Song: Breathe (Pink Floyd Cover)
Artist: Jamie Dupuis
I had written this article to express the need for healthful meals
using varied dishes with differing base sauces and or meats...
along with a healthful amount of vegetables and fruits.
The key to everything in life lies in the quantity of quality.
It is not nearly enough to eat a rabbit's portion of vegetables
and think that you are doing something positive for your health.
You must consume a large portion of healthful ingredients...
and you must do it often enough...
to do you any good.
I plan my mother's menu around different colors of vegetables for the salads...
colors of fruits for the desserts...
concentrated tomato sauces for certain meals...
and around certain meats for the majority of the meals (fish and poultry)...
and using red meats less often.
I try to incorporate a concentrated tomato based sauce at least once or twice a week.
Tomatoes are rich in healthful ingredients which are hard to get
in healthful amounts in one dish...
unless you use a concentrated tomato sauce.
We also usually include whole cherry tomatoes in our salads...
but we had eaten them all in our previous day's salad.
This particular salad is my mother's favorite.
It is filled with Kale, Broccoli, and Cabbage...among a few other vegetables.
It also includes a light creamy dressing and some dried cranberries.
I usually supplement this salad mixture with whole cherry tomatoes...
and some other dried fruits and nuts.
I use the large mixing bowl to put all of the salad ingredients together...
along with the dressing...
and I then thoroughly mix the dressing in to evenly coat all of the items.
These bowls are very large Vietnamese PHO bowls.
I always keep my mother's pantry and refrigerator stocked
with plentiful amounts of dried fruits and nuts.
You will notice that it is light outside.
As my mother was not so hungry at the time...
we first ate a large helping each of the salad.
After our salad...
I cleaned a fish tank (and so...the bucket in the picture).
A couple of hours later...
I then made our supper.
I try to have us eat a large salad...
as a prelude to each supper...every day.
As you can see...
you can't see the dressing.
It lightly coats and flavors the fruits and vegetables...
without drowning them.
The idea is to enjoy the fresh natural taste of the vegetables...
and only enhancing this flavor with the dressing.
I also have her drink one whole glass of a fruit or vegetable juice with each supper.
My mother loves good salads...
as do I.
For our tomato based meal...
I cooked spaghetti with supplemental amounts of crumbled pork.
I waited to cook until my mother was hungry.
She had snacked too close to supper time
(like a child :)
I also cook one full box of noodles.
This is my mother's portion.
Being 78 years old does not excuse her from not eating healthful amounts of food.
She needs to eat a healthful quantity of quality to keep in good health.
Usually I don't have to worry about this...
since she has a naturally large appetite.
However...
she will sometimes snack throughout the day...
to the point of ruining her appetite for supper.
This I do not accept.
She must eat a healthful portion of my cooking...
so I may ensure she is getting all the nutrients needed.
So...
I will just make a late supper in these cases.
This is my plate.
I finished off the sauce.
My mother and I love spicy foods.
These hot dill spears are our favorite dill pickles.
As you can see next to the dill spear...
one of the sliced habanero peppers, and one of the jalapeno pepper spears...
both of which really jazz up these great dill spears.
Although these dills have some heat to them...
it is not overpowering.
With all of the tomato dishes...
these are our pickles of choice.
Although we will sometimes have a pastry for dessert...
most of our desserts consist of fresh fruit.
Buy blueberries by the largest packages you can.
You should be eating these by the fist full.
Cherries are also very healthful.
This is our dessert fruit bowl.
My mother drinks a half glass of wine on a nightly basis.
I usually don't...
as I must drive home after supper
(and if I do...it is only because I will stay for a couple of hours afterwards...
usually watching a movie...or several episodes of a good Korean drama).
This is an exceptional dessert wine.
It tastes like concentrated grape juice.
After supper and dessert...
I put on a foreign film for my mother to enjoy with her wine.
This movie looked to be good (The Island)
(Free on Amazon Prime).
It had won an award in the Moscow Film Festival.
Although it was in the Russian spoken language...
it had English subtitles.
Although I love Korean and Japanese films...
I am also very fond of many of the films which have come out of Russia.
I will probably watch this later on tonight, here at home.
Now, again...
I base my mother's diet on the Japanese, and on the Mediterranean, diets.
These are two of the most healthful diets in the world.
Lots of varied fruits and vegetables...
nuts, olive oil dressings...
fish and other seafood
(prepared in the Japanese fashion...
as well as in the way of the people of the Mediterranean) ...
and poultry...
with lesser amounts of red meats and dairy.
And...
this is important...
we almost always eat a large salad first...
and then at least half an hour or so later...
we will eat the main meal.
This ensures we eat healthful amounts of the all important vegetables...
and it curbs the appetite some...
so we don't over eat the main meal.
To then enjoy a large bowl of fruit...
and or...nuts, for dessert...
while also enjoying a movie...
ensures we get the quantity of quality necessary for good health...
while having something to look forwards to...from the first serving...
to the last.
This makes supper what it should be...
a thoroughly enjoyable event.
