RL update: Good and bad!

[thistlechaser]

Bad first, because it's boring and less interesting. For some unknown reason, I couldn't sleep last night. Hours up awake and stressing, heart racing, literally over nothing. How can you stress over nothing? I went through it in my head 'Is it work? No. Is it FFXI? No. Personal? No. Health? No. Apartment is all locked and closed. Cat is alive and asleep next to me.' How could I be stressed and worrying about nothing! It was amazingly odd and made no sense.

The good part! It amazes me! For no reasons at all, I've started eating vegetables. Keep in mind I've spent my entire life not eating them. When I was a little kid my parents tried to make me, but I would out-stubborn them and sit at the table with the plate in front of me for hours not eating them and finally they just gave up. Eventually they stopped even putting them on my plate, so I've just never eaten them.

Lately (last week or two) I've thought about going back to eating meat again. (Yes, I'm a vegetarian who doesn't eat vegetables-- and would you believe I'm not the only one?) I don't want to eat meat, the thought of putting it in my mouth makes me gag, but I'm sick of my diet. Basically all I eat is some form of cheese-on-bread. Pizza, grilled cheese, cheese sandwiches. Sometimes I eat pasta, but that's just cheese-on-carb as well. So over the weekend I was eating a meal with peas. Usually I'd just leave them and eat everything else, but then I thought 'meh, whatever' and tried some. First time eating a pea in decades. And know what? I didn't fall over dead, I didn't gag, I didn't throw up. I didn't like them much, but I ate about half of them before stopping.

Today I went to In&Out for lunch (a fast food place, for those not near one). Usually I get grilled cheese, spread and pickle only (so no lettuce and no tomato). Today I just had them make a normal one. Know what? It was amazingly good! I've always said I hated tomatoes (though I'm not sure I ever actually ate one), but I loved that sandwich! I can't wait to get it again!

Even more amazingly, I can't wait to try more vegetables. Think of the sandwiches I could have! No more boring cheese-on-bread! I'm going to see if I can make it to the farmer's market on Sunday and find some interesting things to try.

Comments

[trickofthedark.livejournal.com]

I always thought I hated spinach, but then I married a man who cooked fresh live baby spinach steamed with real butter, and it turned out I loved it. Apparently what I hated was dessicated ancient bitter frozen spinach overcooked by people who suck in the kitchen. Etcetera over many other foods. Is it possible that your parents (like mine) were simply vile chefs when it came to vegetables?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your veggie adventures. And sleep better. =)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That could be at least part of the reason! Hopefully I'll encounter only well-cooked veggies in the future. :)

Thanks!

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

HAVE BROCCOLI.

It's my favorite veggie ever. Good and meaty.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Meaty? o.O Ewww~ :P (I assume you mean, um, like solid to chew? Not that it tastes like meat?)

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

Yes, solid to chew. xD

Now asparagus tastes kind of like crab meat to me when it's well buttered.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Now asparagus tastes kind of like crab meat to me when it's well buttered.

*blinks* Wow, odd. :D

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Your sense of taste does change as you grow older, especially after you hit the 26-33 range where women go through a major hormonal change. (IE: When we hit that sexual stride, or whatever the official name of it is.) Also, veggies cooked with other foods always taste better. At least to me they do! Many veggies also taste different depending on simply how they are cooked. (Like onions become sweet when fried! Yum!)

So expect that. It's truly weird knowing you've hated a food your whole life only to go.. hey, that's not too bad. o.O

Be glad you aren't like my mother who hit that time and became allergic to some of her favorite foods. Poor thing still pines of shellfish. ;)

Please do start trying veggies. A bet a LOT of your physical problems are vitamin deficiency issues. It's amazing the difference in how you can feel depending on what you eat. Mark and I have started eating more veggies too (Laziness on our part, not a dislike..) and I've felt so much better. More energy, etc.

[barahir-ffxi.livejournal.com]

Was going to say the same thing here... I spent my entire childhood hating Canteloupe. Everyone would tell me how sweet and good it was and every bite I took tasted like cardboard. Then something happened and sometime in my 20's i tried another bite... It tasted NOTHING like it did when I was a kid. Taste does change amazingly as you get older. Might be time to revisit some onld enemies...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Agreed! I have lots of new things to try out now. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info!

Be glad you aren't like my mother who hit that time and became allergic to some of her favorite foods. Poor thing still pines of shellfish. ;)

Awww, poor her. :/

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, shellfish was her all time favorite too, then one day she had to go to the hospital from hives. The whole family boggled.

Anyway.. mushrooms are wonderful. I use them in a lot of things. (Just don't think you can eat them as is, unless they are in a salad or something. They taste weird alone.) A neat thing about mushrooms is that they absorb the flavor in the foods they are cooked with.

Something I enjoy is baking them. Get the whole ones, stems and caps. Remove the stems, then cut said stems into tiny bits. Mix some garlic and mayonnaise with those stem bits and fill the insides of the mushroom caps. Cook at 350 for like fifteen minutes or so. Really, just long enough to get everything hot. Makes a nice little finger food.
Just don't make a lot since you don't know if you like them. ;)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Huh, that sounds interesting. Thanks!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that you're so weird. You decide you hate foods before you ever try them? I'm glad you've been won over to tomatoes, they're so delicious (and they're actually fruit anyway :).

