Suzanne Graham

I had to make a quick decision about avoids in a restaurant. Did I make the right choice? I’m not sure. Here is the whole story.

I’m spending every 2nd or 3rd weekend with my Mom. She has friends from church who come to see here, but still she gets lonely. She also needs my help with the mail and the bills. I’m blessed that my husband and kids are self sufficient so I can leave them on their own. A month or so ago I had stopped to get gas on the way home and noticed a Mediterranean restaurant across the street. I needed food for the road, so I went in.

The lamb shawarma looked good, and the owner recommended hummus. I said, “What’s hummus?” After giving me a look of pity, he explained that it was made of chickpeas and tahini – beneficial and super beneficial respectively for Hunters. He gave me a taste and it was delicious. While I was waiting for my food, I wandered into the grocery section of the restaurant. I found canned fava beans! What a treat, I bought four cans. I also found Turkish delight. (I have wanted to taste Turkish delight ever since I first read “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.” In my humble opinion, it’s ok, but not worth selling your soul for.)

I ate the lamb, salad and hummus out of the wrap. It was a little messy in the car, especially since I had to pick the cucumbers out of the salad, but it was so good that it was worth it. The canned favas didn’t stay on the pantry shelf for long, either. Since then, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to go back. I told my Mom that I would bring her a surprise for dinner Friday night.

I ordered two lamb dinners. They came with salad, rice, and hummus. All was well until the owner asked me which kind of rice I wanted. I could have white rice – neutral for Type O Hunters - however refined rice goes against the grain of my Health Food background. Or I could have brown rice – Hunter beneficial - seasoned with yummy spices. But there were lentils – avoid for Type Os – added to the brown rice.

It was a tough decision. I remember one of the early bloggers asking if he was in a restaurant and ate a beneficial and an avoid, did it equal two neutrals? I also remember Dr. D pointedly answering No, that it didn’t work that way. I had to make a quick decision. Empty calorie refined rice or brown rice laced with an avoid? I chose the brown rice.

This is why eating out is hard. I get to eat beneficial foods that I don’t have a way to prepare for myself, but I can’t control all of the ingredients. If there had only been one kind of rice, I wouldn’t have worried about it, because I do not obsess about avoids that I can’t control. But in this case I had to choose between two imperfect options. For sure I made a delicious choice. And I felt better when I looked at food list and saw that though lentils are avoid for Os, they are just black dot for Hunters. I think I answered my own question as I typed this last paragraph. An occasional avoid in a restaurant is not worth obsessing about either way – and it’s certainly not worth spoiling an otherwise yummy and beneficial meal.