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August 12, 2006
Bhangra Dip & Schnitzel Kick
Take Thursday's activities, for example. Would you say, from this entry's title, that we were eating, or exercising? "Dip" describes a sort of circular motion of dropping down and coming back up, which in turn is what we aptly call the food that we dip veggies or chips into. "Kick" is of course the movement of one's leg outward by bending the knee. Or, Richard's favourite word to describe his latest food fixation. Schnitzel is breaded veal, at least if you're eating it Vienna (Wiener) style. Since Richard makes it with pork (much cheaper) we debated whether or not it's really Wiener Schnitzel. In any case Thursday morning as Richard was driving home from a meeting in Quesnel, he began to think about schnitzel, because Thursday night is belly dance night for me, and his night alone in the kitchen. |
I love language, as you can probably tell. The play of sound as well as the play of meaning. It's the reason I studied poetry, the intense pleasure of finding words with many levels of meaning, reinforced by their sound. English is especially wonderful, I think, because we blithely absorb any words from other languages that take our fancy – why say silk dressing gown, such a mouthful, when kimono is so easy to borrow from Japan – and we create new meanings for the words we already have. With today's "global community" the dialogue is endless and new meanings and implications, denotative and connotative, arise so quickly it's hard to keep up.I, meanwhile, was practicing my dips and kicks. I bought a set of DVDs for a bhangra workout, which as I mentioned in an earlier post is a folk dance from India which has been popularized in Bollywood movies. Some of the moves have been incorporated into what's called "tribal" belly dance, which just means a fusion of folk dance moves and music from anywhere around the globe. (Back to the global community.) The Gidda Dip is one of the first moves on the first DVD which I could actually do, most involving so much bouncing and kicking I nearly melted into a puddle. Today's bhangra arose from a men's folk dance celebrating the wheat harvest, so it's very exhuberant and athletic, just as the name sounds. Another poetic element, irony: me practicing a dance celebrating wheat on the day Richard gets to cook dinner alone and make all those wheat-covered foods I can't eat because I'm allergic to it. Only I was indulging in them last year to the tune of 40 pounds weight gain, which is one reason why I've chosen bhangra to work out to. Really, really good cardio. And lots of fun at Tribal Night, which is every other Tuesday. But back to Thursday, I went off to my regular belly dance class in town, my girl's night out to celebrate the female body and work all those stomach muscles that are supposedly in there somewhere, and Richard started his schnitzel kick. I say started because once wasn't enough; he made it again last night while I was outside visiting with the llamas. His other once-in-a-while fixation are wontons and walla wallas, and I'm grateful that I've never been fond of onions, wontons or schnitzel because although the kick may start on a belly dance night, he often has to make them a couple more times to get the craving out of his system. I get the same way about cheese. For the llamas, it's compressed alfalfa cubes, which they weren't familiar with when they came here from their grazing land up the mountain. Buddy finally buried his nose in the loose fragments left from the bottom of the bag the other day, and he's hooked. (Should I feel guilty about that?) He can't seem to chew the cubes, I guess because he's still young and his teeth aren't hard enough yet, but on Thursday when I held up the bucket of alfalfa dust, he was so absorbed he let me scratch him behind the ears for the first time. It always comes back to food, doesn't it. I think it's because most of us, whether we accept it or not, actually desire change, and the easiest way to make a change is to change what you eat. A change in perspective is a little harder, because you get used to seeing things a certain way. I took the photo above the other day as I was snapping shots of the llamas in the yard, and when I opened it on the computer later, the view surprised me. I don't often look at our house from that angle. I still see all the things we want to change, but in this view, I forget the strange pseudo-Spanish shape and ill-planned plantings. I see home. It's got potential, doesn't it? It's hard to make a drastic change that the body is resisting. Richard and I have decided to eat healthier and try to lose some of this extra baggage. I've added daily exercise and am trying to eat more healthy veggies and cut out the rice noodles and mashed potatoes in addition to sticking to my allergen and yeast diet restrictions. Richard has put away his deep-frying pot and oil and has been stopping at the grocery store close to work frequently to pick up pot roasts and pork roasts when they're on sale. We're enjoying my mother's recipe for orange-ginger-glazed BBQ chicken. I've even been thinking about where to start a compost and a vegetable garden for next year. When Richard is travelling for work, which has been often this summer, he doesn't have as many options to eat properly, and the man gets no exercise, but he's changing. We're trying to focus on where we want to be, and how to get there. Even the biggest plans require the tiniest of steps these days, but luckily even the small things like the sounds and ironies of bhangra and schnitzel can be hugely satisfying. |
Posted by anita at August 12, 2006 9:59 AM
Comments
Hey,
Thanks for making me smile today. We have had a rough week. Olivia has broken the DVD player ($70), the sunroof glass in my car ($1300) and my only correct prescription glasses ($534) in a span of about 10 days. Of course, this morning she woke up and hugged me and said "I love you, mommy" so we had one of those classic priceless Mastercad commercials.
