After posting the other day about what I ate, I got to thinking about all the meals prepared in this house; not all of them are magazine-quality meals, but humble plates whose purpose is to simply nourish. More often than not my girls enjoy lunches of cheese, turkey, and fruit. They are happy to eat it day after day, with an occasional exchange of swiss for cheddar or raisins for oranges. On these days I quickly whip up a peanut butter sandwich for myself, void of jelly or honey or any other accessory that may take away from the nutty richness. I then sit and enjoy my meager lunch with the enthusiasm of a ten-year-old, and wonder why these meals aren't praised as much as their more sophisticated relatives; because really, peanut butter is just about the perfect food.
We don't use disposable plates in this house, for both environmental and aesthetic reasons. I find myself rushing through a meal served on paper; I don''t stop to put down my sandwich between bites. All of our meals here are prepared on real plates (although I will say Zoe's is often melamine) with silverware and glasses. And I hope by doing this I am teaching my children that all moments are worth savoring; they are all important enough to warrant a real plate, so to speak. Maybe they will see that sometimes there is more enjoyment in something than first perceived if you just take a moment to be mindful of it.
