Confession: I love food

I have a confession to make: I LOVE FOOD. Shocked? If you know me you shouldn't - heck look at a picture and you can tell I love food. My challenge is I don't love all foods so while I don't consider myself a picky eater I am particular about my food. I use to think I was pretty adventuresome about food but I have learned I am not. My "ah ha" moment was when my husband and I were on a date way back when and the appetizer from a prefix menu was put in front of us and I declared "I'm Not Eating THAT!". B-man still will say it to my face every now and then when I'm getting persnickety.

Am I a picky eater that I only like my red meat to be cooked well done (brown all the way through - no pink)? I tend to order Filet Mignon at restaurants, not because I'm being a snob but because it is a leaner cut of meat. I don't like any fat on my meat because it makes me sick when I end up eating a little bit of it (yes yes I know you should have some on there for cooking purposes but I just have to cut it off). I don't eat a lot of fish because 1) I won't order a whole meal of a fish I've never tried and 2) I don't particularly care for much of the fish I have tried. I'll eat chicken every now and then but it isn't my favorite thing (B-man is cringing I know because fried chicken is his favorite food). I don't particularly eat soup unless I'm really in the mood (usually sick or its really really cold out).

I am a slave to flavor but don't eat (well 99.99% of the time) the same thing 2 days in a row. Leftovers are not very popular with me. I'll take things home on a rare occasion because the food is either 1) really that good I can eat it the next day, 2) some foods get better the next day (PIZZA) and 3) I can give it to the dog. Maybe I am scared for life from the "clean out the frig" nights of dinner we had as a kid. There were some seriously strange things left in that frig that we had to eat just to see it go away.

Oh and texture plays a huge factor in foods that I will and will not eat. For example I don't particularly care for mushrooms but I will eat them raw in a salad and on a rare occasion on a pizza (very rare occasion). They get all mushy when cooked. I won't eat black olives on anything other than a BMT from subway (add cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, pickles, mustard, mayo, salt and pepper and it is sooo good - just ask my dad) this has to be a flavor thing. I like fresh spinach in a salad but I'm not a fan of cooked spinach (again I think this is texture). I like corn but I'm not a fan of creamed corn (yet again a texture thing).

I'm trying to be more imaginative with my food choices. Heck I brought leftovers for lunch today (yes from last night's dinner) and it was good, again. And . . . and . . . it was chicken and yes I cooked it. Boom!

Do you have any of these food issues? How do you deal with them? I'm thinking this year I will really try (no really - stop laughing) to be more open to flavors and textures of my food. I might end up playing with my food more often and having to get other sides but I'm going to try.

Oh and that food that I said "I'm Not Eating THAT!" well I actually did eat it and it wasn't bad. It was fried oysters (I had never had them before) in a sauce. I thought they weren't too bad until the end when they got really chewy but now I can say I've had an oyster. And I'm not eating that . . . ever again.

Lent is coming up soon (ahhhhhhhh we just finished Christmas) - now I have to figure out what I'm giving up. Usually it is food or drink but I'm not sure (I've given up soda before - my hardest test ever but I did it - even repeated it the next year to see if I could survive again). I've given up sweets (was about 95% good that year) but its hard since I have such a sweet tooth (if I do it again must add clear parameters). I see people have given up Facebook but I'm not doing that. Suggestions anyone?