" I wouldn't eat that"....

End of another term and I didn't come out smelling like roses this term just a wilted carnation. It was a rough term with a lot of bumps and bruises. I will give myself an A in effort but between the professors and the difficult subjects my mind seemed to short circuit a few times with what I think will be long lasting ramifications to my mental health. With numerous hours of study and 15 plus hours of studying a week placed in one class alone I was an emotional wreck by the end of term. My failure at an A in any class set me into a ravenous food binge that I quickly regretted the next day. I have been on a diet that has restricted my fat and sugar intake so the ingestion of numerous large chocolate covered shortbread cookies resulted in what could have been a perfect example of a Pepto-Bismol commercial. I thought to myself, not only is it harder for me to retain and remember information at my age resulting in my having to study twice as hard as that 19 year old college student next to me, but that 19 year old student probably can ingest vast amounts of baked goods from Costco and not have irritable bowel syndrome the next day.



I remember being 16 years old and me and a friend eating cookie dough and drinking massive amounts of Dr. Pepper and then we would finish it off with pepperoni pizza rolls. Just typing that list of ingredients makes my lower intestine cringe a little. Speaking of intestines cringing I know someone who decided to spread their bagel for breakfast with some cream cheese that had been left out overnight and this person said I was silly for saying, "I wouldn't eat that!" I think a food object that is found in the grocery store in the refrigerated section probably should stay refrigerated..just saying. Well the result of this somewhat perplexing decision resulted in this someone spending sometime with the porcelain god.



I would like to at this time continue on with the important subject of expiration dates on food. I am finding that our parents generation is not as concerned with the stamp of expiration on a food product. I could do a whole thesis on the subject but I will keep it short. Now granted I am one of those people who can't take a swallow of milk if it is one day pass the expiration date which though I know logically it is still okay I just can't bring myself to drink it. I do know though that if something has been expired for more than year it probably is not best to eat it. Is it my Generation X upbringing that makes me weary of everything. I grew up in the generation of razor blades in the apple, contaminated Tylenol, e-coli, salmonella, and the list goes on. I feel though that I am safe in my argument that if you proceed to eat a yogurt that is a year past expiration it probably is not going to taste to good yet some in this baby boomer generation throw caution to the wind and try to eat it nonetheless. Anyways, I could go on about this subject because I have done vast amounts of observing the expiration date criteria with my Gen X generation and that of my parents generation but I won't write my novel on that subject tonight.

I am going to conclude tonight by saying what I know about my eating criteria at age 34. I will no longer eat huge quantities of baked goods from Costco even if it sounds like a good idea at the time. I will not eat anything if it is expired for more then a day; I know it is extreme but it is my phobia so deal with it. I do not eat butterfingers,sauerkraut oatmeal,vienna sausages, oysters and brussel sprouts strictly for personal reasons. I will not eat dairy products if left out overnight or if the expiration date is older then my youngest child. I can not eat cold pizza or most leftovers cold, most have to be microwaved. Now if you excuse me I think I am going to go clean out my pantry.....