Adventures with the letter A

Wednesday, when I picked the letter A out of the hat, I was really excited.  For the letter A, I already had some foods planned out that I wanted to try for fun!! Asparagus, anchovies, and avocado.  I think instead of eating foods with all A's all day yesterday, I had made it a point to try all three of these foods.

First I got to try the anchovies on a pizza.  Never again, trust me. EWWW! I can't describe the feeling of disgust that overwhelmed my veins when I took a big bite of pizza with the anchovies on it.  We even ordered the pizza with extra cheese just to try and take a little bit of the taste away.  I can honestly say that eating food and anchovies, will be the furthest thing on my mind for a long time! 

Now as far as the avocado and the asparagus, yummy.  We had made some sort of avocado spread to eat with some pita chips.  With the asparagus  I had just fried some up because I heard that's a goodway to eat them dipped in ranch dressing. I loved it. Next time I want to actually try asparagus with a salad or a certain dish, maybe savored in a little butter.  I was so proud of myself and the fact that I got to try so many different items this very day.  This is becoming more and more fun when I think of the little things that I am accomplishing. 

All in all, it was a A for the day!   

"T" on Tuesday? Sounds good!

Yesterday was a good day and I was really excited because I actually got to eat a few different things that I had never ate before.  For breakfast I had toast and tea, which was A-Okay by me being as I'm just getting over a sickness and am still getting back to my normal old self.  I've been down in the dumps lately.  When a ton of bricks hit ya, it surely doesn't feel too good getting back up dizzy and with a migraine. Anywho-

  For lunch my sister was eating a tuna fish sandwich, which I have never taken a liking to.  I don't know if it's the way the tuna smells, or the thick syrup (oil) that it sits in the can with, or how it's multi-colored. Yes, I don't like meat that has different colors to it.  Well, I figured, let's do this.  Of course I basically drowned the tuna in some mayo and slapped some cheese on that bad boy, but all in all, it was alright.  I can't say that I would eat tuna on a regular basis, but I can say if there is NO FOOD left on this earth, and somehow there is a magical jar of MAYO, a loaf of bread and cheese- I could suffer with some tuna on that sandwich. :)  I was told that "fresh tuna" is a lot better? Am I right or wrong?

As far as the evening went, my family and I went out to a local favorite in town, Starbucks (no, not the coffee shop, it's an ice cream shop) and had supper.  I worked there as a teenager and I have my favorite sandwich, the beefburger.  Well, today isn't B, and I couldn't have that, so I figured what better time to try something new!  One of the most popular sandwiches among the older folks is the tenderloin.  A good 12 inches of fried pork tenderloin on a bun with some onions, pickles ketchup and tomato.  I never tried this sandwich mainly because I didn't care for the pork fritters at school and figured they were like the same thing? 

Long story short, I actually enjoyed the tenderloin!  I may even start ordering that sandwich instead of the beef burger.  Now we are making progress here people!! Can I get a "Hell Yeah!"

The weekend really kicked me in the behind!

Sniffling, sneezing, coughing, sore throat. One word. Sick. :(

So I took off Saturday, so I could just relax and grill out with the family.  It was too gorgeous of a day to not take advantage of a last minute barbeque of the season!  We all know it's probably going to be snowing in a month's time, afterall it is Iowa for heavensakes.  So I had a wonderful Saturday with family and friends and then it hit me.

Sunday morning I woke up with a horrible head cold.  Chest was so congested, I felt as if a ton of bricks hit me in the middle of the night.  Man, was this going to be a problem. :(  There was just simply no way that I could go about my journey with such a roadblock.  I sipped on broth and ginger  ale all of Sunday while I ran the vaporizer trying to clear this thing up as quick as it came.  Now it's Monday and I'm still kicking this thing... I'm hoping to draw a letter later on today and at least have the chance to try something new.  I'm learning that this quest is really more about trying something "new" everyday pertaining to a certain letter, rather than eating food all day that starts with the letter.

D stands for Delicious!

Friday morning started with the big letter D! Danish roll from Casey's HERE I COME! Absolutely devine. For lunch I had duck. Never tried it before, and it was seemingly good. Yes, it tastes like chicken to me! :P  The rest of the day went well, but I didn't have much to munch on... I was doing a lot of homework and typically enjoy a tasty snack to go along with working. Shucks..

