What’s for Dinner?
Typically, when I’m in the checkout isle at the grocery store, I’ll pick up a health magazine, thumb through it for a new idea and then set it back down. This week though, I decided to actually buy the magazine. I guess the word ‘Mediterranean’ on the front cover must have caught my attention because I’m landlocked here in Georgia (!!!), and the pictures of the food looked good.
The magazine was a special edition of Clean Eating about the benefits of the ‘Mediterranean Diet’. Personally, I’m not a fan of the word diet because people tend to associate it to some form of ‘starvation’ instead of viewing it as a lifestyle. Regardless, I was curious to read the special edition to see if I could learn anything new which got me to thinking about my youth. Since next week is Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a bit about my experience and something that I’m truly grateful for.
Rewind about 35-40 years and you’d find me in Maine tasked with going out to the garden to “pick something to go with dinner”. Earlier that day i was also tasked with digging a bushel of steamers from out in front of our house. God, did I loath those chores associated with having to eat fish, lobster, steamers, mussels and all those vegetables from the garden I’d have to pick. On top of that, my mom was a big fan of lentils, split peas, LIMA BEANS, and other stuff that I did not really enjoy as a kid.
I remember being excited to babysit the neighbor’s children, not so much for the money, but because their pantries were ridden with junk food that I would get to eat. Growing up, I didn’t even like to have friends over because I thought our refrigerator was embarrassing; never anything good to eat. And in the cabinets…forget about anything to eat in there besides dried beans and canning jars full of preserved veggies from the garden. Oh, and fast food? What was that? Once a year for Christmas my grandmother would get us the McDonald’s coupons that came with that free ornament. Remember those? But that was the extent of our fast-food dose for the year.
Fast forward to being in my 20s, 30s, and now 40s, this clean eating lifestyle has been engrained in me, and the above ocean and garden menu, is pretty much how I still like to eat (minus the lima beans). The irony of it all is that I couldn’t even tell you the number of times our son has told us that we need to go shopping because there is nothing to eat in the house. He sounds just like I did when I was a kid, but something tells me that just as myself, he will grow up with the same types of things in his refrigerator and cabinets because he understands the benefits of clean eating.
Brining this to full circle, I’m extremely thankful to my parents for raising me to eat so healthy when I was growing up. Before the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ was actually a thing, little did I know that that’s how I was raised to eat; setting me up the success of good eating habits and healthy living.
This year we’ll be in Maine for Thanksgiving, and I’d happily dig a bushel of clams or go out to the garden to get some vegetables to go with dinner. The things I took for granted as a child have now become the same things I wish I had access to daily; especially my parents! With that, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to thank someone for something good they instilled in you; health related or otherwise.
*Lastly, be on the lookout for a special message from Mr. AIP and I that will be aired from Maine next week. Happy Thanksgiving!
~Sarah
