Lately we’ve both been watching what we eat, or at least paying a little more attention to it. Christian has been on a health kick the last year, and he’s done it the old-fashioned way, that is, no trendy fad diets or extreme boot-camp workouts. He simply ate less, walked and biked more, and refrained from seconds. He also passes up on dessert most of the time.
What a novel concept! Eat less, move more, and drop like a hot potato things like drinking and smoking. Funny how something so “simple” is something that most Americans find not only daunting, but outright impossible.
I’m watching what I eat for another reason. I must gain weight to maintain a healthy pregnancy, but not so much to endanger myself or the baby, and trying to find that right amount that is safe, healthy and wise. I’m an American, and my husband is German, and it is an interesting dichotomy of ideas and customs that come to the table, literally, in terms of health and nutrition.
One thing we do agree on is that we will ALWAYS, ALWAYS eat our meals as a family together. It’s not even a question in Germany, for the most part. It’s simply DONE. I didn’t grow up that way, and I ate my meals at friends’ homes or whenever I felt like I wanted to eat. I never had an overweight problem, yet I didn’t have a healthy relationship with food, associating it with loneliness, boredom and convenience. At 40 years of age (well, I’m aging myself a bit. I’m 39), I’m finally learning the BASICS of nutrition, family meals and having a healthy relationship with food, and I thank my husband for that.
Another thing that is relatively new to me is a BALANCED meal, meaning a protein, a starch, a vegetable and a dairy item. My pre-marriage meals, when I had them, consisted of one of the above, but not all. Now we incorporate all of the food groups into a meal, providing not only nutrition, but also variety, eye-candy if you will, and a medley of tastes. We want our daughter to have a sane and healthy relationship with food, and to explore the world with her tastebuds, just as we are learning to do now.
Well, in terms of “exploring the world” with OUR tastebuds last night, we kept it in the good ‘ole U.S.A., lol, with chicken drumsticks, oven-baked fries, salad, sourdough bread and roasted Hatch chiles. 
The drumsticks, which neither of us had had in years, were on sale (not that they’re expensive in the first place!), 5 for $3; the potatoes we already had, as well as the salad “fixin’s,” and the decent sourdough bread we bought at the Wal-Mart. The Hatch green chiles are ubiquitous this time of year here in El Paso, and famous the world over for their smoky, delicious and hot flavor. I can eat them with anything, hot or cold. But I especially adore them cold, stuffed with diced cheese, shredded meat, lime juice and avocado (salpicon style).
The drumsticks were coated with lots of kosher salt, ground pepper and paprika, and roasted in the oven until the skin was almost black and falling off the tender meat, and two drumsticks were sufficient for each of us.
Tonight we drive up to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, to stay at our cabin for the weekend and hopefully catch some of the fresh fall air that always comes in a bit earlier up at 9,000 feet above sea level. It will be a weekend of books, naps, hikes and cooking. OH, and a big-ole party down the hill at White Sands National Monument, where a group of friends is hosting a concert/potluck/dance in the middle of the white dunes of sand. We’re really looking forward to a little nightlife in the middle of this oasis near Alamogordo!
As always, wi-fi is an issue up in Cloudcroft. Either the coffee house we frequent has it (as it’s the only free wi-fi in town) or it doesn’t, which leaves us tech-free for the weekend. Either way, I’ll post of our Cloudcroft culinary adventures as soon as I’m able to get plugged in again.
Here’s to a great Indian Summer weekend to all!
