Chicken

I am eating chicken enchiladas which I had delivered from the tex mex restaurant downstairs. Soft, pretty big corn tortilla with tender shredded chicken inside, cheese on top, and red sauce. Lydia asks for a bite and I give her one. She likes it a lot and I offer the rest of my remaining enchilada to her but she declines in favor of me taking her to the tex mex restaurant for lunch tomorrow. She makes sure I know she wants her own full portion.

I am eating the chicken enchiladas while the rest of the family had noodles because I spent 18 months not eating meat. People have asked me why I stopped eating meat and mostly have been disappointed or indifferent to my answer. My answer was basically that I was feeling very unhealthy in January 2009 and just wanted to mix things up. My feeling about health was totally unrelated to my consumption of meat and was likely more related to stress from work travel and/or generally not eating well. But it was meat that went. A secondary reason was that they meat they serve in China wasn’t always very appealing to me anyway. So our ayis got used to making meals in which my portion didn’t have meat and truth be told I was a pretty easy vegetarian to keep happy as I could live with meat in the dishes as long as I could pick my way through.

About a half year ago or so I decided to start eating chicken again mostly because I like it especially in tacos. This, if anything, complicated meals for the ayis as chicken meat isn’t a super routine part of their repertoire especially the chicken breast that I like. But they managed and they told Yang that I ate a lot happier now that I was eating meat again. Pork and beef are the common meal meat here but I’m not a big fan of beef. Not good for you unless you are anemic and not environmentally friendly. As for pork, if Jews and Muslims can agree it shouldn’t be eaten then that’s good enough for me. Over the past six months the ayis have gotten a little sloppy in meal prep and sometime forget that I don’t eat pork or beef. Easy enough to see why since I eat out a lot and since I’ve been known to cheat on occasion. But I’m back on a healthy kick again so when cui ayi brought out the noodles last night with beef I had to call downstairs to get the enchiladas.

Now you know the lead up to the lunch with my girls Lydia and Elisa. Originally it was just me taking Lydia to lunch but then Elisa asked to join and how could I resist her. So downstairs we went and Elisa and Lydia immediately went to the small playground. Lydia acting like the older sister and showing Elisa the corners of the play area and then washing her hands when the food arrived. Lydia ate one of the three enchiladas before asking that we take the rest home. They were a bit spicy for her and she would eat the rest later she said. Elisa has a slice of quesadilla and then was back to play.

I paid, Lydia helped Elisa with her jacket and we headed out. Elisa saying “baba bobo” (carry me). I pick her up as I hand the leftovers to Lydia and we make our way home. Mostly full. Certainly satisfied.