Thirty Days of Chicken

March means chicken and while I did search for the proper name to describe a person who only eats, I fell short and decided to call myself a pesctarian who eats chicken instead of fish.

Unlike the previous recap, I will talk about the food, my physical reaction to meat, and my friend’s responses to this.

Two months of meat in a row wasn't a wise idea. Straight from fish to chicken and I was tired of it. I am truly not into meat but these months were about challenging me and the way I cook. So doing both months next to each other was a just another challenge and a smart idea as I would probably skip chicken month if not doing so.

Starting off with the food I have to admit I was excited about having fried chicken again. The last time I had fried chicken was three years ago, even longer since I had it good. The first chicken meal I consumed was a spicy fried chicken sandwich dubbed ‘the Blazer’ from Clackalacks, one of the food pods located on Belmont in Portland, Oregon.

Consisting of a boneless fried chicken breast, homemade pickles, a smoky slaw along with a garlic herb aioli, the sandwich did possess a kick of heat but was sadly, in my opinion, not worth the ten minute wait as the breading was too thick, the chicken lacked flavor the pickles were seen and the texture was felt, but not tasted, unlike the aioli that permeated throughout. Perhaps if they had wrapped the chicken in lettuces instead of a bun, the thick breading would have been more appreciated. As it stood, the amount of bread was overwhelming and made me wish I was a vegan again.

Still, eating chicken had its advantages if only for the comical reactions of my friends. When I told one of my friends I was eating chicken, she gave me a hug and told me that the teriyaki place across the street from work was good and only five dollars.

When I told another, she sent me a text saying something along the lines of meat is murder before sending me a picture of the roast she was making for dinner. 

My friend’s reactions were great and my body’s response wasn't horrible. The last time I had chicken, prior to this month, was in December when I was walking home from work late at night. I was hungry and dealing with the beginnings of a headache due to it. Normally, I would have had a protein bar in my backpack to munch on but I decided to clean it out the night before so it was devoid of food.   Stopping at the only open food pod, a Mexican joint I had eaten at many times, I ordered a burrito with chicken. It tasted fine. But hungry stomachs aren't supposed to be trusted as I went to bed with my stomach feeling off. I originally thought it was due to eating meat after such a long absence of it. But when I woke up at three in the morning with the realization that I had food poisoning, I realized I was wrong.

The most adverse reaction I had this month was when I was frying chicken and almost eating it while still pink in the center. Such a thing should be considered a scare and a reminder that large pieces of chicken will take a longer time to cook then smaller ones.

My own idiocy aside, chicken month was a rousing success even though I didn't make chicken kiev.

Will I do a month of only chicken again? No. Why? It is too much of a pain for someone who doesn't like meat.