OK, need some help...bleh.

[kaybee]

Im living in a strange(to me) country where I don't speak the language and I dont know all the intricacies of the culture. I've recently started tutoring a child in English for multiple hours several days a week, and will be there for dinner with them 3 days a week and sometimes lunch on Saturdays. It was the family's request that I spend mealtimes etc with them because they want the kids to have the casual conversation. Sometimes this is just with the kids and sometimes its with the parents as well. I told the mom outright, from the beginning, that I didnt eat meat or dairy or eggs, and that I would just bring salad with me, and that i didnt expect her to prepare me anything special, but i also didnt want it to be awkward, so thats why i was telling her this from the beginning. I didnt tell them that I eat mostly raw food because that seemed like too much, and I also eat cooked on occasion so thats not a serious issue for me right now. The first day that I went the mom had specially prepared some cooked vegan for me, which I ate because she had specially prepared it and I eat cooked sometimes anyway--but i dont really need someone preparing me food and would be better off with just my salad i think...but it seems awkward to refuse everything. Yesterday, I found out there is an au pair, who does most of the cooking and who is there with me with the kids. she is super sweet, but kept trying to find more things for me to eat, even though I had salad with me and she gave me the remainder of the the vegan stuff from the previous day. she couldnt IMAGINE that i was really eating enough. but i also found that i felt not so great afterwards because even though i just took a smallish salad of baby greens, avo and dressing, i really had to stuff it down and not really have time to chew properly, because the kids were finished more quickly and i needed to go be with them...
anyway, it feels like a bit of a pressure situation to me.

So... i need to find a few simple but satisfying things that are relatively "normal"; i.e. no dehydrator stuff (my dehydrator and i hate one another anyway) and dont really draw attention, but that i can take to eat quickly and feel relatively satiated when i have to eat dinner with them. -rushing and not chewing properly just doesnt do it for me. --but also something that will appear to people like i am getting a substantial meal. they are pretty traditional and they do a lot of pasta, cheese, etc. ..they even asked me where i get my protein.
I also dont want to eat the same thing 3 nights a week, every week.

i prefer to eat salads and thats what i would often eat for dinner at home, but the experience of cramming it down just isnt pleasant. on the other hand, waiting to really eat until i get home doesnt really work either because im not home til 11 pm some nights and i just cant wait that long.

so...ideas/suggestions etc. ??

also not sure how to assure them that im getting substantial food to fill me up; that salad or whatever is substantial and that it really IS enough. tricky.

thanks

kaybee

[ReneeH]

Kaybee...Kaybee...Kaybee!!!! Honey 'chile...come out of the shadows and embrace your Rawness publically!!!! :). Come on! You can DO it!!!! Being polite is no doubt costing you your health....

Here's my suggestion: take your Food Processor and make Alissa's Zucchini Pasta & Marinara Sauce (super easy dish to make) and the Broccoli Salad from Alissa's Calzone (you can even add Carrots & other veggies to it to make it pretty! They will be shocked that it's not cooked...and make it right in front of them!!! Don't be shy! Then make Alissa's Date Nut Torte and Banana Icecream....right in front of them!!!!

I find when I do that people see that I'm a normal person who eats healthy, delicious, nutritious & satisfying meals! They're not shy to tell you how they eat, don't be shy about telling them how you eat! :).

Wishing you a successful RAW Dinner!!!! Let us know how it goes!!!!

[sport]

What foods do you have access to right now without breaking the bank. How are the mangoes and papaya. I find that a large dish of mango and papaya slices looks like a lot and is very filling while being reasonably fast to devour.
Can you make green smoothies.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i agree with renee.. although if you choose to not come out to them... then you are definitely going to have to find a way to politely say "no thank you" to their food.

is it really what you are eating that's the issue here? and can't you simply tell the children that sitting at the table while you finish eating and having casual conversation is what you are going to do... period. no running off.

i'm not meaning to sound harsh but... it sounds like you need to empower yourself here. :)

[sport]

How is everything else going. How do those Italian men compare to the Irish species.

[kaybee]

hey all--

thanks for the suggestions... i cant really take more time to eat or take up time preparing my own food, as im paid by the hour to tutor this girl and teach her English, for 3 or 4 hours at a time. So I cant really take more time than the kids to eat. I totally get the "tell them that your raw approach," but at this point, evangelizing is really just too tough; i have energy going in too many other directions (school etc). iI just want to blend in. They tend to eat alot of food and alot of bread pasta meat dairy etc (typical italian food), (and that i have allergies to wheat and gluten) and so me already telling them that I dont use meat, eggs, or dairy is really pretty unusual to them. They cant conceive that a salad or whatever will satisfy me and are concerned about me getting enough to eat, and they are pretty happy with their own food. I feel like the best way for me to handle this is to continue to just bring my own food, but i need to come up with enough options that are substantial and look like a meal, and most importantly that i can eat quickly.... tonight i ate late lunch before i went and then just had some clementines while the kids ate, convincing the au pair that i really was fine. its just tricky because people want to feed you and take care of you by feeding you and they dont understand if you dont want to be fed.

i wish i could get MANGOES here but the only ones are the crappy unripe ones that never ripen (probably cos theyre hot water treated as fumigation or something), and i see them rarely. Papaya Ive never seen. I'd be good with a variety of salads, but theres just not time to eat them properly or pleasurably. i guess i could do avos and oranges or something, but ill get sick of it 3x a week :/

sport--i think im looking for american at this point ;p maybe irish, but... *shrugs*. probly not italians. sort of hard when i dont speak any italian. and i DEF dont want to stay here anyway. i cant wait to get back to dingle and put my face on the dirt. or sand. or whatever. lol

[saltamontes]

I agree with ReneeH but it is also nice too see how they want to take care of you. They try to do their best. You should be greatful but also open with your eating habits.

[kaybee]

yeah ive mostly resorted to just eating a bit of fruit and insisting that i wasnt hungry or didnt need anything else. the few times i brought salad i had to stuff it down so fast that i ended up feeling sick. i need much longer than 10 minutes to be able to eat a proper salad/meal/etc, and most raw takes longer to eat than the kids cooked stuff does. I'm happier just trying to eat at home later instead than cramming down stuff i dont really want, including stuffing down salad in 10 mn. it is really nice they want to make sure im well fed... i just dont have the extra mental energy right now to deal with the insistence.

[tvillemom]

I hate to sound rude, but it seems like the kids themselves are eating too fast???? Maybe you could encourage them to slow down???? They need to chew also;)

[kaybee]

haha yeah...probably true... though people DO tend to eat stuff like pasta and meatballs (UGH) a lot faster because its a soft food. I don't really have that kind of rapport (sp?) with them at the moment...im just the english teacher, and they dont understand much i say at the moment anyway...its the nanny that they really listen to.