{"id":254,"date":"2011-02-05T01:39:56","date_gmt":"2011-02-05T01:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/?p=254"},"modified":"2011-02-05T18:06:44","modified_gmt":"2011-02-05T18:06:44","slug":"prenatally-exposed-to-mcdonalds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/?p=254","title":{"rendered":"Prenatally Exposed to McDonald’s?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

Panini with Prosciutto, Raclette Cheese, and Taleggio Cheese<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI want McDonald\u2019s! Why can\u2019t we have McDonald\u2019s?\u201d was a refrain that I started hearing from the very first day I brought Andrew home.\u00a0\u00a0 What was shocking about it was the emotional intensity that came with the pleading.\u00a0 As a child, I can remember getting excited about a trip to McDonald\u2019s, but for us it was a special and occasional treat and not a way of life.\u00a0 For Andrew, McDonald\u2019s had been one of the few consistencies of his childhood.\u00a0 All else could be chaos, but McDonald\u2019s was always there.\u00a0 Deep down, I couldn\u2019t but help think that some of Andrew\u2019s behavioral issues were somehow tied to his \u201cAll American Diet.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be easy to blame his mother.\u00a0 However, it would be cruel to do so.\u00a0 Andrew\u2019s mother got up every morning and got him to school by 7:30 a.m.\u00a0 From there she would get on a bus and travel over two hours to the homes that she cleaned until five or six at night.\u00a0 Work finished, she would be back on the bus for another long two-hour ride home.\u00a0 After picking Andrew up at the neighbor\u2019s apartment, she would have just a couple of hours with her baby before bed.\u00a0\u00a0 I can\u2019t blame her if she didn\u2019t have the energy or time to fix a healthy meal.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure that sitting across from Andrew while he ate his Happy Meal was a precious moment his mother cherished.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m also sure that as Andrew tried to reconcile the loss of his only parent with the cruel fate of still being alive and alone, McDonald\u2019s was a reminder that he had once been loved.<\/p>\n

Still, I was determined to give Andrew a healthy alternative.\u00a0 My own feelings about food were also deeply intertwined with my childhood memories and experiences, however different they were from Andrew\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 My memories included nightly dinners around a table with parents, siblings, and a grandmother who lived with us.\u00a0 Weekends were more of the same, only they included my other grandparents who lived close by.\u00a0\u00a0 When I think back on those days, it\u2019s all family, kitchen and dining room.\u00a0 It\u2019s hot bread with home ground wheat, fried chicken, cinnamon rolls, buttermilk pancakes, custards, pies, and even homemade ice cream we cranked out in an ice cream maker that came from a World War II battleship.\u00a0 These were my family\u2019s precious moments and they didn\u2019t include McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n

With Andrew suddenly in my life, I was keenly aware that I had spent the last 20 years of my life with very few of those moments I so cherished and I was determined to give that gift to him\u2026and to myself.\u00a0 Still, I needed to respect Andrew\u2019s past and allow him some access to his brand of comfort food.\u00a0 I accomplished this by striking a deal: I would take him to McDonald\u2019s once a month.<\/p>\n

He decided this was fair and I didn\u2019t hear a word about it again, that is until the first day of March.\u00a0 This kid could barely read, didn\u2019t really know the days of the week or even the months of the year, but he knew when he was going to get to go to McDonald\u2019s.\u00a0 I took him to McDonald\u2019s and for the rest of the month, there was no more talk about it.\u00a0 In addition, Andrew happily ate almost everything I cooked. Then came the first day of April and on the way home from school I was reminded of where dinner would be.\u00a0 Like clockwork, he announced the time and date of our McMeal on the first days of May and June.\u00a0 Then the school year ended and it was time to take Andrew on our first road trip to Utah to visit Grandma and Grandpa.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoad trips have different rules than regular life,\u201d I explained to Andrew.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally? What are they?\u201d he asked rather unenthusiastically as he expected some new structure by which he would have to abide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you know how I believe in eating healthy meals and very little fast food most of the year?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeh\u201d, he was still very cautious.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a road trip there are no rules about food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you serious?\u201d Andrew\u2019s voice started to lighten up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very serious.\u00a0 We get to eat whatever we want.\u00a0 Even McDonald\u2019s!\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew was ready to take off right then and there but had to wait for the following morning.\u00a0 We stocked up on some junk food and hit the road.\u00a0 We arrived in Barstow, CA around lunchtime and pulled into a McDonald\u2019s that had incorporated a train as its dining room.\u00a0 We ordered our meals and sat in the train.\u00a0\u00a0 Andrew beamed; he was happy as could be.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what dad?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love road trips.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMe, too.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of my favorite things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what dad?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like we were meant to be together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what you mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hope Andrew grows up to raise a family around the kitchen table, but if his Mom\u2019s McDonald\u2019s experiences were anything like mine that precious day, I really understand why she kept going back.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Andrew eventually stopped marking the passage of time by the McDonald\u2019s date each month.\u00a0 The first time he forgot, he didn\u2019t notice for almost three months.\u00a0 Longer periods ensued until he no longer craved it at all.\u00a0\u00a0 We haven\u2019t eaten at a McDonald’s in a couple of years and even on road trips, he asks for Subway.\u00a0\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have our own decadent forms of indulgence.\u00a0 One of our favorite \u201cfast food\u201d diversions is panini, an Italian grilled cheese sandwich. However, that doesn’t quite do the panini justice, as a better translation would be an Italian taunt, “Whatever you can do, we can do better.”<\/p>\n

My first real panini experience was at a train station in Rome some years ago. \u00a0 I was running late for the train, but hadn’t eaten. \u00a0I flew up to an Italian style “fast food” counter and pointed to a sandwich with proscuitto and cheese. \u00a0The girl grabbed the sandwich and put it in what looked like a George Foreman Grill. \u00a0It took a lot longer than expected, but the result was incredible. \u00a0I decided they must put Crack in it. \u00a0I was hooked and bought a panini maker as soon as I got home.<\/p>\n

Panini<\/p>\n

More of a concept than a recipe.<\/p>\n

Good Italian or sourdough bread, sliced<\/p>\n

Sliced cheese of your choice: \u00a0Gruyere, Taleggio, Comte, Manchego, and similar semi-hard, good melting cheeses work great<\/p>\n

Meat of your choice: \u00a0The photo is of one with prosciutto and one with Spanish chorizo<\/p>\n

Fat of your choice: \u00a0Ours was made with duck fat, but butter (our usual), lard, olive oil, or even bacon grease make great options<\/p>\n

A panini grill: \u00a0You could also use a grill pan with ridges and a clean brick<\/p>\n

If you want to get some good ideas of great combos for a panini, steal a menu from your local fancy pizza place. \u00a0Take off the tomato sauce from the description and you will have a good sandwich. \u00a0Some options are:<\/p>\n