[draymor.livejournal.com]

Yay tomatos!

I totally concur that Thistle has weird eating habits. XD

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I can't disagree! :P

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I know! And I'm still doing it. Yesterday I was reading something about mushrooms and went 'Eww, mushrooms! I hate those!' then was all '...wait, I've never tried a mushroom! Maybe I'd like them!'. It's silly!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Here's a quick, easy recipe that I love with asparagus.

Wash the asparagus and cut an inch or so of the ends (the stalk part, not the leafy part). Pat it dry and then spread it on a baking sheet (I put down aluminum foil first). Drizzle olive oil over it and salt and pepper it to taste, then shake the sheet to help cover all the asparagus with the olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

It's sooo good. The leafy ends get crispy and delicious and the stalks get pretty tender. It gets a bit weird in the fridge, so you might want to make only as much as you'll eat at a time, but it's really quick and easy so that shouldn't be a big deal.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I need to get some olive oil ASAP. It seems to be used for everything and I have none... never have owned any, in fact!

And it surprises people, but asparagus was the one veggie I'll eat. (Supposedly it has a strong taste? I never noticed that.) And mmmm, that sounds like a good way to make it!

You're going to laugh, but I never used pepper before. (I own some though! It came with the salt shaker.) I'll probably just toss a little on and see what it's like.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Definitely get olive oil. It's yummy and good for you and is excellent for a lot of vegetable cooking recipes.

You've never used pepper before? You never fail to amaze me, Thistle.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Oh, and believe it or not, but I'm moving more in a vegetarian direction these days myself. Ever since I got pregnant, a lot of meat has just been disgusting. If/when you're ready to venture into the world of beans, I'll share some of the recipes I've had success with lately.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Beans are something I should probably start trying (yay protein!) but I think I'll leave them behind veggies on my list of new stuff. I'm semi-thinking of going to a salad bar place for lunch, maybe I could slip a few in then to try. :P

Thanks!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

I figured it would be a while before you were ready for those. :)

[deckardmagnus.livejournal.com]

A lot of how vegetables taste and do is related to how they're prepared... parents often make things bland for their kids so as not to irritate any strange flavor/texture issues that kids have (I hated onions as a kid, love them now).

You can do some really neat stuff with veggies, plus they're so damn good for you.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Blah @ Veggies and Fruits! Meat onry! *knaws on a piece of bacon*

Kinda weird about the not being able to sleep. That happened to me once but I just did some exercise (push ups, sit ups) and then jumped back in bed and went right asleep. I blame pent up energy.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

*gives you all the bacon!* Yay!

And that's a good idea!

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Dude, you're a vegetarian that doesn't eat vegatables. What the hell do you eat then?!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Not much! Cheese... bread... pizza... popcorn? I don't like eggs much either, which narrows things down even more. It's long since gotten very boring!

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Oh and try avocado. I didn't like it as a kid but then one day I tried it again and I loved it. I eat it straight out of the shell using a spoon with a little salt, pepper and lemon juice. The Mexican avocados are the best, I don't like the ones from California.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

How are Mexican and California ones different? And I guess they'd be marked with where they come from?

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

They have a little oval sticker on them usually, if you're buying them singly.

As for the difference, it's just something in the taste and texture. It's hard to describe :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks for the info!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I've ever had Mexican ones, but fresh, ripe, California avocados are excellent. The first time I ever tried an avocado that I liked was on a trip to CA, in fact.

[metron-ariston.livejournal.com]

Might it finally be avocado time? (Get someone at the farmers market to pick out a good one in season. You do NOT want your first experience to be a crappy one.) (I see the person just above where I will be also mentioned them. YES, they are delicious right out of the skin. Make sure you also look at a video online about how to deal with the big pit, though. I've had some entertaining mishaps.)

[draymor.livejournal.com]

Oooh mishaps? :D

Make sure to get ripe avocados... the raw ones are nasty :(

[metron-ariston.livejournal.com]

Mostly they have involved losing the half with the pit to the floor, or the pit rolling away and leaving near-invisible streaks of slipery/stickiness behind. I have not yet chopped my hand instead of the pit, though, which is good.

And yes, ripeness is important... but OVERripeness is worse than too-hard (also, one must be sure to get the soft and creamy varieties and not the ones that are strangely hard even when ripe.)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I don't know why, but avocados scare me more than any other veggie. They're strange! And ugly!

Maybe next time we have sandwiches with avocado at work (every other week or so) I'll try it that way...

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Avocados are strange little things...If you end up liking them though, you can substitute avocados for eggs in a number of dishes. The composition of an avocado is similar to an egg.

But seriously...on a diet of cheese and breads, how have you not suffered severe malnutrition? I lived on a similar diet when I was in grad school and ended up with scurvy (severe vitamin C deficiency). Do you take supplements or the like?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Do you take supplements or the like?

Yeah, daily. If nothing else, I'm aware of how much my diet sucks, so I was trying to do what I could in pill form. It'll be so much better if I can switch to actually eating veggies now and then! :P

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Something else to try since you seem to have developed a liking for tomato: cheese & tomato sandwich. Really simple but really nice. It works best with gouda or sweetmilk cheese -- *grated* -- onto which you lay slices of tomato and then sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Use multi-grain bread.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds interesting! Thanks!