It’s true. No threats, no bribes, no whips and chains were required — not even any withholding of chocolate chip cookies — to get He Who Hogs The Power Tools to snack on a breakfast cereal with soy protein in it.
(PC Blue Menu Soy Crunch Multi-Grain Cereal, in case you’re wondering. It’s one of the new foods I’ve been trying as part of the Healthy Eating Challenge this past week.)
Honestly, when I started out on this 4-week adventure, I was bracing myself for a certain air of quiet martyrdom from the meat-and-potatoes man who shares my fridge.
Oh, sure, he was saying all the right things:
Really, whatever you want to do, I’ll support you. Yes, dear, this is a good thing. Yes, I suppose we should be getting more healthy foods and watching what we eat… Whatever you want to do, really, no, it’s fine…
But I wasn’t convinced that his heart was in it.
You should have seen us shopping for the motherlode of Healthy Groceries! Toddling around the store, menu plan in hand, I’m loading up with fruits and veggies and are you sure you need that much yogurt? …
Telling you, I’d have paid good money for one of those quick-snap photographers to be on hand to catch the expression on HWHTPT’s face when he saw me pick up the umpteenth healthy fibre-rich low-fat feeling-all-virtuous food product with Soy in its name!
So today, here we are, cruising the sunporch, watching the Sunday afternoon go by and having a cup of tea with my visiting mother.
HWHTPT suddenly clears his throat:
I made a sandwich yesterday with one of those Soy Deli Slices.
It wasn’t bad. Tasted a bit like bologna.
Silence. We turn to stare at him. He won’t meet our eyes.
After a minute he looks up, takes a deep breath, and says:
I’ve had a couple bowls of that Soy Crunch Cereal, too.
Pause.
I kind of liked it. Actually, it would be okay if we got some more of that stuff. It’s a pretty good TV snack… I’m not sure how much is left in the box.
Score one for the humble soy bean — magically transformed into a form of tasty low-fat high-fibre nutrition that even a Cookie Monster man will choose to eat.
That thought crossed my mind, Anne, but HWHtPT says he’s “secure enough in his masculinity” not to need (or want, apparently) the “Real Man endorsement from a really really pink blog.” Quote-unquote. Someone’s likely to be having “Meatless Chicken Strips” for supper tomorrow night, I’ll tell you that! :D
haha. You should have called it “Real Man’ eats soy!
Well, I suppose it’s always an option. :D
But I don’t see ‘corporal punishment’ written down on the Menu Plan sheet – you’d think it would be in there somewhere with the tips about drinking enough water and whatnot… Hmm, maybe there’s something in the Recipes section…
WHA???!!! No whips and chains???! Pffffft.