BBQ

I haven't been very active posting on this site for a little while.  It is NOT because I'm doing anything wrong.  The real reason is because the whole process has become very routine to me.  I haven't had a whole lot to document.  But I know that this has become a source of inspiration or strength or diversion (or ridicule) to many of you.  So I wanted to still toss some stuff up.

Today, I wanted to write about why I love Bar-B-Que.  As I've mentioned several times in this blog, BBQ has been one of my saving graces through this whole process.  It is a great resource to me.  I can get meat, beans, and usually a vegetable.  I don't have to worry about bread or breading or cheese.  It is an easy, no-thought option.  Plus, I have always loved BBQ.  It was something that I ate even when I was eating like I wanted to be classified as a Ticonderoga Class battleship.  One of the fun things about traveling in the South for Defender events was trying different BBQ joints.

Over the past nine months, it has been at hard at times seeing so many of the things I used to love being lumped in the "NO WAY BUDDY" category.  Each season brings its own list of items that I used to enjoy that I no longer can.  Apple pie, cheeseburger on the grill, pizza on Friday nights, pumpkin pies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin donuts, and soon Christmas cookies.  So I take some comfort in being able to still partake of something from back then.

Take yesterday, for example.  We were out at a giant corn maze in Hilliard, Florida.  They had food booths - and both of them had BBQ options.  But, they also had ridonkulously long lines.  All that was available that didn't involve a thirty minute wait was homemade ice cream and boiled peanuts.  I can't have either of those things, so I wasn't able to eat at the event.  I'm used to that kind of difficulty at events.  On the way back home, we found Jack Stack's Smokehouse in Baldwin.  It was one of those places that - if it was a deli or diner - a normal person would never risk eating at.  But, in the world of BBQ, that is the sign of a good place.  One of the best BBQ places I ever ate at was in Spartanburg, SC.  I swear, they should have given out tetanus shots complimentary after your meal.  There was a place down in West Palm Beach when I was growing up that had this for its motto: "Best BBQ in a place that isn't condemned."

Jack Stack was awesome.  I don't just get turkey and green beans - although at this place that would have been a good option.  Their turkey was incredible.  I had pork, sausage, baked beans, sweet potato fries, and fried pickles.  True, it was not "healthy" according to diet books.  But for me, it was great.  I don't eat BBQ all the time.  So, when I do, I can be a little lenient without wrecking everything.  If I do eat something that isn't perfectly right, at least it errs in a mild way.  I don't eat cheese or sugary stuff.  I don't scarf down breads or lots of starch.

BBQ also quenches my enjoyment of discovering new places.  I can compare the different restaurants, sauces, rubs, cooking techniques.  And it also is something that eventually I can try at home.  I don't have a grill right now because we live in a little apartment with a ridiculous "no huge open fires on the back screen porch" rule.  But I have started working on some of the techniques when I have a chance.  At my in-laws' house I use their grill and have learned how to cook chicken, sausage, and red meat really well.  I also make pulled pork in my oven.  Admittedly, it is a poor replacement for real pulled pork.  But it works for right now.

Every person is different.  And there are hundreds of different approaches to weight loss.  I have said all along that my way is not the only way - or the best way.  The best way is what works for each person.  For me, this has been a great approach.  I have lost a lot of weight and cleaned up my act.  And I still am able to have foods I really enjoy.  One of those is BBQ.  It is a "guilty pleasure" without doing anything wrong.  It gives me an outlet when I don't have other options.  And it brings enough variety to keep it from being dull.  Good stuff.