IF IT’S GREEN IT MUST BE A VEGETABLE

The one of hardest things about traveling for two and a half months with an entire family in tow is keeping up the healthy diet we’re used to at home.  The temptation is eat the way you do on vacation when you throw caution to the wind, indulge your every culinary whim, and eliminate the words ‘healthy’ and ‘diet’ from your vocabulary.  Big restaurant breakfasts on warm oversized plates complete with hash browns and toast, fries with every carb-rich lunch, and Thanksgiving-size dinners every night.  Not to mention lots and lots of ice cream.

For the first week I let everyone revel in the summer vacation feeling.  After all, we were spending most of our time stuck in a minivan on the interstate.  We needed something to look forward to every few hours.  But now I’m faced with nine more weeks of living on the road in places where if vegetables even make an appearance on the menu it means canned green beans cooked to mushy perfection.

Last night I worked hard to keep my children, who love green beans from the farm stand, from making faces and calling the green mass they received at my insistence disgusting.  Although I have to admit that it was.

Today I was told about a great grocery store here in eensy-weensy Salome, Arizona that had wonderful produce.  Since this recommendation came from the New York ex-pat  who owns the funky motel we’re staying in, I allowed myself to get excited at the thought of broccoli or spinach or (dare I hope) asparagus.  By this point even the kids are excited at the thought of fresh vegetables.

We walked into the tiny all-purpose grocery, liquor, general store with hearts high and mouths watering.  I found plenty of onions.  Potatoes, too.  A few wilted stalks of celery.  Over-ripe peaches, green bananas, and some apples.

“Where are the vegetables?” my disappointed taste-buds wailed.  “We want cauliflower.  We want Brussel sprouts.  We want dark green leafy things rich in iron.”

“Be patient,” I cajoled them.  “We’re in the middle of the Arizona desert.  Fresh produce has a very different definition here.”

I put two bags of frozen mixed vegetables into my basket and dreamed of Kansas farmland.