Vegetarian-ism

Warning: If you are easily grossed out you may not want to read any further, especially if you have a love for eating animals.

So over my first few weeks here I had a few bad meat experiences that slowly turned me off. That's A HUGE thing for someone like me who is normally the garbage disposal at any table and eats more than the average human. I tired several meat inclusive meals, mainly burgers, when I first got here. Every single one of them was average. Even thinking back to Fergburger, which in a prior post I claimed was amazinggg. Well really it wasn't, it was just the most amazing meal I had eaten at the time. No offense to the kiwis, but they just don't have a whole lot of interest in their food. Prime example: Sue, the lady I lived with, made spaghetti one night and told me how great it was. Let me just tell you, it was ketchup with peas, carrots and meat. That's no spaghetti. Oh and that was the best thing I ever witnessed her make.

So then I tried making this excellent soup that my friend Val makes. It called for ground sausage, which I couldn't find, so instead I bought these sausage links that had some weird casing around them and tried to make "ground sausage" myself. Mistake 1. Peeling the casing off made me so sick that I was nervous to try the meat once it was cooked. Tasting it reminded me of my freshman year in college when I bought "Smart Dogs" aka vegetarian hotdogs. Even after a late night out they tasted like rubber and never have I been able to look at them again. Needless to say, I could not get past the prep work nausea, so after one bite the entire soup went in the garbage. I hate to waste food, clearly, but I just couldn't stomach it.

The final straw was when I cut into a piece of chicken at work and blood came out. I threw it away and said THE END. I should have written this post a month ago when I was really motivated to never eat meat again. It's been about 5 weeks now and I have to be just let it out: I'm REALLY craving not only a Callaghan's burger, but a Checker's Spicy Chicken and an Arby's Chicken Bacon and Swiss, Conecuh sausage and a whole lot more. However, I have told myself I will go 3 months without meat and if at that point I just can't live without it I will try it again and see what I think. Some days when I'm feeling really inspired I say that my first experience trying meat again will in fact be a Callaghan's burger. That's a bit unrealistic though.

I should make a couple things clear. I'm not a die hard vegetarian. I love seafood and without it I would die. I also love french fries, so I find myself eating more of those than I really should. Aioli is the greatest thing since honey mustard. And no I don't mean the aioli you buy in America that's mayo mixed with garlic. I mean legit, homemade, New Zealand aioli. Even though I don't like our chef at work, I have requested a huge container of it for my birthday, which is only a mere 4 months away.

I wish I had a picture of the BEST meal I have had since True Midtown Kitchen over 2 months ago, but don't worry, I can describe it to you very vividly. Get ready. On our wine tour in Blenheim, we went to Wairau River Winery for lunch. I had 2 options for lunch, some shrimp meal or Portobello Bruschetta. I chose the latter. Out came 2 HUGE roasted Portobellos with perfectly ripe red tomatoes, bright green chargrilled asparagus and topped with the best homemade feta I have ever had. It was drizzled with a balsamic glaze. Oh. My. Goshhhh. I have tried to recreate this meal twice at home and have bombed it both times. My mouth still waters just at the thought of the meal!! Anyways back to fruit and fries and whatever else crazy non meat eating people eat!

ALL that being said, here was the Thanksgiving dinner I made for my flatmate and I...Carb overload and 3 pounds of cheese: Gouda, Havarti and Cheddar, with lots of hot sauce! My room mate now thinks I'm not only the weirdest American he's ever met, but the weirdest person in general. His comment, "this is realll....(long pause)...cheesy". Well duh my friend!

And if I had to guess....Brinley may have enjoyed her Thanksgiving meal almost as much!!!

This is my favorite meal, Salmon and Avocado!