Eat Local Spousal Challenge

I live with a saint. All our friends will vouch for him.

He eats everything I put on the table. Except nettles after the quiche debacle last year. It was a slimy thing. He's not wild about kale, he's burned out on chard and will tolerate only small servings of broccoli. Other than that he'll eat anything. But that's about as far as his local food intake goes. Once he leaves the house the bets are off.

I've learned not to ask what he eats during the day while we're at work. Actually I haven't learned. I haven't asked for weeks and tonight I didn't expect to ask, but, well, that's where the conversation went, and there I was asking, and he was telling me, and I was being Miss Objective while the world sank deeper into irreversible climate change because he bought a chicken salad at the grocery store. All I could see were stationary hens unable to turn in their cages and the sterilized tasteless lettuce grown in an environment more sterile than any industrial chicken will ever enjoy and the next thing I knew we were defending ourselves.

Ahhh, the joys of love and passion. I've packed him a lunch for tomorrow to stem global warming. He has his choice of Iacopis cranberry beans I made on Sunday with roasted dry farmed tomatoes, leeks, onions, cayenne peppers and garlic or a bowl of calabacitas I made tonight. It's hotter than our 'conversation' was this evening with jalapenos, and packed with zucchini and fresh corn. There's even a leftover flour tortilla he made with Prather Ranch lard, half Full Belly wheat flour and half Guisto's flour too. They weren't the same consistency of the store bought tortillas I grew up with but they tasted better, which explains why there is only one left.

Or he could choose to go to the store. I'm not going to ask. Really, I'm not going to. Either way he's a saint because he does appreciate the local food I prepare and he makes a point to tell me often. I love that.


PS: I'm over at the Bookworm Blog this week too. Stop on by.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's true. Lunch is almost impossible to eat locally when you're not doing the cooking. We try to make enough at dinner that there's enough left over for lunch the next day. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not.

Donna said...

He sounds a lot like my husband. :) Mine usually praises my cooking and he'll try anything I prepare except eggplant. He draws the line at eggplant. In exchange, I say nothing about the junk he eats at work. Works for us.

Emily said...

I think the don't ask don't tell policy is a good one. I'm not even going to tell you what I had for lunch today! On another note, I'm going to attempt a local meal for our family, in reference to your challenge. And then, I'll tell you about it.

Kale for Sale said...

audrey - I love those days when it works out!

donna - You are a saint too. And a smarter one than I.

emily - Yeah, I don't think he'll tell me what he had again though even if I do ask. Not that I'm ever going to ask again. I'm not. And I'm not going to ask you either. But I am excited you're going to do a local meal. Chicken? Do you think the kids will notice?

Chile said...

I know exactly what my sweetie has for lunch each day because I pack it for him. This is primarily for budget reasons but also because it's easier than trying to find a vegan meal in a hurry. In fact, he used to buy a bagel occasionally for his daytime snack until we realized that it was what upset his stomach. Then I started biweekly baking for his lunches, too - usually a double-batch of banana* bread or pumpkin muffins that I put in the freezer.

Guess there are some advantages to having a sensitive digestive system. :)

*Not local but I was able to buy a whole case for 5 bucks....enough to make oodles and oodles of banana bread for one indiscretion. Usually I only have the leftover bananas when I work a bike race aid station.

Apologies for the blog's longest comment...

Kale for Sale said...

chile - You get extra green stars for the longest comment and for baking! Getting lunches packed for both us every day is beyond my range of abilities. A couple of days a week yes, but beyond that it's not going to happen. Fortunately I keep a bit of food at work and am happy with a bowl of rice for lunch or I'd probably head for the store too.

Chile said...

Well, Kale girl, you do have to take into consideration that I am not employed. That makes a big difference in the amount of time available for packin' lunches. But, it also means packing lunches is essential because it's cheaper and I really don't want to go back to the "real world". I prefer my own brand of work. :)