M3 "Living with mom again, we had mostly fast food for dinners. Chicken nuggets, KFC, Taco Bell, chinese... ."

Huh. I had a pretty ideal childhood but this shocks me. In my parents' house we had to be home for dinner at 6 pm and it was always homemade. Lasagne, meatloaf, chicken and rice, homemade soup, homemade spaghetti sauce, always a vegetable or salad. And it was healthy, too. Plus homemade desserts.

Wow, I need to call my parents and say thanks.

Awwww, lemme clarify!

When I was growing up we always had real food, real dinners. McDonalds was a HUGE treat. Occasionally even dad made some stuff, but on his nights he'd whip up tuna sandwiches or breakfast with french toast and omlets and stuff. When my brother and parents got into Scouting big time, we'd have more nights at the local "family" restaurant or they'd bring me back something from somewhere.

I moved out, lived on my own, and when I went home on weekends we'd always go out and have huge dinners at my expense: Olive Garden, Red Lobster, LoneStar, nice chinese places, etc. Appetizers, drinks, deserts... I thought it was awesome I could treat everyone after all those years of being a financial parasite, right?

Then dad got sick with cancer, and with him not wanting to eat much, mom mostly made herself salads or sandwiches for herself. When dad died and I moved back in the house a year later, mom was depressed, my brother was working most evenings or out with friends, so neither of us were really interested in cooking. I don't eat salads, sandwiches bore me, so I'd ride along to get fast food.

At that point it was just something to keep from fainting, didn't really care much what it tasted like, so I didn't care about going out or not. And since I usually forgot to eat until 6pm, by then it was a case of "get me food NOW". Many a migraine were caused by "Wait, did I ever eat today?" Sounds really supermodel-stupid, but hey, I was running a website, I spent a lot of time online in my room.

So no, my mommy wasn't really a bad mommy! LOL! That's why I love tacos so much right now, I haven't had them since I was in high school. Oh, and my current bad eating habits are also somewhat related to not finding common items in the grocery store (canned mushrooms among other things) and also not having a car to drive around to find the White Honkey SuperMarket. :) On the plus side, my fast food intake is pretty nill.

When I was illegally fired by Sam Goody at the worst of the last of the Bush Recessions, I had to get real frugal real quick. I lived on Hmaburger Helper, as the Sunday paper with the want ads always had coupons for it. I discovered that ground turkey sold for half the price of hmaburger, had less fat, less salt and hey! just had more meat because you weren't paying for the added weight of the gristle and blood. So I got off the red meat and onto poultry.

Just recently I started eating a lot of fish, largely because it's so easy to cook (set it on broil and then squeeze some lemon juice on it and yer done. Except for the "Byron screaming for some" part). Then the same day the FDA said "Eat very little fish, there's too much mercury in it," in its typical "we're idiots" fashion, another fragment of the Bushites said that they were relaxing mercury pollution standards. I stopped buying fish this month, and won't even buy fish-related Friskies for the kids. If the Gummint says it ain't good enough for pregnant women or babies, it's not going into my kids' stomachs.

I usually have a small Wendy's salad for lunch, then a big serving of MEEEEAT! at dinner. Poultry almost exclusively now, given the current Jakobs-Kreuzfeldtian nature of American cow. I eat a bit of beef now and again, but not a lot. I get some razzing about that at work ("It was only one mad cow!"), but then I point out that it takes 2-3 years for it to turn up in a cow, and 20-30 years for it to turn up in people. Then the conversation tends to change to something else besides the spongiforming of one's brainal parts.

I had the WORST hot wings today. And yesterday, as they took 2 days to eat. That's what I get for getting them from Stop 'n' Shop and not Tasty Chick. Byron grabbed one from the stovetop and is now pretending to eat it--these are reasonably hot. Kill Kill and I are watching him try not to gag on the sauce too much.
Silly kitten! He gets another minute before I snag the bone from him. What a doglike cat he is.

Hee!

I'm sorry. i was on a holiday. was unexpected.

I was in the local Yam state. really, it's purely coincidental. Yams are sold at bus stops in that state. hell, buses *stop* after a toll booth so people can get on an' offer you YAMS.

Anyway, we went to a hot spring resort thing. it's grown a lot over the years, and mother wouldn't stop comparing it to the one in sprited away, which is big since she's hates everything japanese but sprited away. i don't find it that alike, 'cept for the bridge. the place didn't have railroads under its bridge, but a good 25 meters over a river of hot hot hot volcanic water and sharp rocks. the bridge was wooden, and so i made sure to move across my 200lbs very quickly each time. i'm just scaredy like that.

