My Small Steps - My passionate good byes

So before I start on my vegetarian experience I had 2 cities to visit. One was Toronto, it was not a scheduled trip, I confess it was last minute. But hey! I was entitled to one last hurrah and Toronto has great restaurants. Thank goodness the cold weather kept me from roaming the streets for food. I did have a few great last meals there! What a way to divorce meat, with a one last romance in a foreign city that is known for their diverse restaurant. I had one last good bye to duck, a wonderful rib eye and baked pork chops with sweet carmelized onions and this heavenly apple ragout. I need to upload pictures from those meals!

Then I was off to St. Louis for a weekend with Shantel and her cute daughter Ilana. That is Ilana in the middle wearing pink. She is only 2 but she knows fashion and she loves pink! Drea is behind her and Chi Chi is to the right. Chi Chi is Shantel's sister, who got Shantel to move to St. Louis. While in St. Louis I had a BBQ sandwich that delicious! And I said farewell to hotdogs, yes folks, I have had a torrid romance w/hot dogs. Yes, I know they are not healthy for me. I realize what they are made of and quite frankly I did not care. I loved the flavor, the savory taste when coupled with mustard. Not just any mustard, as a foodie, I only wanted the best. I loved Dijon mustard with my hot dogs. So, Shantel took me to my favorite place where I ingested 2 foot long hot dogs. I am ashamed, but I needed to overdose on hot dogs. What I did not confess to Shantel that weekend was that I had 2 hot dogs while waiting for the plane. I know...I know...but I got rid of the craving for hot dogs, at least that weekend!

When I got back, I realized I had one more weekend trip to take. A visit my Aunt Pat, who can out cook Emril and out dress the best. Cooking and fashion are her passions, she has more shoes than she can count and a cult following in Atlanta. She cooks every day, thank goodness she is naturally skinny so the weight she put in in her later years just fills her out and makes her look normal instead of the model size she used to wear. I put in my request of dishes, and folks it was time for me to say good bye to pork. Yes folks, ribs - Love them!!! I even eat oh...lets just say. From the rooter to the tooter, I ate it all. Aunt Pat obliged my wishes and Nicole came to town to make sure I did it in moderation. I was in hog heaven! Fresh Virginia ham, bacon, ribs, pig feet and you know what else. I said farewell and happy trails to pork. Thank you Aunt Pat! Thank you Atlanta for showing me a new lifestyle and having all the provisions so I could say good bye to pork.

The good byes were done! Now I had to schedule my first colonic hydrotherapy, especially after eating all that meat! 3 weekends of a meat fest. I needed to cleanse my system and get on with the program. Read my blog about "You are going to put that tube where? What? Back there?"