Working through my prejudices with Strawberries, Bananas and Raisins...

No, these are not the ingredients to my latest new recipe. In fact, these are all foods which would currently be on my list of "I don't eat..." Some would call me a finicky eater because I am pretty selective as to what I will and will not eat. And I will be the first one to admit there is truly no rhyme nor reason outside the vast void of my own thoughts. Fact is, as an adolescent I enjoyed eating all three of these foods as often as I could get my hands on them. So just how whacky are my eating habits?

I love tomato based sauces but won't eat tomatoes - unless of course they are in a salsa. I will not touch seafood of any kind - unless it is tuna fish out of a can, mixed with mayonnaise and served as a sandwich. I really don't think I am all that unusual in my eating habits, I know others who are just as quirky or even more quirky than I am when it comes to food.

So why would you care? My belief is that just like so many other areas of our lives our eating habits are created and potentially changed by our life experiences. For instance, I said I will not touch seafood of any kind but it is not because I have tried it and found I didn't like it. In fact, like so many prejudices in our lives I am really not sure why I feel this way. Could it be because my father's favorite protein was red meat? Perhaps my dislike of seafood was influenced by my lifetime practice of catch and release fishing. To me the bottom line is this - the source of our prejudices is not as important as recognizing how we are influenced by them and working hard to get past them.

What prejudices are influencing you and the way in which you are living your life? Do you have a favorite recipe for overcoming these bad influences in our lives which we could all sink our teeth into? Share your thoughts, and together let's see if we can help each other grow through healthier living.