Food Archives - Lunar Obverse

Expiration dates

Walked downstairs this evening to find dad in the kitchen unsealing a gallon bottle of Herdez green salsa, using his pocket knife to cut away the seal around the mouth.

“Oh,” I said, “did we run out of green salsa?”

“No but I saw this in the back of the fridge and figured we might as well use it.”

I frowned, pinching my eyebrows together. “I don’t know that I would trust that salsa, dad.”

“Why not?” he said. “What’s in here that would go bad?” He gestured at the bottle. I could tell my reaction to this was confusing to him.

“What’s the expiration date?” I picked up the bottle and turned it around. The label had printed on it “Good until May 2024”. I read that out loud, added “So it was good until last month. I probably bought it a year ago.”

“Well, Hell, I’m sure it’s still good.”

“OK. Let me know how that goes.” I was sure I bought it at least a year ago, long before he’d moved in. And then promptly forgot about it, because it was hidden away in the very back of my fridge, on a lower shelf, out of sight, out of mind. When I did accidentally see it in the intervening months, I felt a shiver of shame for having not used it at all, and then to avoid that bad feeling, had immediately put it out of my mind again.

Such is the weird way my brain works. I don’t have an official test or diagnosis, but from all I’ve read, this is basically ADHD, or at least something very much like it.

I went in the fridge and got a bottle of Mexican Coke out of the bin. “There’s so much food in there.”

Dad’s voice was both encouraging and tinged with fatherly concern. “Yeah, we should use it up. Hell, we have that whole package of chimichangas in there we haven’t even opened yet! That’s what I’m making for myself.”

“Yeah.” The guilt for buying food, ignoring it, and having to throw it out when it goes bad felt like a cold stone sitting in the bottom of my stomach, the cold radiating up my chest and back. I know I should eat the stuff I buy, I know I shouldn’t buy more food when there’s food still to eat. But that’s also why I tend to buy either canned goods or frozen foods, things that will keep a very long time. I know that if I don’t see it, I’ll forget about it until somethind reminds me.

If dad wasn’t here and I was buying food for myself, I would not buy nearly as much, for exactly this reason. I don’t like it when food goes bad. So I don’t buy it, then when I get hungry, I buy something from a fast food restaurant, something immediate, delicious, and expensive. Another bad habit.

I went out for a walk after that, putting on my trail shoes and wearing my coat because it’s been so rainy lately. When I got back, I made myself a pastrami sandwich, using the tomatoes, onion, and lettuce that had not yet gone bad, and opening up the new loaf of bread we had gotten, what, two grocery trips ago? No mold on the bread.

Might as well use it up.

Adding healthy things

exercise

Haven’t been eating very well lately. Haven’t been eating much at all, actually, since I’ve been sick and my appetite has been low to non-existent. Most of what I’ve been putting in my mouth is microwaved burritos, simple sandwiches, or things like cherry turnovers, chocolate bars, tortilla chips, and the like. And I can recognize that my body, feeling sick, and then putting food of questionable nutritional value into it, just makes it feel worse in the long run. Not good; it’s a downward spiral, the opposite of a virtuous cycle.

What am I trying to do to change that? I am abiding by one of the best rules I’ve ever learned from dieticians and nutrionists: instead of removing unhealthy-but-loved things from my diet, creating a lack and a hole that is unsatisfying to me, I will aim to add things that are healthy on top of what I’m already eating. And by adding things to my diet I am hopefully satisfying my hunger enough that it has at least a chance to squeeze out the unhealthy things, because I can only eat so much, y’know?

Last night, late, around 9:30 or 10:00 pm, I got hungry, and wasn’t sure what I had in the fridge that I could eat. I worried it was too late, too close to bedtime, but still didn’t want to go to bed hungry. I went downstairs, and on the way down, realized I could make a little charcuterie plate. I had cheese slices, pickles, carrots, some ham slices… it was the perfect idea. Light enough, but I could include good, fiber and nutrient-rich, things. I cut up some carrots, some celery, and then also included a couple of slices of that salty black forest ham. I poured a little jalepeno Ranch dressing into a cup to dip the carrots (and, frankly, the ham) into.

Overall it was a better meal for the additions. Instead of me nuking another carb and fat laden burrito, I got a nice spread of items. I felt mentally better and physically better.

Today, for lunch, I fell back on the burrito thing. But, as I did last night, I sliced up a carrot and ate them along the cheese, salsa, and sour cream topped burrito. And again, I felt the better for it.

This “add things that are healthy” idea is a good one and I plan on doing it going forward as much as possible. Can’t wait to feel better overall.

I’m also walking for at least 30 minutes a day. That hasn’t yielded as much benefit as I’d hoped but at least I’m getting outside, getting some fresh air, and moving around a bit every day. It’s not vigorous exercise but it’s better than sitting in my computer chair all day, which is what I’m likely to do if I don’t force myself to add exercise to my daily routine. Adding good things is the rule and it works for physical activity as well as meals and food.