Overcoming gastronomic amnesia
by ANNE BLANKENSHIP Daily Freeman-Journal Managing EditorArticle Photos
The other day Daniel went over to visit his grandpa. His first step is to always open the fridge to see what delicious treat grandpa has to share. This time, however, what with the bad weather and all, my dad hadn't had a chance to go to the store. Daniel surveyed the bare shelves and uttered a single word verdict. "Terrible!" Dad got a big laugh out of it.
Daniel wasn't being rude, it was just his stomach talking. And if you could hear it, it would sound like this: "FEEEEEED MEEEEE!!!" Daniel just says "I'm hungry!" If it's been more than five minutes since he's eaten, he'll say it with with three syllables: "I'm hung-a-ry!" We call him our little Hungarian when he's like that.
We are also dealing with a bad case of gastronomic amnesia. I'm not sure that's the official diagnosis, but what do you call it when half an hour after a meal, someone comes up to you and says "When are we having lunch?" Although the food is on the plate for such a short time, it's no wonder he can't remember he ate it.
My mother-in-law said that Daniel is likely getting ready to go through another growth spurt. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.
Larry is having the same problem, but without an 8-year-old metabolism to burn it all off. He's finally accepted that he can't eat whatever he wants anymore, so he's started to change his habits. He still likes the occasional donut, but mostly he's eating more fruits and vegetables, and staying away from candy. He says it's harder than when he quit smoking, because he still has to eat, and being on the road as much as he is there's not a lot of healthy choices available. He keeps hoping someone will figure out how to serve healthy food in a fast food setting, but he's not holding his breath.
It's hard for me, because I still like to have the occasional treat for Daniel, but I don't want to tempt Larry, so I've settled for keeping a lot more fruit around in easy-to-serve forms as well as fresh fruit. Larry loves Honeycrisp apples and fresh oranges, so he keeps his cravings for sweets satisfied that way. Daniel likes those little mandarin oranges in individual cups and applesauce.
We're also looking to find creative and unique ways to work more vegetables into our family meals. Daniel loves broccoli, corn, canned green beans (the fresh ones are just too crunchy, he said) and potatoes. I try to slip other veggies into casseroles and soups. That way, he'll have eaten the carrots or spinach or cabbage before he realizes it was there. You have to be a little crafty when it comes to getting those vegetables into kids. If Daniel had his way, he's eat fish sticks and chicken nuggets for every meal.
I still have a secret stash of dark chocolate, which I dip into occasionally, but I have to keep it well hidden from Larry. A little morsel, just a bite or two, can do wonders on a stressful day. And I've read reports that a small amount of dark chocolate can be beneficial healthwise.
This week has been kind of frantic with school activities, work and family things. A little dab of chocolate certainly helped me keep focused.
