From a Former Veggie

My relationship with meat is an interesting little affair, and I think I'll take this morning to tell you about it. It's been a rocky road..See when I was very young, I ate fish (mostly fish sticks..eww), chicken, and turkey (although I thought turkey was so try I'd shove as much as possible into my mouth and go to the bathroom and spit it out.. don't tell mom!), but no red meat. Then, somewhere around the age of 10 or 11 my sisters and I got grossed out by our overactive minds and stopped eating meat altogether. Meaning: we got stuck thinking about a little fish swimming around and then eating it.. or a dirty chicken in a barnyard eating it's own poop or something.. We just couldn't do it anymore.


During the Veggie Years, as I'll call them, I tried many many soy and tofu products, and loved most of them- I'll share some @ the end of this post. My friends seemed to think it was great fun to try and trick me to eat meat (Ex: throwing popcorn chicken in my mouth while I was talking, sticking pepperoni under the cheese on my pizza, etc.). But.. I must say, I had a chicken craving from time to time when I smelled it's deliciousness.

Funny story from Veggie Years:

I worked for a grocery store during high school & would help out in the deli from time to time. One day, the manager says, "C, could you go pick the chickens for me?". Okay, so really, I knew it had to do with the rotisserie chickens, but I was a bit unclear on the rest. But, to be a good employee, I acted cool and calm and said "Sure!".

I wander back to the deli and figure it must mean I was supposed to pick out some chickens for the next day.. so I go in the freezer, grab a few, stick them on a tray, and set them in the cooler to thaw.

Manager comes back and says, "Oh, forgot to tell you- the chickens are in the left side of the cooler".

Me: "Uh... I got some new ones and stuck them on the right side already.."

Manger: "Huh? Why?".. And she proceeds to go into the cooler and grab a tray of already cooked chickens from the previous day. "Here, these are the ones you're supposed to use. Just throw away any part that looks iffy".

Me: "Wait. What exactly am I supposed to be doing?". I gave in...

Manager: "Picking the chickens so we can use the meat for chicken salad."

Me: "Right. Of course. Thanks!"

So.. I was still a little unclear until of of the stock boys informed me that picking a chicken involve tearing the nasty thing apart and putting all the good meat in a bowl and throwing the rest away. UGH. So I put on gloves and started at it. I'd never touched a chicken in it's original form before.. let alone peel it's skin off. And let me tell you, figuring out what is meat and what is cartilige is not as easy as it looks!

Many questions to the stock boys helped me figure out what exactly to keep and throw away. And, I had no clue those little rats went and told the whole halarious thing to my manager... til she came up and slyly asked me how I was doing.. before cracking up! Gosh.. take it easy on a veggie!


During my senior year of high school I was working out and seemed to be hungry all the time. Friends suggested I start eating chicken to get filled up more. So.. I gave in. Chicken and I had a great relationship.

Then, I move to the midwest. On my first visit to meet my then BF, now Husband's family, I had never tasted red meat before in my life. And, what were they serving that night? That's right! Home grown hamburgers! They took pride in their own meat, so of course I had to eat it! I tried to play it cool.. until Z noticed I was actually eating one and pointed out to the whole family that I'd never tasted one before! To that, I was told "Oh, honey, you don't have to eat it! I wish we would have known!". Ugh. So embarassing! That started my relationship with cow meat. The first time I had a half piece of steak I was so full I had to be rolled out of the dining room..(okay, not quite, but you get the idea..)

However, I've never tasted pork and don't plan to. Neither will I eat anything that ever swam or floated around.. I just can't. I've been trying to do this domestic wife thing and cook all sorts of meat dishes.. but it's made me hate meat more. The first time I bit into some fatty chicken I almost tossed my cookies. So.. other than the occasional meal.. I might be a veggie again.. it's a very fickle relationship. The end.

Some fave veggie foods:
Morningstar Farms Chik'n Nuggets
Morningstar Farms Veggie Corn Dogs
Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Links

Sorry this post was soo long.. but like I said.. It's been a rocky relationship. And yes, if you're wondering, I DO have relationships with foods, exercize classes, fabric patterns, and weather conditions. Don't laugh, I know you do too!