Tikkabik

So I gave these a try, just for shits and grins. They're aight, not the best, but okay. Basically tofu pups wrapped in corn batter. Cooking them in a toaster oven yields better results than the microwave, for what it's worth.

I remember my first corn dog. It was in Seattle, when I was a kid. What a wondrous food item -- a hot dog on a stick, deep fried in corn batter. Divine.

I've been on a meatless kick for the past couple of months. It's going well. Don't worry -- cows still moo in fear when they smell me (then again, so does everyone else). I haven't lost a pound, but I feel better.

For lunch, I used to pack away a hot pocket or two, heat up some chicken nuggets or whatever else we had that I could stick in the nuke-box for a few minutes and chow down on in front of my keyboard. I discovered that I really felt like shit -- the high fat, high cholesterol products bogged me down like crazy and just generally acted like pouring sugar in my gas tank after a few hours.

So in May I started substituting those products with reasonably healthier things. For a while I was eating vegetarian sandwiches or salads, but that gets tired quickly. So lately I've been buying Chik Patties or Grillers from Morningstar Farms and Boca or whatever other meatless meat product maker I have coupons for, or happen to be on sale that week, and I've been finding that they're a good, filling substitute.

As it turns out, protein is protein, whether it's processed, textured soy or meat. And these companies have been doing a good job making meat simulacra, enough that I don't miss it.

Are they healthy? Well, no. They've still got a certain amount of fat, and they're ridiculously high in sodium (the taste has to come from somewhere), but calorically they're lower than what I was eating, and they're certainly lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and other bad things.