Red Meat

There have been questions about the last post, so here's the answer. The reason I didn't eat (red) meat is simple: I hate pork chops. I had a love of steak, honey roasted ham, hamburgers, and bacon and yet I hated pork chops enough to stop eating all of them. Hate is a strong emotion. When it comes to pork chops it can take over the emotion of love for a steak.

"Eat what you're served" was the rule in our house. I had to eat things whether I liked it or not, which I'm thankful for now because it made me grow to like a lot of things I didn't like as a kid (most veggies, many of which I love now). I figured if I stopped eating meat it would be a valid reason not to eat pork chops. Well, it worked. It was the dumbest reason ever but I was in middle school. I also thought riding down the steep attic stairs in a cardboard box would be fun in middle school. (It wasn't.)

I feel like a snob when I ask for vegetarian meals or people feel that they need to cook something additional for me. I've never been a picky eater - I always try everything and eat most food (I refuse to eat olives or any questionable canned/packaged product like Spam but that's about it). I hate that not eating red meat makes me picky to an extent and keeps me from trying everything at least once. The only piece of red meat I've eaten since middle school (before the other day) was kangaroo which I figured I had to try while I was in Australia. I wasn't impressed by it but that might have had something to do with the fact that my college-aged American friends grilled it and didn't know what they were doing.  Anyway, I LOVE food and I'd like to add a little more variety into my diet. I probably won't eat a ton of red meat and will still prefer veggie or turkey alternatives, but every once in a while it might be nice to eat a burger. Even my vegetarian grandma eats a burger every now and then. That has to mean something!

The funny ending to the story is that Allison doesn't like pork chops either and doesn't remember cooking them very often - if at all.