Love this post. You need to write kids books! They love lyrical stories. So do I. I hope you are able to dedicate some of your time to writing.
Talk to you soon, SOAP
Posted by: Sharon | 14:36 12 August 2006
groan, now I want to have chips and dip for dinner....
Posted by: Nancy Drew | 15:15 12 August 2006
Sharon, you should check out my sister's site, appleturnover. you and Olivia would really enjoy it! If it's safe to let Olivia near your computer this week... how on earth did she manage to break the glass in your sunroof??
ND, sorry if I got you on a chip and dip fix. I've become a potato chip fanatic since finding out corn tortilla chips and popcorn are out of the question. I wouldn't indulge so much except Richard has been making popcorn for himself almost daily lately. I will resists chips if he will refrain from popcorn!! At least potato chips don't have a lingering scent...
Just got back from the local annual rodeo. We may live in the country, but we're not THAT country. It stopped for an intermission and we went home to our air-conditioning and no line up to the refrigerator. As I've said before, I'm not a horse person. I'm a llama person. :)
Posted by: anita | 15:48 12 August 2006
I have to say that changing what I eat is not the easiest change I can make - it's one of the hardest. I like food too much to give up anything I love. In fact, I think I've changed other things much more easily than I've changed what I've eaten. I am only glad I don't have food allergies like you do.
BTW, there is a naturopathic doctor in town. I don't know how much she costs, and I certainly won't be able to afford regular visits for a while, but I know where she is located at least. It would be hard to have to change doctors; my new GP is totally hot.
Posted by: Wandering Coyote | 18:23 13 August 2006
you write in such an interesting way that I just don't want your stories to end. That's why you should write books.!!
good to catch up on what the two of you are up to.
mommsie
Posted by: mommsie | 07:01 14 August 2006
Hi WC. By changing what we eat, I meant eating something different each day instead of always eating the same thing...
True, I have a smoothie every single morning for breakfast because with my allergies and the supplements I take, it's the most practical. But since I love fruit, I make a different fruit combination every morning. And if I had to eat chicken every night for dinner, I would go crazy. I like variety. That's what I meant by change. Restricting my choices, that's another thing altogether. I'm looking forward to the end of my 6 month exclusion diet, let me tell you.
It's tough to take action, but I'd recommend seeing a naturopath to anyone. Mine has cured my "IBS" symptoms simply by identifying that my stomach doesn't produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest protein, and to trigger my pancreas to produce enzymes that digest fat. Now if I could just rid myself of this yeast toxicity I'd be doing great. Once that's out of the way we can progress further through my system. (And I mean "we" - the great thing about a naturopath is that it's a process worked out together, not someone dictating to me what's wrong and what drug regimen will "fix" it.)
Thanks for the encouragement, Mommsie! I wish I had more time to write. Just finding the time to blog and the mental state to write creatively is a challenge for me most of the time. Short pieces like this are much easier than maintaining the focus required for my novel. One of these days, though, I will finish my novel and start some children's books.
Posted by: anita | 10:40 14 August 2006
Anita!! Holy man - I think Richard must have told you he found me - and I've spent the last hour reading your blog - WOW - you guys have done an amazing job!! I am so impressed!!
Richard probably told you I got married 3 years ago, and moved out of the Cove. Hubby and I are in Kamloops Sept 23 weekend at a convention - would love to see you for drinks and hear more about the whole renovation thing - what an amazing job you guys have done!!
I am so impressed - I'll have to show my husband later on - way to go guys!!
~c
Posted by: Cindy | 09:41 19 August 2006
Oh yeah - stole your recipe for the road-trip salsa - gotta give it a try ;-)
~c
Posted by: Cindy | 09:42 19 August 2006