Welcome to Kicking & Screaming Vegetarian!

Hello, my name is Craig.  This blog is my attempt to show some of the vegetarian dishes that I am cooking as a result of some health issues that made me consider a true vegetarian diet. I've also had the desire to start a blog for a long time.  Now I can check it off the list.

Up until 2004, my work history was all about food.  I've cooked at McDonald's during high school and I've cooked for Hall of Fame rock stars when I catered.  I've been thankful for each job and the experiences, good & bad, gained from the time spent at each job.  McDonald's taught me teamwork, sanitation and food safety.  Catering for famous people taught me to be thankful for the normal people I know.  I am a former meat cutter, chef, caterer and big-box food service manager.  I now work in an office, so cooking is not my primary focus, but I have never lost the love for food and I've continued to share the excitement of those who truly appreciate a meal cooked with skill & love.

When I was first bitten by the culinary bug, I tried to figure out how I could go to the Culinary Institute of America.  It was the only school that I would ever consider seriously.  My income level  was just high enough to prevent me from getting financial aid but my bills prevented me from taking 2 years off of work.  So, I did the best thing I could.  I bought the books that the Culinary Institute of America used and read everything.  I was lucky enough to live close to several used bookstores and I bought every single copy of Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Food Arts and Cooks Illustrated that I could find.  They were all less than .50 each and I scoured them to learn how the professionals cooked, while trying to find ways to change the recipe.  The magazines kept up with the latest food trends and the newest gadgets.  I watched all the cooking shows I could.  Back then, there was no FoodTV.  There was Julia Child, Great Chefs (on the Discovery Channel), PBS had Yan Can Cook, The Frugal Gourmet (I loved that show!), Mary Ann Esposito and the master.... Jacques Pepin. I love to watch Jacques techniques.  The cooking shows back then were not smooth and flowing.  They were rigid and edited to only show technique, ingredients and the final plate.

When I felt ready to get a real restaurant job, it was almost impossible to get a job in a professional kitchen, without experience.  I applied to the big resorts and was actually told by one chef after my interview that he didn't think I was right for the job.  I had 7 years of meat cutting experience and I thought I nailed everyone of his interview questions, but he was the almighty chef and I was sent walking.  Nine years later, that same chef applied for my job.  I was leaving the corporate chef world and he wanted my job.  I kindly called him and thanked him for his resume, however, I didn't feel he was right for the job.  He never knew who I was, but I felt vindicated.  He was qualified, but my company was not going to pay relocation costs that he wanted.  Back to my story.... I finally got my break.  I was dating a girl who had a brother, who was friends with the sous chef at the hottest new restaurant in town and I used that connection to get an interview.  I told the chef that I would do whatever it takes to get the job.  He called a couple days later and offered me the greatest job in the world.  I was going to be the newest prep cook at City Grill in Tucson, AZ.  For me, it was like winning the lottery, even though we all know that a prep cook is just one step above the dishwasher.  Most times, you work at a table right next to the dish machine.  I was the first one there every morning and I sometimes waited for an hour until the "responsible person" would show up in a gin-soaked haze with the key to open the back door.  I took my job serious, more serious than those around me thought I should. Most of my co-workers were very talented, but they were burnt out.  They were on the downside of their culinary career, while I was looking forward to launching mine.  I learned a lot at my first job in a real kitchen.  Most importantly, I learned to take advice on how to be more efficient. No wasted steps and no wasted food.  The restaurant was named Best New Restaurant of the year and the writer of the article mentioned several items that I was solely responsible for.  It was a great pat on the back, even if the executive chef stepped in front of that pat and took all the credit. I later found out that he was using recipes from Mark Miller and others. Oh well, he had the $150 Braggard chef coat and mine was food stained from actually working, so I let him take the photo op.

I had many other kitchen jobs after that first one.  Like most cooks, I bounced around; sometimes making a lateral move, rather than dealing with an unappreciative and untalented chef with a fake French accent.  I continued to move up in my career, even if the new job was the same position, it was at a more respected kitchen.  I finally found a corporate job where I worked from 7am to 3pm, Monday - Friday.  I took it as a great time to start a catering business.  I did parties my way and it was my menu.  It was great.  I was finally able to do it my way.  I could still keep my day job and cater at night and on the weekends.  After 3 years, I called it quits.  I went back to school and got the degree I started before my first kitchen job.  I can now enjoy piling into an overcrowded restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night with the rest of the world that works "normal business hours", instead of sweating in one.  I miss the professional kitchen, but I don't miss the low pay, the over inflated egos and the poor treatment from people in the industry who have no idea what it takes to put a plate of food on a table.  Don't even get me started on front of the house managers and servers.

This blog is not my goal to convert anyone to a meat-free diet, nor am I a fan of those who do.  This is simply an experiment to see if I can reap the benefits of a non-meat diet, while I am recovering from stage 3 colon cancer and currently going through a chemotherapy course.  I'm not searching for sympathy either.  I just feel I should not purposely avoid the real reason I began this experiment into the vegetable-only arena.

I am very lucky to have a wife that is supportive of anything that will make me healthy and happy.  She is eating what I eat, with minor variations due to a hectic work schedule and a desire for a cheeseburger every month or so.  I'm also lucky because she is a fantastic baker.  I am sure I will be posting pictures of her creations soon.

I called my blog "Kicking & Screaming Vegetarian" because I've always loved meat and growing up as a son of a meat cutter, meals where supposed to be meat & potatoes and if you didn't have potatoes, you just had more meat.  Tofu, Tempeh, Seitan and Textured Vegetable Protein were all foreign to me.  Like a lot of people, I tried tofu.  I did what they said, I cut it in cubes and put it in my stir fry.  They said "it takes on the flavor of the stir fry".  "They" didn't tell me to properly prepare the tofu and they sure didn't tell me that mushy chunks of goo would ruin the $25 worth of vegetables that had the misfortune of sharing the wok with the goo.  This experience would wind up scaring me away from tofu for a long, long time.  Well, that was 20 years ago and I've let go of the betrayal that tofu left me with that day.

I've found that there are so many more very good meat substitutes in the grocery store, than even 5 or 10 years ago.  I will be sharing those products with you, not because I'm a paid sales agent for them, but because, as a person who likes meat, I found that there are many products that are of high quality and do not leave me feeling like I got swindled.

I would appreciate any feedback from those who take the time to visit my blog.

Thank you,
Craig