Where do you fall on the food spectrum?

Carnivore…Omnivore…Vegetarian…Vegan?

How about somewhere in between?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the kinds of food I eat, where they come from, and what impact that has. So as not to cause confusion or appear hypocritical, I really haven’t shared any of these thoughts & observations.

I want to, but to be able to do so adequately, I need to take a step back and explain my food philosophy with you.

Everybody’s background & upbringing has some impact on what types of food choices they make as an adult, and I’m certainly no different. Before I get into what I think about the food spectrum & what that means, I want to share what’s gotten me to my current eating “style”.

My Food Background: Part 1

When I was little I paid no attention to what I ate- I just ate whatever was put in front of me without complaint. Like most kids, I didn’t really care what I was eating- what it was made of, where it came from, or what it did for my body.

Then came “Sunday Dinner”:

It was just my mom and I growing up, so my aunt & uncle would invite us over for dinner occasionally. (I think they worried about my mom’s cooking skills…) Every weekend we’d wait anxiously by the phone in hopes of a Sunday night dinner invite.

Eventually it became a Sunday night tradition- no more invitations; it was just assumed that we’d be there hungry! (Oh, and we were!) My uncle is a great cook, so he took care of dinner every time. My mom & I would bring dessert- we would spend all week brainstorming dessert ideas- imagine if we’d been responsible for more than one item!

Anyway, this is relevant because I can solely pinpoint my aversion to red meat to these dinners.

My uncle sat at the head of the table: he was the chef, the meat carver, the server. My aunt sat at the other end of the table, and I was someone in the middle. For some reason I have yet to understand, my mom and aunt like their dinner rolls soaked in the juice left on the meat platter. To get the soaked rolls from one end of the table to the other, it was required of me to pass them.

It only took one glance to learn to turn my head, but the damage was done. That and the fact they referred to this delicacy as “blood bread”. Yup, I’m pretty sure that’s what did it for me. (That and the time that I went to a pig-pickin not understanding the true nature of the name, and ended up face to face with a roasting pig.) I definitely caught flack from the rest of the family when I stopped passing my plate up for meat, but I didn’t care.

Somehow despite all this, Sunday dinners still hold a special place in my heart and remain one of my favorite family traditions. To this day, a wave of nostalgia & homesickness continue to wash over me every Sunday evening, since I no longer live near home. (I always try to find a way to include Sunday nights in my trips home :))

I know you’re on the edge of your seats, but you’ll have to wait til tomorrow for more 😉

I’m also in the middle of making an epic dessert, but this post is already way to long, so you’ll have to wait to hear about that too.

Here’s a sneak preview:

What has been influential in forming your eating habits?