Being as it's Friday night we decided to order Dominoe's!  Deep dish is all I have to say!  An exciting end to a good day. Happy that I tried something new again, and enjoyed it.  However, unlike the salmon, I don't think I will be eating duck very often.  Just not on my top ten meats list.

Now instead of me going on and on about the food that I had eaten today, I figured I would switch it up a little bit.  Tell ME, what is your FAVORITE FOOD that starts with D, and why?  Can you think of anything food that begins with the letter D that you think I should have tried?

Day 3 In Full Swing

Can I get some applause please?  (waiting to hear claps and shouts)

*Phew* I swear.  This is harder than it looks people!  But hey, if my classmates can quit smoking, watch a different movie everyday, and write letters to lord knows who, I can do this too right? Last night I thought I've had enough. The letter "O" was really whoppin me, and boy, did I want to get my paws into the pumpkin thats full of Halloween candy.  With words of encouragement from family, I took a breather, popped open a can of soda (HEY, I said I would EAT foods with each letter of the alphabet. Never did we clarify drinks. Don't judge me! lol) and proceeded to sort this out in my mind.

Dinner was getting cooked and I honestly didn't have a clue as to what to eat with an "O."  I surely would have went to the Japanese steakhouse and ordered Octopus if I wasn't so broke, but times are hard and I had to do what I could do. So yes, I opened up two cans of oranges, and that is all I ate for supper. :( No culturally extravagent adventures yesterday!

So Today is Day 3 and I got the letter "S" today! AWESOME! I already knew one thing that I wanted to try that starts with s. Salmon. For breakfast I ate a sausage and salami sandwich. Nothing new there. I then called my grandma and asked her if she would like to go out to lunch today. Of course, she is always down for whatever so I picked her up and we headed off to her favorite local restaurant.

I was so excited! I was going to be trying new things, and remaining within my boundaries, an absolute win-win.  I ordered  salmon with spanish rice.  Never trying salmon before, I was skeptical but ecstatic at the same time. As the waitress sets my plate down it looked like some sort of apricot sauce glazed over the top of the fish. Exquisite, I must say.  As I took my first bite, chewed and swallowed I said to my grandma, "Why have I never liked seafood?"  She said to me, "Maybe because you weren't brought up around a variety of food. We were always a meat and potatoes kind of family." I agreed, that must be it because I really enjoyed it!

Now it's 3 in the afternoon and I'm still thinking about the salmon. I'm so happy and proud of myself that I got to try something completely new and would typically turn my nose up to.  For supper, I am cooking steak, scalloped potatoes and snow peas.  To top it all off, strawberry shortcake!! YUMMO! Hopefully the strawberries are descent given the season. :)

Just when I thought I wanted to give up, I had an absolutely wonderful day!  I can't wait to see what letter I am  going to draw tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to try something new, and enjoy it just as much as I did the salmon.  Until we meet again.

Overview of the first 2 days of my journey so far!

And so it began.

Monday we were directed to begin our quest that we proposed to our English Professor.  I don't know exactly how prepared I really was.  I mean come on, is this a little outrageous or what? Every day, I can only eat foods from a certain letter of the alphabet. I started to doubt myself right from the beginning, which clearly is NOT a good sign, but I swallowed my pride and said that I can do this.  I need to make this drastic change in my life so that I can be a better person as a whole and say that I actually did it.

After I checked my Blackboard Monday, I decided I would start my journey Tuesday morning.  Monday night I endulged in all of my favorites.  My husband and I went out to eat at Old Chicago and I had my favorite meal, chicken alfredo. Deelish! :) When I went to bed Monday night, I thought to myself, "This is exciting Manda! Embrace the opportunity to go on a quest. Have fun with it!"

I woke up Tuesday morning and had this anxious feeling inside.  You know, that feeling when you know something big is happening that day. I went to the hat in my kitchen that I put a piece of paper of each letter of the alphabet in, and took a leap of fate. Verdict was, "B."  "Okay," I thought to myself, "this is do-able. Maybe it won't be so bad afterall."

