Freaky Food Friday Round Eight aka Freaky Food Flashback from Five Guys

Holy apples Batman! You guys have some amaaaaazing ideas pertaining to my plethora of apples! Some of the ideas I love so far:

Thinspired said...

Oh my GOSH what a great giveaway!
My favorite recipe with apples is sinful. I found it in a Martha Stewart magazine years ago and seriously dream about it. It's peanut butter on potato bread with a piece of bacon, apple slices, and drizzled with honey. Something about the salty/sweet, soft/crunchy combination of all ingredients is HEAVENLY (but also deathly!).

Food Makes Fun Fuel said...

How about a turkey sandwich with cream cheese, trader joe cranberry apple butter, and apple slices

Katey said...

My favorite apple recipe is Dutch Apple Bread from Eating Well!

insideiamdancing said...

...apple cheddar scones...the combo is amazing (apple cheddar oatmeal was surprisingly good!)

Yum, yum, yum!

Anyway, last Friday, I almost had a freaky food fail, but luckily my husband solved that problem for me. We also ended up indulging in another freaky food experiment that night, so today, I present you with a Freaky Food Flashback!

One of the things that I have been working on in recovery is giving myself days or meals where I am allowed to eat like a "normal" person. I have many ideas in my head about what normal people eat like: no counting, measuring, pre-planning, obsessing, bingeing, starving or any other dastardly-bastardly Ed rules.

I had been craving a burger and fries like mad the previous week, and had attempted to satisfy it by creating a healthier version at home with extra-lean ground beef, sandwich thin and baked oven fries. But I guess sometimes the real deal is the only meal (see how that rhymed?) that cuts it. Somehow, the feeling of a "real" burger could only be satisfied by going out to a "real" burger place.

Have you guys ever heard of Five Guys Burgers and Fries? It doesn't get more real than that. And by real, I mean no-frills, peanut shells on the floor, packed with college dudes real. I also mean that their menu is pure and simple. There is a max of about five things you can order, each burger is custom made to your specifications, made right in front of you, and there is always a sign posted telling you exactly where the potatoes used for french fries came from that day.

So Five Guys appealed to me for several reasons

• Peanuts in the shell. Love 'em. Here is a wonky one that I had to take a picture of:I also love to eat the shell,which could be a freaky food all on it's own! If I eat these, i will usually only eat one or two with the shells on and then eat the rest shelled. Otherwise it just gets too salty and starts to hurt me teeth. My husband is now more convinced than ever that I am some sort of rabbit. Whatevs to that.
• Dudes. That meant the likelihood of someone I knew spotting me eating a burger was slim to none. It is important that when I push myself precariously close the the edge of the safety cliff, that i have the total and complete support of whoever I am dining with. That means I don't have to stress about comments Ike "YOU ordered a burger!" "Wow, that's not 'Emily' food!" "Where's the salad?" "You ate that WHOLE thing?" Jeez Loiuse. Plus I didn't want to be responsible for any heart attacks or fainting spells of said bitch-ass commenter's, who just might keel over if they saw such behavior on my behalf.
  
• Minimal ordering choices meant I couldn't get distracted by a "safe" food like a salad or chicken sandwich. Nice.
  
• Custom ordering meant I could get precisely what I wanted on my burger. This is great for me because I am always worried about mayo showing up on my food. Sick. Even though I always request "no mayo," some people have a hard time understanding that you actually do not want it ON your sandwich. I think I ordered almost everything else, though! The guy was kind of laughing at me when I ordered because I basically just ran down the list: Relish, EXTRA Onions, Lettuce, Pickles, Tomatoes, Grilled Mushrooms, Ketchup, Mustard, Jalapeno Peppers, Green Peppers and Bar-B-Q Sauce. Whew! I didn't spot any mushrooms, which was disappointing, but I figured I could forgive a minor error like that considering the ginormity of my other toppings :)
• FRIES! Yes, I am that person who blots off my fries with a napkin. But these were shockingly not that greasy. Of course I still blotted, but mainly just succeeded in giving myself flat fries. These beauties were also CAJUN seasoned. It does not get any better than this in french fry land people! This blend was most likely a mixture of seasoning salt, cayenne pepper and a whole lotta oregano. SO GOOD!
  
• Which leads to another draw: ketchup in a cup. I love this stuff. I think ketchup should go on everything. I feel about ketchup basically the same way I feel about frosting-- the fries and cake are just a means to an end--just another way to get the good stuff into my mouth! When i was a youngun' I died to go to Wendy's so I could throw back shots of ketchup. Addict.

All told, it was a really fun night and I was so proud of pushing my Ed boundaries, regardless of how difficult the internal struggle was. Of course, Ed tried to interfering several ways, telling me not to eat the bun, not to finish the burger or eat too many french fries, not to get diet coke (Hey Ed, shut the hell up--it's DIET ok??), etc.

I started to get major anxiety when we started eating, with resulting stomach pains, but I just held D's hand and chillaxed for a minute until I was ready to go for it. I really made an effort to eat mindfully and savor each bite. You guys, it was heaven. I was a normal person, at least for 45 minutes. I ate what I wanted, stopped when I wanted, and enjoyed my night with the hubs, just like I wanted.

Dustin made a comment that it was the new 'do. heck yes. I am a redhead now--I do what I want! We kind of joked that Ed didn't recognize me now, and I've continued to tell myself that throughout the week. Of course, Ed's smartened up and has resumed battle, but luckily, so have I :)

Hopefully you all weren't bored by this post, since I know a burger and fries is hardly "freaky" to most people, but that's exactly what makes it so for me. Food fears are the freakiest thing of all to conquer, but I consider this one down for the count!

Speaking of counting....I'm still up to my ears in apples (and I have some pretty big ears, peeps!), but the countdown is approaching to enter my outstanding apple giveaway! T-minus 3 days to enter! Giveaway ends Monday a.m., so keep those comments and link backs coming! Thank you so much all those who have already entered--you rock!

I will be trying some of your apple-icious ideas this weekend, along with making dried apple slices and lovely apple pies from my Dad's blue-ribbon recipe. I'll be sure to post some of that deliciousness! I'm also headed to the very last Farmer's Market of the season with my sis, and looking forward to a predicted 74 degree day--also the last of the season, I'm sure!

What are you looking forward to this weekend? Any freaky fear foods that you've managed to overcome? love you, love you! xoxo

P.S. Check out this other super sweet giveaway, courtesy of Healthy Everythingtarian, Holly.