EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

Food, glorious food....I am a foodie! I love gourmet food; I love comfort foods; I love All American diner foods; I love deli foods; I love sandwiches, pizza, Barbecue, Southern food, Jewish delicasies, Chinese food, Sushi, Italian food, Mediterranean food, Breakfast foods, Seafood, Mexican food, Cuban food, Greek food, and I even "kind of like" vegetables.

Growing up, I was a meat and potatoes guy...about the only green vegetable I would eat was Iceberg lettuce - and that had to be smothered in 1000 Island Dressing. And don't even think of putting tomatoes on that lettuce. Not to say that my Mom didn't TRY to get me to eat my veggies. I just didn't like 'em. Maybe it was the consistency. Maybe it was the color. Maybe it was the smell and the taste, but about the only green veggies other than lettuce that I might eat were sweet peas....and then I would mainly push them around my plate to make it look like I ate some. I would eat squash as long as it was in a casserole with lots of butter and onions and occasionally would eat a little bit of string bean casserole as long as it was covered with mushroom soup and fried onions. But broccoli - gross; asparagus - ugh; brussels sprouts - no way; beets - not on your life; spinach - not even Popeye's promise of big muscles could get me to taste.

My idea of a balanced meal was a big fat potato to go along with my slab of beef, chicken, or pork. Or a big order of fries with that burger or hot dog. Or a sweet potato to go along with my ham, cole slaw and cornbread. If anybody had told me that cole slaw was made with cabbage, I probably wouldn't have eaten that either - but the mayo and vinegar hid the taste.

And then I got married. Connie LOVES vegetables. This is kind of funny since she NEVER ate them as a child either. But even she couldn't get me to eat my vegetables. Lisa came along and announced at the age of 9 that she was through with meat. She didn't like it and wouldn't eat it. A few years later she gave up poultry and seafood too and became a vegetarian - oh horrors! Not long thereafter, Connie quit eating red meat too. But at least I had a partner in Brad - I made sure he knew that Real Men eat meat! And then Brad met Claire - a dedicated Vegan (except for the occasional ice cream) and she converted him too. So, in my family we have 1 Vegan(Claire), 2 pesci-vegetarians (Brad and Lisa will eat fish), a no red meat zone around Connie, and me - a lifetime carnivore. What is a guy suppose to do?

I'll tell you what a guy is suppose to do - adapt! OK, so I started trying things. Asparagus - yummy, spinach (raw is best, but creamed with garlic ain't bad!), broccoli - tolerable, string beans and peas - ok, and even brussels sprouts as long as they are roasted and have some flavor. I even have gotten to really, really like beets along with other assorted veggies. I even make a big pot of Gezpacho about every couple of weeks chocked full of many varied raw veggies. I have found that just about any vegetable that is roasted on the grill is not bad at all. I even like tomatoes now! AND, I have been know to go with the flow at strictly Vegetarian restaurants and even enjoy it!

But give up my meat? No way! I have just learned to have a little less of it, but every once in a while, a guy has to do what a guy has to do...the picture is of Sunday night's dinner! Yummy!

And, The Journey continues........