By: Clare Pattison
It’s BBQ and picnic season once again where tables are covered with checkered table cloths and laden with an amazing array of colourful and flavourful foods. Even if we take only a taste of everything we end up with way too much food and way too many calories. And even if we only choose to eat what is healthy for us, we can still end up overdoing it.
Today at work we had a potluck picnic. It was a gloriously sunny day. We set up a food tent with lawn chairs and blankets on the grass then all enjoyed a fabulous meal and each other’s company.
As I do now at any buffet, I took a good look at the entire spread before picking up a plate and made a mental note of what I was going to chose. Every bite counts so I wanted to make sure that I was going to love and savour every single mouthful.
Here is what I chose to eat:
1 small slice ham, 1 slice deli turkey, about 1 tablespoon potato salad, 1 tablespoon baked bean casserole, 1 tablespoon chickpea salad, 1 cherry tomato, two pieces of red pepper,1 piece yellow pepper, 2 tortilla chips, one with hummus, one with salsa, 3 dill pickles, and one lemon square. My plate was not even half full and had lots of white space showing.
Here’s what else was on that table that I chose NOT to eat:
Pasta salad, Caesar salad, egg salad wraps, turkey wraps, ham wraps, fried chicken, dip for the veggies, sweet pickles, sweet pickled onions, buns, butter, mayo, ketchup, chocolate cake, blueberry crisp, cherry crisp, watermelon, lemonade, iced tea..
I really enjoyed my lunch. I even ate while sitting on the blanket on the grass, my NSV for the day! When we were all done, I felt satisfied but not stuffed, nor did I feel deprived. Yes, I ate potato salad and a lemon square and I really enjoyed them!
Did anyone comment that I didn’t try the fried chicken or the blueberry crisp? Not at all. They were all too busy enjoying them themselves to notice or care what I was eating.
I ate what I wanted to eat and they ate what they wanted to eat and everyone was happy.
BBQs, picnics, and buffets are a challenge but with a just a little thought and a plan, they can be a wonderful pleasure. Happy summer!
