If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you might have noticed something about the recipes I post; I never have recipes involving red meat. Well, that’s because I don’t eat any.
I wish I could say that there was a lot of thought put into giving up red meat, but in reality it can be attributed to two different events occurring together. Confused? Here, let me explain…
Flash back to the fall of 2000. My family had just moved from Wisconsin to Florida, and I was busy trying to make new friends in a new school (I was a sophomore). Through a church youth group, I befriended a girl, let’s call her Betty. Betty and I were the same age and went to the same high school. Her father also worked at the school, and to make a long story short…he didn’t like it when I showed up on the scene as the new kid (that is an entirely different story, perhaps I’ll regale you with it in the future). One day, Betty invited me to hang out at her house and to eat dinner with her family. I accepted, and didn’t think too much of it.
When it came time for dinner, Betty’s dad stuck his head into her bedroom and told us that he was making filet mignons for dinner. After inquiring how I liked my steak cooked, I told him “medium well.” He left the room to start up the grill.
Once we sat down to dinner, Betty’s dad walked around the table and distributed the steaks to us. I lifted my fork and knife and cut into my filet…only to find that it was rare. Really rare. Apparently, it had only been seared on all sides and was practically cold in the center…dripping red juice. To this day, I am convinced that he did it on purpose. However, like I said: that is a story for another day.
I know that a lot of people like a rare steak (heck, Justin eats his that way), but at age 15 I preferred my meat to be cooked a bit more thoroughly. I cringed as I stared down at my plate. What do I do?!?! Do I eat the bloody steak? Do I ask Betty’s dad to take the steak back out to the grill and actually COOK it? I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t want to be rude.
So…I cut a few “courtesy” bites off of the steak, ate one or two, and managed to choke down the bacon wrapped around the outside (at least THAT was cooked). Mission accomplished, but I felt ever so slightly sick to my stomach.
I didn’t say anything about the steak when I returned home that evening. And in retrospect: I should have, because guess what my mom made for dinner the following night? Yep: STEAK. I took one look at it and told my parents that I was going to take a break from red meat for a few days.
A week went by. No red meat. A week turned into a month. A month turned into a year. And…as of now it has been almost 11 years.
And…it isn’t that I don’t like red meat. Quite the contrary: I do love the taste of a good steak or a juicy hamburger. However, after years of not eating red meat my stomach no longer knows how to digest it, and more than a few bites of the stuff will make me ill (it’s happened before: trust me…not pretty). Justin has learned to deal with the fact that I don’t cook red meat at home: he gets his fix when we are out at a restaurant or over at one of our parents’ houses.
So: there’s my story. My choice to stop eating red meat was really an accident, more than anything! I can tell you that I don’t miss it for the most part, although it does limit me somewhat when I go to restaurants or when I am a guest at someone’s house. Some people don’t eat vegetables…I don’t eat red meat…such is life.
Have you ever experienced an aversion to a particular type of food?
I prefer chicken or turkey over red meat for sure. But, sometimes I love a juicy cheeseburger or steak for sure! But, I tell the waiter or cook that I want it well well WELL done. Like, no pink. When I go to Kobe’s Steakhouse, I tell the chef, “Beef jerky” lol
I stopped eating meat altogether after two unfortunate chicken incidents that happened really close to each other. I just needed a break from it, and it turned into a year of no meat. One day at work, I looked at a coworker and said, I need a hamburger. She went and bought it for me, and I became a meat eater again. I was lucky, it never bothered my stomach once I started eating it again. But I can totally understand how needing a break from a certain food can turn into a really long (or permanent break)!
I can’t eat anything off the bone. Not sure why, cause I do love chicken, but I can’t eat it on the bone. I’ll eat it if it’s boneless. Same goes for crab. I love crab meat, but I can’t bear to touch the hard legs. I have no idea why I’m like this, but I just can’t seem to get past things like bones and shells. LOL
I had filet last night and I thought for sure when I saw this headline that you were going to go all crazy and make me feel guilty about my poor menu choices. I should have known better! LOVE this post, Katie 🙂
I gave up all meat for the month of May. It was hard at first and every now and again I want it, but I’ve noticed a more happy tummy 🙂 . I know I won’t be able to give it up for good, but I sure do know that once the month ends, I’m going to be putting a lot more thought into what I’m eating. As for aversions…I don’t particularly like food that is served to me with the head attached (which being Chinese is typical in banquet style meals).
I can relate I stopped eating chicken for a while when I had to make chicken for dinner one time in Jr High and prepping the chicken turned my stomach. It look several months for me to eat chicken again, but I still won’t de-skin in now or anything like that. We have to buy it already in the form I’m going to cook it.
I think it would be really easy for me to give up red meat. I would miss hamburgers, but that’s about it. My husband? He would be miserable without it!
I don’t eat very much red meat- only in meatballs and hot dogs (do beef hot dogs even COUNT?) I haven’t ever had steak except for trying it as a kid, and hamburgers seem gross to me. That being said, I CANNOT believe that that dad did that to you!! What a jerk!
I can understand how an experience like that would turn you off to meat, especially since you were so young!
I’ve definitely had some aversions stick around because of experiences in the past – I think everyone does!
I understand this 10000%. I stopped eating red meat/pork for Lent about 10 years ago.. and it just stuck. Ironically, the only thing I really miss are hotdogs.. I’m just not a fan of the way steak tastes, and would take a juicy grilled portabello over red meat any day! I also have the same stomach issue – even a small taste of bacon will make me unpleasantly sick 🙁