My Favorite Foods from A-Z

I was driving home today from the gym, and all I could think about was food. I'm always starving after the gym. I remembered how on my 101 things to do in 1001 days I put to cook meals starting from A going to Z.  I began to wonder if I could name foods that I love, and I mean love, from A-Z. Fresh foods, not meals, drinks, or snacks. I started playing it back in my head and seriously it was so easy! I love food. I have a passion for food. And I can eat! A lot of people look at me and say I am probably a bird-picker, but I can put down some food. Ask Mr. Man! There were a couple of letters that I could not just choose 1, so I cheated in that area. Then there was a couple that I immediately was like "Oh this fits perfectly" but it was sort of cheating. You'll see what I mean once you read the list.

Here it is:

A- Asparagus. I love me some fresh grilled asparagus! 

B- Bell Peppers. Any color, any kind. I eat them cooked and raw. To die for! They are even better with the Pampered Chef Veggie Dip! Oh my goodness. I want some NOW!

C- (here is where I can not choose just one!) Corn on the Cob. Corn is my all time favorite veggie. Ask me what I want on the side of almost anything, and I will say corn. I can eat it days and days in a row. 

Cantaloupe. This has always been one of my favorite fruits. My Mom use to buy one and cut them up and I would eat every single slice in one sitting. No lie. I love this stuff!

Cabbage. Ohhhhh! I love cabbage. Cabbage with Deer Sausage and Black-eyed Peas. YUMMO!

D- Deer Sausage. This one is kind of a cheat, but it seriously is something I seriously could chow down on. I am not a sausage eater, but give me some homemade deer sausage and it's over! I use to make deer sausage with my Dad and Pop every year after Christmas, after our annual deer hunt. Good memories, good food, especially good to cook with! 

E- Eggs. Of course, we all knew I was going to say eggs. I can eat eggs any way, and in any food. Have you ever put them in gumbo? Mmmmmmm!

F- Flank Steak. This is one of the only, and I mean only, beef steaks that I never get tired of.

G- Grapefruit. I love grapefruit. I use to hate it, but one day I had a random craving for it. Decided to try it out and now there is always grapefruits in the house.

Garlic. I can not be from Louisiana and not talk about garlic. I love the smell of garlic and of course the taste! Only cooked though, obviously.

H- Ham. I am a sucker for anything ham. Like ham hocks. Oh my goodness. A good pot of red beans and rice (with deer sausage) with a huge ham hock. Oh yea... that's my kind of southern living, right there!

I- Iceberg Lettuce. Who does not like lettuce? Actually, I know people that do not like lettuce and I do not see how. It hardly has a taste, but for some odd reason it is so refreshing. I eat a lot of salads, and iceberg is one of my favorite lettuces.

J- Jalapeno Peppers- I like hot foods. I like things hot. I seriously crave jalapeno peppers. I will eat them straight from a jar with no problem. I love to eat them with rice and gravy. Take a scoop of rice and gravy, take a piece of meat toss it in your mouth, then follow up with a bite of a jalapeno pepper. (I'm starting to think this blog was a bad idea!)

K- Kidney Beans. These beans are my favorite, both dark and light. They are the beans that are in red beans and rice, too. 

L- Lemon. I love fresh lemon. I love the smell it gives off when cooking with it. I love the taste it gives to meat and fish... and I love the flavoring it gives to plain oh water.

Lamb. This is a new favorite meat that I discovered since being here in England. They cook with it a lot. I was scared to try it at first, but it was love at first bite.

M- Mushrooms. I am a mushroom junky. Really, I am. I eat mushrooms with everything. Fresh or cooked. Whole or slice. I would eat a pot full of mushrooms over meat any day.

N- Nuts. Ok, this is kind of cheating, but I actually cook with nuts and eat nuts a lot. I love the crust it gives to baked chicken and fish. And I love them as quick on the go snacks. Good source of protein, too!

O- Onions. Of course, onions. Who would've thought? Purple, green, yellow, little, big.. any kind. They are great to cook with for flavoring, and even better when you lay fish on a bed on sliced onions and bake it. It removes all the fish flavor. Nom Nom!

P- Parsnips. This is another new one since living here in England. They are like carrots, but white. They are so yummy. I have cooked with them in dishes and even steamed some as a side dish. Delicious!

Q- Quinoa (?sp). I was actually talking to someone recently about this stuff. At first, I did not remember about it. But then I started looking back at old recipes that Mr. Man and I had for our fitness phases and I found that we actually ate a lot of this. I even wrote little notes about how much I loved it. I guess I should try it out again and refresh my memory.

R- Raspberries. I love these little boogers. (How did I manage to combine food and boogers?) I love to eat them with cottage cheese and yogurt. I love to top them on my pancakes. I love to smash them and make fresh raspberry juice for a salad dressing. Oh, I love finding new ways to use them. I love these little red monsters!

S- Scallops and Shrimp. I'm combining these two. I am from Louisiana, and I love seafood. I love to make cream sauces with shrimp and scallops combined. I have actually made a shrimp and scallop spaghetti before, too. (Oh yes, this post was very not nice to me!)

T- Tomatoes. I eat tomatoes like apples. Actually, when we were in Italy, almost everyday we would go to the fresh produce market thing and buy some fresh fruit for the day. I always grabbed a tomato and ate it on the go. 

U- Unsalted Almonds. This is another cheat. It was the first thing that came to mind, but as I started thinking about U foods, I could not come up with anything anyway. So it's here to stay. Let me tell you.. I love almonds. They are a great snack and one of the healthiest nuts for you. But I strongly dislike salted almonds. I do not know why, though. I like salt, I like almonds, but put them together and that equals yuck!

V- Velveeta. I guess this is another cheat in a way. It's not fresh. It's not organic, but it does make the best grilled cheese sandwiches and queso. I love how it is so soft. I can use it as a spread on crackers. I'm definitely a cheese head.

W- Water Chestnuts. I love Chinese food. I do. I have a mad passion for eating Chinese food. It's my favorite cuisine. Ever since I got married and cooked my own foods, I started using water chestnuts. Ever since I got my awesome dawesome wok, I started making some nice homemade stir-fry. The water chestnuts are always the highlight of the dish.

X- I think this is the only letter that I did not come up with a favorite food for. I guess that makes me a cheater, too, huh?

Y- Yellow Squash. Definitely another favorite vegetable. I only eat it fresh, though. Baked, roasted, sauteed, on the pit.. all delicious!

Z- Zucchini. Of course, if I love yellow squash, then I love zucchini. I actually had these two together tonight with my dinner!