Chicken or the egg...and other confusions.

Been eating lots of chicken lately as well as their potential offspring. As well as becoming bored with the whole process and craving other tasty options I can't help but think of the feathery creatures squatting in the hen house. Of course it's not the cartoon hen house with a few hens sitting on cushy straw filled boxes plopping egg shaped nuggets into a basket.clucking a happy tune. It's a building that could be 100 yards long among other similar buildings where they are fed foods rich with nutrients (some of which has...well we won't go there) and where they produce thousands of eggs a day. There's other buildings on the same grounds where the product processed isn't about eggs.

I am a confirmed carnivore. I must admit I do eat meat. I like it and, though I don't always eat it, I don't foresee a time, unless my teeth fail me or my jaw becomes inoperable, when I will stop. I must admit when on the road near Smithfield and I see a livestock carrier passing by on the way to Gwaltney there is a twinge of regret as the little piggies inside wind their way toward their demise. If the truck passes me and I see the little noses and pointy ears poking through the grid my heart goes out to them. I always say, "Sorry you guys, but I do love bacon and center cut chops, eastern Carolina barbecue, loins cooked on the grill and those country style ribs.... But I am sorry."  The sorrow fades as I head into that  open pit barbecue joint with the wonderful spicy, peppery, vinegar sauce. Upon leaving that venue sated and happy I thank those little piggies for their service and go on about my day. Callous? Unfeeling? Nope. I only feel love for the lip smacking goodness.

Fish is good. But these days you really have to break out the bucks to get something worth eating. Forget the tilapia. Everyplace seems to be pushing tilapia. Farm raised with little food value. It's called seafood for a reason. Look at the packages in the stores. The labels usually say farm raised without chemicals or additives. We used to buy bluefish at the grocery that was too big to fit in the roasting pan. Baking it with butter and lemon wedges made for a filling, healthy main dish. I knew to remove the dark area so it wouldn't be oily. You can't get that anymore. Are they fished out? Have they been driven off by pollution or has global warming changed their migration habits? Many of the shark attacks reported on the North Carolina Outer Banks were actually bluefish strikes. Nasty creatures in the water close to shore. The do have teeth.

So back to chicken or the egg. Notice I didn't mention vegetables or beef in this treatise? There are few carnivores who don't also eat their veggies and most would probably prefer to have a beef steak in their plate instead of chicken. I know I would. But answer me this. If chicken/turkey breast is 98% fat free and extra lean beef is about the same, why is bird meat better for you? Cholesterol? What if your cholesterol is right on the money? It's sort of like pasta or rice? Both have about the same breakdown in caloric content but rice is considered a better food. Don't get it.

This is just one of those  entries where I have questions but have not yet figured out the answers. I am eating lots of chicken and very little beef and I wonder why. I am eating even less fish and I know why. I want to bake/grill fresh fish and I am determined to do so. I only wish I could get to Sicily or Greece where the stuff comes in on the small fishing boats and you buy it off the docks. Sounds like a trip needs to be planned.

Chicken or the egg...might not know which came first genealogically,  but in my case I have eggs first with toast and coffee.