Picky, Picky, Picky

This post I'm told to write about if I'm a picky eater. Do I have any food quirks?
I used to be an incredibly picky eater and some would say I still am, but I am SO much better. I didn't used to eat salads, and now I actually enjoy some (but only some). I didn't eat tomatoes at all, and now eat them all the time IF they are cooked in something else like soup or chili. I still DO NOT eat them raw. I also don't eat onions raw. Like tomatoes, I didn't used to eat them at all, but cooked--I can handle that now as long as there aren't a ton of them. I actually cook with them sometimes--tomatoes too. Unfortunately I'm not a good vegetable eater. In my family, you cleaned your plate or you didn't get to leave the table and go watch TV. I can't tell you how many times I was left alone at the table staring at a plate with a pile of vegetables. Part of the problem was that they were canned vegetables.My very, very worst thing was canned carrots. Horrendous! I just could not get them down, I love cooked carrots now. It's one of my favorite parts of a roast dinner, but those canned, cooked carrots make me shudder even now. My mom worked a very heavy duty full time job the whole time I was growing up, and she didn't have the time to come up with marvelous meals by the time she got home. She didn't enjoy cooking anyway. That's probably why. Our household was one of those with clearly defined women's work, so she did not receive any help on that front. She came home and had to feed me, a very big eating husband, and two boys that we affectionately called human garbage disposals as they got older. All with no microwave, frozen dinners, or any of the modern wonders we have today. I don't know how she did it.  I wish I were one of those people who just love vegetables. I really do, but unfortunately, I am not. I love peas and most green beans. I love corn. I can eat a bit of cauliflower if it's in a salad. Same with broccoli. I can also eat either of these if they are cooked in a soup. I actually eat a whole assortment of vegetables if they are cooked in a soup. That's also something I never would have done in the past. Anyway, I'm sure this is all sounding SO picky, but I'm so much better. Really, I am!

My biggest food quirk is probably a little family thing I grew up with. It's how we ate waffles. When Mom added the batter to the waffle iron, she laid a piece of bacon across the batter before she closed the lid. Then the bacon cooked with and inside the waffle. Delicious! Then to further what some people think is crazy, we spread peanut butter on our waffles along with the maple syrup. I can remember watching faces change when I had girlfriends for a sleep over. Without fail, if they would just give it a try, they were converted. I'm sure I sent many a girl home with a strange request of their mom the next time she made them waffles. Give it a try. I'm tellin' you it's great stuff!

The only other quirky thing according to some people is pinneapple on my pizza. I LOVE it!My favorite is sausage and pinneapple. My kids think I'm crazy, but pinneapple is on the menu of almost every pizza place, so I certainly can't be the only one. My kids also cannot seem to understand why I pick the pepperoni off my pepperoni pizza. They question me--"Don't you like pepperoni?" Answer "It's okay.", Question--Then why do you pick it off?"or "Why don't you just order it without pepperoni?"
Here's my answer which makes perfect sense to me.
I order pepperoni because everyone else likes pepperoni. I don't really care about pepperoni one way or the other on my slices, so I pick it off. However, I do love the flavor it leaves behind on the pizza, so I don't get half and half. My reasoning is that if I don't really love the extra calories that eating a piece of pepperoni gives me, them why eat it?" Come on girls. Get behind me on this!

All right, that's my challenge met for today and now I'm hungry.
Pizza or waffles hmmmm--