Why My Cheat Meal Makes My Grandpa Smile

Glorious Meat/Bread Balls-just call them AmazeBalls, fantastic pasta, and homemade wineliciousness (Pronounced: Wine-Licious-Ness)

Ahhhh… the coveted cheat meal. Some cheat with 1 meal per week, some chose to devote 1 whole day to cheating, while others choose to cheat everyday of every week with every meal.

My grandfather use to struggle immensely with my eating habits, every Sunday dinner  (yes I am fortunate enough to still be apart of such a family tradition) he would stare at my plate…and stare… and stare…You see, he  takes Sunday dinner very personally, the first course of pasta, meatballs, and wine is an absolute necessity.

For a while now, I was no longer eating the pasta (I chose to take the majority of refined grains completely out of my life). My family prepped our meat balls with about 1/2 chop meat (nice no issues..right !?)…WRONG! …and 1/2 white bread (whhhhhhhhhhhhhy!) Whatever, the reasoning is.. which roots back to a time when as immigrants, they could not afford to buy meat so instead of making meatballs they would settle with “bread balls”.  I chose not to eat either, NO PASTA and NO MEATY BREAD BALLS.

WARNING: If you partake in such family dinners and have any concern on whether or not bread is infiltrating the meatballs you are eating, please double check with the chef.. they are called “MEAT” BALLS…”MEATBALLS” I really thought I was good to go…ehh whatever…watch out for the bread balls…and gluten… oh and they’re fried too! (awesome). 

My grandfather would look at me and then my plate, I could tell- it literally hurt his heart to see my plate empty.

“OHHHHH this young generation! haha”

is one of his many catch phrases, “junior what’s da matter with you, you use to eat everything with grandpa” ..”forget this shit you read and see on T.V I have been eating this every Sunday for 77 years look at me!” …this was what he would tell me… every…single… Sunday for over a year.

I ate perfect each meal, everyday, all week but I began to re evaluate my patterns. I had a heart to heart with myself (you should try it sometime its cool as hell). I realized how amazing it was, that I could actually say I am still apart of such a family tradition every Sunday; how blessed I am to still have my grandparents as such an influential part of my life. I thought about that look on my grandfather’s face when he saw my plate, the words he would say, and how happy it would make him to see me eat the pasta and meatballs with him, the way I use to do.

Family and Tradition… this is what matters and makes all the difference, and its a rarity to find value in both of these in the world we live in today. I had a spot for a cheat meal in my life and I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I was done putting myself on a pedestal and came to the realization that seeing my grandfather smile and enjoying something that means so much to him, would be well worth the cheat.

UPDATE: He’s still smiling…

When deciding to indulge in a cheat meal, it is exactly what is sounds like, unlike those “MEATBALLS”.. CHEAT MEAL. Pick one day, one meal, once a week. Keep a strong mind, and realize that cheat meals can either be a blessing or a curse; as it is easy to fall into a downward spiral- reviving bad habits and quickly falling out of your new life style change. My golden rule is:  cheat with good food, avoid soda at all costs, and keep- cookies, candy, chips, chocolate, and ice cream to a minimum.

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