Another anecdote

Here is a story about an immunosuppressed mother with bowel disease and four children under the age of three:

The mom heats up a bowl of leftover mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed greens. These foods have been selected for their non-inflammatory status. The sweet potatoes were prepared the day before by the mother herself. Here is the recipe:

1. Peel sweet potatoes.
2  Boil.
3. Mash.

The greens were cooked by a personal chef who prepares Paeleo or gluten-free or organic meals for people who need or want them.* The greens, and several other Paleo meals, were generously paid for by the mom's mother.

No children are in the room when the food is in the microwave. (The mother does not know where they are but they are somewhere in a mostly child-proofed home and it's a weekend day so the father is somewhere around too.) The machine beeps, the mother takes the bowl out and places it on the table, blows on a fork full of food and takes a bite.

One by one the toddlers appear out of nowhere, indicating an urgent desire to taste the mother's food. The mother's initial mental response is:

1. None of you will not actually eat this.
2. I can't in good conscience keep you from trying these two totally healthy foods on the off chance that you do eat it. Or at least on the off-chance that this will be one of the twenty times you are exposed to a food before you decide you might like it.

Each child is either picked up onto the mother's lap or put in a nearby high chair in a random symphony of fits, arched backs, reaching fingers and changed minds.

The following events occur:

1. Mother's spoon is taken, licked and put back into bowl of food.
2. Small baby fingers covered in germs are inserted into various pockets of sweet potato.
3. Pieces of greens are picked up, put in mouths and then discarded. . .back into the bowl of food.
4. Food is sneezed on.

No food is actually consumed by children. All children leave. Mother considers taking another bite and then, in an effort to make choices that reflect her true health status and not the one that exists in her mind, throws almost-full bowl of bright, healthy, food in the trash.

And scene.

*If you are interested in having meals cooked for you, contact Courtney at scratchcater@gmail.com

Here is here current Paleo menu:

Entrees:
Bacon and apple smothered pork chops
Orange chicken
Dijon & cognac beef stew
Chicken & mushroom marsala
Cider braised pork shoulder
Chicken tikka masala
Carnitas tacos
Moroccan chicken & olives
Roasted sausage with broccoli & fennel
Paleo meatloaf
Sukuma Wiki
Vietnamese coconut pork
Paleo barbacoa meatballs with guacamole
Greek style lamb meatballs
Indonesian beef curry
Orange ginger beef stir-fry
Ginger scallion pork meatballs
Lemon ginger chicken
Vietnamese shaking beef
Lamb stew with dried plums
Pan roasted chicken with bacon and apples
Braised beef stew with carrot, parsnips and lacinato kale
Gyoza meatballs
Crusted strip steak
Chicken and mushroom marsala
Garlic beef and broccoli
Rosemary mint lamb patties
Paleo shepherd’s pie
Crispy orange beef
Butternut squash & kale stew (seasonal)
Moussaka Lemongrass chicken curry
Thai inspired meatballs & coconut curry
Beef stew w/oranges & cranberries (seasonal)
Pumpkin chocolate chili (seasonal)
Bacon topped spinach & mushroom meatloaf
Cranberry-kale turkey meatballs with cranberry garlic sauce
Beef bulgogi
Chicken stew with butternut squash & kale (seasonal)
Ginger acorn squash soup w/thai mini meatballs (seasonal)
Crispy orange beef Southwest meatballs w/creamy cilantro dipping sauce
Oven-braised beef w/tomato & garlic
Lemon-ginger pork meatballs
Chuck roast w/balsamic & dijon

She has an organic menu too but you can contact her to get that one. She is a one-woman operation and doesn't have a website. This blog supports women-owned and operated businesses.