The New Meat-Lover in My Life

I'm acquiring a new "son". He's spending the summer in Ottawa from Toledo, Spain to learn English. Sixteen-year-old Guillermo joins the family on Sunday.

On his personal profile, Guillermo writes that his hobbies are soccer and camping. He likes pets. His favourite food is meat. (A funny aside about our previous Spanish son from last summer who also loved his meat. He told me that his favourite food was "jam". So I offered him jars of mango and strawberry jam. He looked bewildered and shook his head. Then I realised that he was mispronouncing his h. He meant ham!)

I recall trekking through southern Spain where the main cuisine was fried pork products. Restaurant windows were filled with hanging pigs' heads and pigs' feet. What is it with the Spanish and their love of pork?

Iberian ham, courtesy Coulorful Footsteps.

Today, I stocked up on ham cold cuts for Guillermo's lunches. I hope that five pounds of cold cuts will last least a couple of lunches. Unfortunately, this stuff is far cry from Iberian ham. 

Panonia Ham from the Bagelshop on sale for $1.09 a pound.

A friend of mine gave me a bag of textured vegetable protein, TVP,  to play with. (Some gals play with gadgets or make-up. I play with GF flour and TVP.) I used it in a tomato sauce and the kids were convinced it was meat. I doubt Guillermo will be as easily fooled.

Textured vegetable protein

Like a good mom, I want to make sure that my newly acquired son is healthy and well-fed. But I'm not big on meat. We indulge in a grilled steak once a while, but that's more a rare treat than a regular occurrence, especially as I try create more frugal fare.

What do I feed my new carnivorous teenager who's accustomed to eating more meat than my family consumes in a month? I can't have him crying to his real mom that he's being underfed by his Canadian mom. At the same time, I don't want to remortgage the home to feed this growing boy.

Help!!