So my journey began with the letter B on Tuesday morning.  I fixed Biscuits and gravy with Bacon.  Simple enough, right? Well, that's not my purpose of this quest. The point is that I need to try things that I don't normally eat, but still maintain within my letter boundaries.  So I told myself that I would fix something out of the normal for supper!  Lunch came by and I fixed bowtie noodles, broccoli and cheese, and had a slice of bunt cake. Yummy! After lunch, I threw together a banana nut bread to bake in the oven, and continued with my research to see what I could come up with for dinner time.

I'll be honest folks, I didn't get to fancy with my research! I hopped on Google and typed in foods that start with the letter B.  Needless to say, I came up with a lot of good items that I haven't ever tried, or rarely eat.  After writing down what I thought would be a good dinner, I headed off to the grocery store.  What was on the menu, you might ask?  Bologna, Baked Potato, Butternut squash (which I've never tried), and a baby spinach salad (I've tried spinach ONCE in my life, and oh my, I was disgusted  at the time.)

6 o'clock rolled around and the house was starting to get that lovely smell. Food is almost done, I thought to myself.  I set the table and prepared the plates. Bologna and baked potato with butter, no problem at all.  Then it was time to open thy heart and taste buds to the new grub. Butternut squash, I'm sorry but you will not be entering my mouth again. It's nothing against you, but I personally think you would be better off in someone elses mouth. :) As far as the fresh baby spinach, wonderful! I definitely enjoyed that!  To top off an amazing day, I ended it with a slice of birthday cake! MMM. Come on, It was my son's birthday yesterday! I couldn't resist....

Now we are half-way into Wednesday and the letter for today was O.  This morning I started off with Oatmeal and an orange. Absolutely fantastic.  For lunch I hit up the local chinese joint for some orange chicken. This was fun because I usually always get Sesame chicken there.  I must say that the genuine taste of orange was strong, and almost a little overwhelming but good.  I still need to figure out what I want to cook for supper, and it must be something new to try. I will update you tomorrow on the evenings events and what letter is drawn tomorrow! yippee.

Proposal of My Quest

                Right now, at this very moment, millions of people are eating all across the world.  From England’s tea and biscuits, to China’s fried rice and dumplings, we all have our unique style of grub.  Here, in Iowa, we like to focus on beef and homegrown vegetables.  This might be because we are hearty, healthy eaters or it could be because of the region of the world we live in.  Would you like to try different types of food that are out of the normal for you?

                Over the next month, I will go on my own little journey, trying out all sorts of extraordinary cuisine.  I have plans to shake up my taste buds in a very innovative way.  Have you ever noticed that we tend to eat the same sort of food?  By this I mean, food that starts with the same letter.   For example, let’s take the letter “c” and just think for a second how many different food items you eat every day that begin with the letter “c”.  Chocolate, chicken, cereal, and candy are just a few off the top of my head that I eat on a regular basis.  Now let us take the letter “z”.  Other than zucchini, I can’t think of any food item that I eat frequently that starts with “z”.  Is there anything else that you can think of that starts with the letter “z”.

                This is my challenge.  Every day I will draw a different letter of the alphabet out of a hat.  For that day, I must eat only foods that begin with that letter.  Now the idea might sound a bit zany, and you’re probably thinking, “Can she actually pull it off with those x, y, and z letters?” but that is my point.  I want to broaden my horizons and eat foods that I have never eaten before.

                Another question that I am sure you are asking is, “How is this going to be done?”  With the extensive research, I am going to come up with menus prior to actually beginning my quest.  I have to be able to make this a do-able project.  The internet will contribute to making all of this possible.  Come on now, we all know you can do just about anything on the crazy computer.  Every day, I will be documenting the letter of the day, the food that I make, and my personal reactions to the quest.  Typically, food tickles me pink, but who knows how tickled I will be when I am trying eggplant, rhubarb, and turnips for the very first time.

                One of the main reasons I wanted to go on this adventure is because my diet is monotonous.  I am getting sick and tired of the same old thing day in and day out.  The cool part about this whole quest is my husband is coming along with me as well. We will be able to explore food from all cultures, China and England included.  It will be interesting to cook those “certain letters” every day for the whole family.  Hoping this diet will be sufficient, we begin our journey.