Food for Thought

As you can see, Abrielle enjoys her food.  She especially loves feeding herself, to the point where she will push my hand away in a cranky way if I try to feed her finger food.  Hence the array of treats she has there.

I was fairly picky growing up when it came to food.  Not terribly so, but there were definitely certain things that I wouldn't eat.  In my early 20's, I gave up refined sugar so that really limited a lot of my food choices.  I don't know how my parents just gritted their teeth and supported me through that.  I remember literally pulling a package from the garbage before dinner so that I could double check the ingredients.

Then one fateful day in  mall, my sister convinced me to have some Kernels caramel corn and that was the end of that!  I became less and less picky (and strangely enough, less and less thin!).  I even started eating foods that I never would have touched before, such as baked potato, eggs, even some pork! 

About a year and a half ago, I decided to give Veganism a go.  I might save my reasons for another post, but regardless, I am still going strong.  So, although I don't feel limited in my food choices, I might be considered "picky" once again.

Now, Tyler is definitely  not a picky eater, but before he met me, his cultural palate was somewhat limited.  There were fruits, vegetables and grains that he had never tried or heard of.  He had never eaten Japanese, Indian or Ethiopian food and claimed he didn't like it.  He preferred more traditional dishes to ethnic ones (unless it was the western version of Chinese food!).  He really has expanded his interests and has indulged me in a few restaurant choices that he really was opposed to.  I remember he complained all the way to Osho's the first time we went for Japanese food, grumbling that they had better not serve him cat.  Flash forward about 6.5 years later and this man has tried raw octopus. 

I really hope that Abbers is more like her Dad than me when it comes to eating.  I get a little stressed out at the thought of going over to a friend's house for dinner in case  they went to special trouble for me and I still can't eat their food.  I am really lucky that my family is really supportive and two of my best friends are vegetarian and practically vegetarian, so they are sensitive to what I can and can't eat. 

As much as I don't want Abby to eat meat or dairy, I am going to give it to her.  I don't want to, but I also don't want to make her food choices for her.  Who knows, maybe in a month I will decide I want to eat meat again?  Probably not though.  I want her to be well rounded in all areas of her life, including her palate. 

That being said, I am hoping to introduce her to meat gently with organic choices and I will alternate it with other great sources of protein that don't come from animals.

Here are some more shots of my piggy pants