The Grand Tetons

We are in the process of packing our house and moving to another state. On top of this juice fast, moving has been a burden right now. My house is in shambles, my children haven’t really had a cooked meal (besides breakfast) in a week, and I am just ready to move and start cooking again! Some friends of ours decided that we should all go swimming in Jackson Hole, WY. There is a recreation center there with a great indoor pool for kids. We packed up some snacks (juice for dad, apple, banana, and an orange for mom, fruit leather, pretzels and apples for kids). We drove the hour to Jackson, swam for a couple of hours, and were completely exhausted and starving by the end. Swimming wears you right out! In the car my husband drank his juice, and I devoured an orange that has never tasted so delicious, and a banana. We drove to look at the Teton Mountains, and then went to eat.

We let our friends choose the restaurant, because they are more familiar with Jackson . We stopped in front of “Bubba’s Barbecue.” Oh my. The smell was amazing; my husband and I just laughed. Of all of the times to be going to eat at a BBQ joint, today had to be the day! I immediately looked for the salad bar and saw that it looked marvelous. Whew. We sat down to eat and while our friends ordered pulled pork with fries and onion rings, we both got the salad bar. Their food looked and smelled divine. Just as I said before, my tastes haven’t been destroyed; I know that eating a french fry would taste good . . . momentarily. The thing that surprised me was that I didn’t even want it. I had no desire to put into my body what they were putting in theirs. It was our first big test of eating, and I’d say we passed with flying colors.

My 3 year old wanted grilled cheese with corn on the cob. She devoured the corn, and then ate some of the grilled cheese. She always thinks that she wants a grilled cheese sandwich at restaurants, but then never touches them because they’re made from white bread and those nasty processed cheese slices that shouldn’t even have the word “cheese” in their name. Side note: we never have white bread in our house (I make my own bread weekly). This time, however, I was pleasantly surprised. For the first time that I’ve seen, a restaurant served the grilled cheese made with real cheese on multigrain bread! She ate some, and shared with her baby sister. I went to the salad bar. The people behind me were probably annoyed because instead of just passing most items to get to the few things I wanted, I stopped at almost every dish. I loaded up on: spinach, cucumbers, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, sprouts, carrots, green peppers, grapes, cottage cheese, and some cubes of cheese for the baby. I felt great walking back to my table with a plate full of raw, delicious food. I even passed right by all the dressings, and used the cottage cheese for my dressing. It was delicious. I have never had such a great salad bar experience before, and I owe it to my new palate. It was so fresh and good and nourishing.

My 3 year old loves veggies and cottage cheese and was still hungry, so we went back for seconds at the salad bar. She got her fill of carrots, tomatoes, broccoli (her favorite), and cottage cheese. I was proud of her, and didn’t even mind that we all had to wait for her to finish eating, since everyone else was finished. She’s always loved vegetables and fruit, but it just reaffirmed to me that what we are doing is right. It’s not just for us, it’s for our children. I feel a huge responsibility to teach my children to be healthy and to put good food into their bodies. I’ve done an okay job, but to really make significant changes in our diets is going to reap huge rewards now and in the future as our children teach their children, and so on. It’s exciting to think about.

We drove home and were ready for bed. The girls went right to sleep and my husband and I made some calli and watched a movie (while I blogged). It was a great day that proved to me that we can do it. We can change, and we can even be an example/share with others. We discussed the juicing with our friends while we ate and they didn’t call us weird or run away, so I guess that’s a good sign. The husband was even very impressed by the discipline it must have taken us to carry it out. It was a very successful day on all counts.