Surf please!

I’m currently on my 2nd month of being a Pescatarian. I decided to make the switch for moral, health, and environmental reasons. Though I think I’m being moral, my decision still involves the death of innocent sea creatures. So I guess I’m now a pescatarian with a guilty conscience. So far I’ve felt good with my decision and haven’t tried to force this agenda on any friends as it really is a personal decision. I am slightly anemic so it took about a week for my body to get used to the idea, and now I feel normal. It isn’t quite like the feeling of weaning yourself off coffee or getting a caffeine headache. I thought I would feel weak and hungry all the time, but I’m strangely less hungry than I was before. I realize how much my body didn’t really need the meat in the first place.

Growing up in the midwest, I strangely did NOT eat a lot of red meat. My parents cooked stakes, but I always turned my nose up at it as I never could get used to the texture. I always just ate the surf part of surf n' turf. I did, however, enjoy my cheeseburger with ketchup only and a small fries and McD’s. Poultry was an everyday thing in our house. And Pork was a once or twice a week thing. Seafood was a special treat. Having fish or better yet crab cakes (mom makes the best) was typically on a special occasion. So having recently made the switch to just eating seafood, I feel like I’m treating myself in a way. Eating seafood isn’t an everyday thing for me, I’ll probably eat it 2-3 times per week, and the rest of the time I’m eating Tofu. I love love love tofu, especially when it’s not too mushy! I eat eggs too, but not milk. I’m lactose intolerant, so my stomach can’t really digest the milk properly. As a side-note, let me also say I am an extremely finicky eater. If it doesn’t taste good, I won’t eat it plain and simple. Things that fit into this category for me are mayonnaise, cream cheese, cottage cheese, and Almond milk- yuck!

Given the decision to slightly change my diet, I definitely don’t want to be inconvenient to everyone else. I haven’t made any major announcements about this change; it’s only been mentioned as a side-note. Over the 4th of July, my friends made curry beef with sticky rice, and I had to ask if they could make mine without the beef. I felt like I was being difficult, but since they were are friends they understood. It reminds me of a scene in “My big fat Greek Wedding” when one of the family members asks “What you mean he don’t eat no meat?!! That’s ok, I make Lamb!” I recently let my parents know so they wouldn’t think I was trying to starve myself by not eating turkey burgers, ham, steaks, etc. Not sounding at all surprised, my mom’s reaction, “ Soooo how is it any different than the way you were eating before?” And my response, “I’ll eat everything at Thanksgiving except the Turkey and Ham.”

P.S. If anyone has any good recipes for tofu, please send my way! It isn’t always the easiest thing to make.