner at the *Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe Vermont. *Sound of Music fame........
When the waiter carried out this HUGE whipped cream and strawberries cake for her birthday..........I wished I could bottle her expression.
PURE JOY.
Dozens of lit candles..........most babies cry on their first b.day. She was delighted.
Now, she sure doesn’t eat like that every day.
She eats healthily of organic fruits and veggies and home raised eggs............etc............but it was a festive occasion..........for all her other little cousins as well as us older folks.
After the waiter cut HUGE SLABS........for all the guests..........the baby carefully smoothed out the top of her “slab of cake”.........and licked the top. She was very reverent in smoothing the top of her cake.
She took off each and every strawberry............it was her party.
Her smiles of delight and happiness warmed our hearts.
We have wonderful memories. I can’t imagine someone bringing her a carrot with candles on it.
Although she does love the carrots in her garden at home.........and she loves fresh sweet potatoes.........mom is a gardener and whole foods advocate. But, this was a special occasion.
EVERYTHING IN MODERATION and as suits the occasion.............we’ve known plenty of vegetarians and vegans who died young, sad to say........who were also athletes & did everything right.
Our other grandchildren were also raised to eat healthily but they still are allowed to have their treats on special occasions.........all in balance.
I never rationed food in our home while my now adult kids were growing up. We ate a well balanced diet which I cooked from scratch and sat down as a family to eat our meals.........not drive through a drive up window for fast food.
Our kids are all tall and thin and healthy......and passing on the good habits to their own children..........but I never forbid the goodies in the house. They did their own "self monitoring". They always leaned towards moderation and healthy fresh grown salads, etc. but they ate meat and now prefer the free range type and organic type of everything.