I love 'em amerikan words. well, no, there's no such thing as 'El wrongo' (which does not keeps me from liking it) but you could say... hell, keep using el wrongo. spanish would be 'error' 'mal' 'incorrecto' which is just BORING. keep using it and i'll start using it here so soon you'll be right about it being said here. (anyone saw that simpsons ep where homer writes on a house he's building 'el homo'? i remember that scene a lot and still laugh. the ep's named large marge. ish bit old there)

So uuuh... i eat.. i eat.. LOTS. mexican food must be a nightmare for the GIs not used to it, but when i was at work i usually had leftovers for breakfast, then nice home made food at lunch (which would be tomorrow's leftovers too) (being able to take lunch in your home is a blessing) and sometimes dined junk food. now that i quit (yeah, sorry didn't told before. been a busy week) i eat usually more homemade food at grandmas.

now, this is an incomplete explanation, as food here, i daresay, is radically different. but this message's been too long already. i can write lots about food if you'd like me to. it'd surprise you. TACOS ARE NOT WHAT YOU THINK. also, we eat cow brains on a regular basis.

Now i go, lots of homework left due today later.

Edited by author 01-24-2004 01:33 AM
I spelled it "hmaburger" twice in a row because...You read it wrong! It's ALWAYS been spelled "hmaburger"! What are you, some DAMN HICK? You take a bite and go "HMMM--a burger!" You DAMN HICKS! Do you think anyone would eat at Arbies if they spelled it the right way--RABIES?! HA?! MR AND/OR MS HICKTOWN LIVING HICK?!
I like monkeys cuz they cavort! Cavort, lil' chimpies, CAVORT!

first i was going to point that out.. but then i thought 'no way i'd look like a dumb nitpicker with nothing better to do' (haven't started even homework) and then i saw it twice and thought 'maaaaybe ish the brand name'. then i decided that no one would care, and see, Bill cared first. we don't know how good we have it, guys.

since monkies have been mentioned.. what is better, japanese or african monkeys? (or, that T-rex like baboon from 'After Man'?) and yes, Bill, i paid the $60 to get it off amazon because i heard of it from YOU. what'd you have thought in grade school, that you'd be shaping so many lives?

I'm intruiged (and a lil worried) by the "tacos aren't what you think" line, so yes, please elaborate.

Considered switching to the ground turkey. the small latino grocery store close by has meat so fresh and beautiful I almost weep to see it. Compared to the big chain down the street.... They have gray meat, dripping packages, just... horrendous. I'll check prices on the turkey next time I'm out. FYI - 'Hmaburger' Helper kinda sucks. I remember the Stroganoff being better than it is now. I've eaten my fill of the Helper. If I didn't mind touching raw meat, I might make burgers, but I do so I won't.

Also, first use of a gas range. Oooh pretty fire. Funny smell. Burned pots. Oops. Can't figure out HOW to "broil" on it either. The knob says the word, but it won't turn that far. Hrm.

By the way, I like this board thing. It's neat to see all the fellow Splutaholics!

Well, i thought a bit about it and thought it'd be unfair to sorta take over this board. so i wrote it on my journal.

http://www.deadjournal.com/users/zefiel/

you can post comments there too, to see if i should continue or not.

I've been absent for a while - I had to scroll back 3 page's worth to find the most recent post I hadn't seen! I'm glad that the "what do you eat" subject thread hasn't died out yet.
I'm one of them thar "vegetarian" type folks. And as I have had to explain to waitress-type people in restaurants when I describe myself as such, no, I don't each chicken or fish either. I guess a lot of people associate the word "meat" with "beef", so when you say you don't eat meat, you're only talking about cows.
Anyway, I've been meatless for over 12 years now (and it bugs me that I can't remember the exact date of my last intentional non-veggie meal, but it was a specific company Christmas party that someday I will pin down). I still eat some dairy products (cheese, yogurt and sour cream) and the occasional eggs, so I'm not a vegan, but maybe someday... And I buy the Gardenburger/Boca Burger/whatever patties for lunch at work, not because I crave a meat burger, but because they are a convenient sandwich I can make quickly, that gives me protein and stuff. For "real" food, there are lots of dishes that work well if you just find substitutes for the meat, or leave it out of the sauce (lasagna, enchiladas, etc.) And I have several cookbooks with interesting casseroles and such, but nowhere as much fun as the ones Splutty has featured in his old InExOb pages, with slabs of greasy Spam(tm).
This is as long (or maybe too long) as a post should be, but I will close with a reply to a very old message posted by Bill: If you don't get set up with the Bittorrent goodness and need copies of any specific C2C (or other Adult Swim show) episodes, send an email (but not to mike#snard%com because that email is dead now due to excessive spam. Or maybe I'll just send you another email from the new correct address)

Edited by author 01-25-2004 08:18 AM
Dang, I knew I was going to forget to post this. And I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it yet.

