Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hehe, but nobody likes Texas. Kansas City has great barbeque, and it's not even in the south. Memphis has Corky's, and that place rocks my world. It even has one of those trains that goes around the room near the ceiling!

Fortunately, that means that whenever I spend time talking with you, you'll know it's because I think you're interesting, smart, and fun to talk to -- and not just listening so that you'll give me a free meal. smile

Re: Non-Kosher Cravings:
I love barbecue, myself. My family and friends have many different recipes for barbecue sauces, some tomato-based and some mustard-based, as well as dry rubs, and I love them all. Barbecued beef and especially chicken are among my favorite summertime foods. You don't have to eat pork to enjoy a great barbecue.

Shellfish: I grew up eating shrimp; my parents didn't honor much of anything in Jewish law, so I ate just about everything. I stopped missing it when I learned that crustaceans are closely related to insects and arachnids. I don't want to eat a cockroach, so why would I eat a lobster? I don't want to eat spiders, so why bother with crab? I don't want to eat a centipede, so I'll stay away from shrimp and prawns, too. As for mollusks, well, clam strips were good, but so are onion rings and chicken poppers. Clam chowder's great, but so is corn chowder. Delicious, in fact.

Cheeseburgers and other dairy-and-meat combos: This was harder for me to give up, until I learned how many calories are in meat, and how much fat is in the typical cheese. Cutting down to just one at a time, along with a few other healthy choices, has gotten 45 pounds of extra weight off of me. I look in the mirror and realize that being thinner tastes way better than a cheeseburger or sausage pizza.

You can always find a kosher substitute for any treif food. You may have to look hard for it, but it's there. My kosher grocer and my kosher fishmonger both sell "shrimp" and "crab" made of pollack.

Aye...

Once I started learning that there are a wide variety of substitutes, I felt better. I know they won't taste the same, but like you said Divash, I like keeping my meals healthy. Kosher is just good in general.

I think it would be really nifty to have a food discussion. As holidays come up, there can be a specific thread to post recipes and what have you, without having to make a new conversation every time.

So true.

Hello, my name is Catherine and I'm non-kosher. It's been 5 months since my last piece of ham.

I know the second or third step is recording every time you went over the line. That would be like 98% of my meals before age 14, so I can't really do that one. I can also help others with their compulsions...

That's it everyone, go forth and eat shellfish no more.