Culinary Conquests

[robinbloke]

Hello, my name is Robin and I'm a carnivore.

I don't believe this is something I need to particularly confess, it's more just a way of starting a conversation thread and then luring you into my usual rambling style. Then before you know it you're two sentences into this and you wonder if I'm actually going to go anywhere with this.
At this point, traditionally, an evil cackle is normally appropriate.

However, partially in deference to the many people I know who are vegetarians and partially because I wanted to see if I could actually manage it without being physically sick yesterday for the first time in my life I attempted to eat five a day. For those of you not in the know it's the laudable idea to try and get people to eat more healthily by eating five different kinds of fruit and vegetables a day¹.

When you're me, this is not an easy thing. Now, most people have one or two veggies they don't like; for myself I view with distaste that can only be purged with napalm any large gathering of the green growing freakish things anywhere near me. It's not so much the taste of these things, which in itself is usually bad enough, but the texture of these things that generally turns my stomach - but enough of my weird ways (Read the book when it is published) - onwards to my Herculean task:

So five a day; this had to principally consist of fruit if I was going to have any chance whatsoever of achieving it, and the first two were pretty easy; I drink enough orange juice to power a sizeable Tango factory so that wasn’t too bad; add to this a crunchy apple and I'm 40% of the way there already. Which is where things get difficult as there is very little else I could eat.
After some searching and thought I finally located some dried banana chips, which were close enough for me. Over halfway there, see, it couldn't possibly be that bad could it?
But by the time for my evening meal, time is running out, from hereon things aren't easy; a side order of new spuds² with my cod fillets got me almost there - but what else?

Microwaved peas, left over from another meal with strangely healthily visitors. Yum. Oh yes. Yum yum. Bleh.

And with that victory was in my grasp; the tape was cut, the pigs flew and nations cheered. The vegetables had been defeated. After that amount of effort I was certain that I had consumed enough vegeons or whatever it is that is supposed to lie within their fowl green contents to last me a decade at least, I'd lasted this long without them and I think I can manage a pretty long while again without them.

I'm sticking to sugar.



1 This is actually meant to be five different kinds of fresh fruit or veg a day, but I'll need every break I can get here.
2 Although I will contest these are a root and not a vegetable in every other argument I make.

Comments

[arken-thell.livejournal.com]

It's a nasty and horrible task you undertook.
I applaude you since these vile things that are apparently "good for you" are quite obviously a vehicle for the fruit/veg wolrd takevoer by greengrocers!
Think about it....well probably not.

However tough job and congrats for doing it.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I feel like a marine that's finished a death or glory mission ;)

[belak-krin.livejournal.com]

I wholly support your textural statement, as that is what makes me unable to stomach cucumber, courgettes or tomatoes either whole or sliced. De-seeded is another matter, as are gherkins.

Have you considered pan fried peppers or raw carrot, they tend to have less gooey natures

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

None of the vegetables I've ever cooked are "gooey". The problem is that people in this country tend to overcook them.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Carrot I can manage if, and only if, it's been soaking for hours in a cassarole dish with a load of spuds, beef and yummy dumplings so it is utterly mushy and soaked with meaty juices :)

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Not even I manage five a day, different colours/varieties of fruit or veg, that is.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Put in a "consistently" above.

Just out of interest, I'm going to keep track of it today.

[mazzarc.livejournal.com]

I do! Salad for lunch and dinner. Chinese leaf, pepper, cucumber, apple and then I have some fruit like a plumb or bannana. Every day. On top of that I have smoothies etc. Means I lose weight too!

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

<3

[civi.livejournal.com]

MEAT TRAITOR!!!

I am decreasing your cow allowance.
See how you like your "five portions" then?!?

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Deny me not my lovely meaty goodness, or the wedding is off!!

Besides; My next, and much easier task, is to eat five different types of MEAT a day. However I think this could be made much more interesting by having five different types per meal. :)

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Wow. I never realised there were people who found the five-a-day thing difficult. I consistently eat four or five portions of fruit and veg a day. Fruit juice for breakfast, veggies or salad with my lunch, fruit salad for dessert, and an apple or banana as an afternoon snack. Easy!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Robin is weird.
The tricky thing is to get enough variety.
He wouldn't even touch the beautiful berries on this dessert I made for the last big meal at his house. :o(

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Fruit juice I could drink all day, but salad is my bane. Stake me through the heart with some celery and I'd probably explode.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Oh, and potatoes don't count. :oÞ

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

They surely do, but only for purposes of this argument.

[derekct.livejournal.com]

I like Salads, strange that. I like cucumber sandwhiches and also many other healthy fruit things. However I also like meat as well, so I am confused?

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

You're obviously destined to be a diplomat between the warring sides of veggies and carnivores ;)

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Well, unless the box also came with someone who was going to tie me down and force feed me them through a tube I think most¹ of them would go to waste.





1 All of them frankly.

[casilda.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a rather pathetic attempt at doing the vegetables, shame on you! :) You need re-educating sir and I shall plan invite you both to dinner very soon and hope that my 13 years of cooking as a vegetarian can i inspire some vegetable goodness in you!

[belaroo.livejournal.com]

I think spinach is wonderful, especially in curries. Home made Spinach and potato Saag thing (don't eat out enough to know what it's called) sauteed with black mustard seeds and cumin seeds is a sneeky way of getting greens into the carb bit of the curry. It works with broccoli too.
Nothing wrong with frozen peas!
What about frozen mixed veg from waitrose? They do a good line in frozen grilled veg which can be a lazy persons saviour.
Sweet peppers, aubergine and onions can go with almost everything - pizzas, omelets, stir frys, curries, soups, pasta, chille, tacos...
Go on! just shove em in!
I've got a fab winter reciepe for curly cale with herta worst and mash. Dead easy and definatley comes under the category of comfort food.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

That would be very lovely, just I'm worried I wouldn't eat much of it!

[whiskeylover.livejournal.com]

Well, whiskey is distilled from malted barley & grain, which must count as vegetables, surely. Beer is made from hops & barley, so more veggies there, Cows eat mostly grass, so that makes them virtually vegetarian, and sugar is produced from sugar beet- definitely a vegetable. And then there's the slice of lemon or lime in my Gin & Tonic, and HUZZAH, I'm there- 5 fruit & veg thingies a day.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I salute your meal habits!

[pinkapplejam.livejournal.com]

As someone who quite likes greens but finds it extremely difficult to do the five-a-day-hardcore without setting off chronic-gut-stupids, I suggest that experimenting with the vast plethora of what Sainsbury's et al offer is a Very Good Thing!

Crazy fruits like Butternut Squash (fruit? potato? who knows! XD) and other random things (persimmons, WTF are they! fruit they may be, but wacky they may be too!) are also TEH NOMM.

Oh, a steamer is AWESOME and a very good purchase. Yours for under a tenner and cooks veggies so nice and crispy - and retains their colour too! Get one!!