It's the Chinese New Year, and this time it's...

The Year Of The Monkey!

Party like there's no yesterday!

Gosh, everyone's been away! I have just come back from honeymoon at Disneyworld, where I spent far too much money and needed a change of feet every day. Damn, that place is BIG. And a farking blast :)
Speaking of food, I had an unpleasant encounter with some while there. We went to 'Ohana' at the Polynesian resort where we had the big all-you-can-eat luau-style feast. Yup, perky waiters bringing you as many giant skewers of BBQ'd turkey, beef, pork and shrimp as you can possibly hold. I held mine for about 12 hours...then I had a sudden unpleasant bout of Young's Syndrome.
So in summation, there IS such a thing as too MUCH meat, methinks...

no, no, no! no such thing as too much meat. you're just not used to it.

I should have mentioned, i'm mostly a carnivore.

Oh, btw.. I actually found a link on Gonterman's latest...'comic' that is actually useful. www.savedisney.com is a site run by Roy Disney and Stanley Gold to try and gather public support to stop Eisner's Disney from its downward spiral to entertainment purgatory. You can sign up and pledge support.
Think about it. My alma mater could close at the whim of some souless exec any day (Sydney and Burbank are the only two animation units left), so if you love animation, save the Mouse!

I thought Brother bear was going to be disney's last hand drewn animation movie. so what's with that cow movie?

Edited by author 01-25-2004 03:47 PM
I just got out of bed (yes, the time on this post is correct. Me and the cats, we love our sleep), and what's the first thing I read?
Zef: "the meat in a taco, well, again, it's almost anything of the cow. there are tacos of udder, stomach, eyes, brains, and bull testicles."
I'm going back to bed and never coming out.

Damn you, Mike! I scooted on over here *precisely* so I could the first to wish Our Billyam a Happy Year of the Monkey! (Grrrr...second place means nothing, nothing! Sorry, we Year of the Snake gals can be irritated easily this way, and I promise, this isn't just typical Amerkun over-competitiveness. Now, PMS, however, is a distinct possibility.)

No matter, at least I can (maybe?) be the first to make the latest Bill's-Alike Cats in the Media Report: there's this Mana video where all the other guys are playing guitars but one of them is holding a white cat instead (thankfully, not trying to play it or anything). I think it's the video for 'Clavado en un bar,' but apart from maybe young Zefiel, I'm probably the only one here who watches muchos videos de musica en espanol, so I assume you can live without a tape of this or anything.

(Although on an ephemerally related level, I actually *will* be able to make tapes soon, since I got a mysteriously-derived check in the mail for $200, so this means I can pay my phone bill *and* get a new vcr too. Yay! This doesn't mean you hafta make me that MST video, though; I just am still pissed that I once had Robot Monster on tape, along with 3 or 4 others from the first season that they played one time around 1995 or so, but I loaned it to my therapist who subsequently lost the tape to his wife in the midst of a nasty divorce. Taught me the hard way to be *very* judicious about who I loan MST3K tapes to. :P)

What do I eat? Well, in the past 24 hrs. it's mainly been Me and Ed's garlic chicken pizza (no mushrooms, light on the onions). However, most of the time my food intake is determined by what I can buy with food stamps, which means that my predilection for fast food (which is mainly just Taco Bell and the occasional hot dogs or pizza (ONLY from Me and Ed's, my former employers) is curtailed to the point of being a non-often treat, since I have to spend actual money on them.

Last week I stocked up on NutriGrain bars, since I'm going back to the starvation plan that allowed me to lose those 50+ lbs last year; I'd originally done Slim-Fast bars until I broke a tooth on one (dang, when they say they're 'chewy granola,' they're not kidding!). I pretty much just do anything I can microwave, which means stuff like Lean Cuisine etc., or sandwiches. I only have steak once in a blue moon, but I love it when I do, since I know I have those canine teeth for a *reason.*

Okay, this has gone on long enough, plus I am sitting next to loud people who will *not* shut the fuck up, so you get the idea...