I'm bringing chicken back...

Some of you may know that I removed chicken from my diet completely a while back. I honestly can't even tell you what happened to make me decide to do it. But, all of a sudden, I found myself revolted by the thought of eating chicken. When I tried to put a piece of it in my mouth, I would remember what it was, and I just couldn't do it. It was very odd, because I continued to eat most kinds of pork and all kinds of beef, never having a problem that I'm actually eating a pig and a cow. But with chicken, it was different. I just couldn't do it.

So, for an entire year, I had no chicken of any kind, not even in a salad or casserole. It made life difficult because chicken is a wonderful source of protein, and there are about a million and two recipes that include chicken. For someone who tends to get little to no protein in her diet (me), and for someone who has little to no creativity in the kitchen (uh....me again), chicken is kind of a failsafe. I tried really hard to experiment with different fishes and new recipes for pork and beef; I also tried eating soy protein "chicken" and "burger" patties. But really, I missed the taste of chicken. I really like chicken salad and chicken enchiladas and roast chicken.

Last week I decided that I was being just a bit ridiculous on the chicken matter. If I like the taste of it, and I actually know a lot of ways to prepare it, why couldn't I get past my disgust for what it actually was? And I was getting really sick of fish and chik'n patties.

And so, I decided to add chicken back into my diet. Not all chicken - I don't think that I'll ever be able to eat a chicken leg again - but some chicken. And, I don't think that I can eat it anywhere but at my own home, where I can prepare it myself and know where the chicken has come from.

Last night, Mark helped me prepare my first meal of chicken in over a year. I made baked chicken enchiladas. It was my mom's recipe, but I added a bit of my own flare to the dish.







We sat down for dinner, and I ceremoniously took a bite of the chicken enchilada. To my delight, it was amazingly delicious! I was surprised that they turned out as well as they did, actually. I quickly gobbled down the rest of my plateful, feeling very full and content afterward.

So, as Justin Timberlake is currently doing to sexy, I'm bringing chicken back. I'm excited about all of the recipes that await me. Here's hoping I can continue to conquer stomach over mind in the chicken arena.