extra protein

I ate bugs in my curry last night. I'm not proud of it but I'm not not proud either. My squeemish attitude regarding food has been a lifelong journey. As a child, I didn't like all the standard things: mushrooms, smelly cheese, beans, brussel sprouts, etc. (As I grew up those things inevitably became my favorite foods!) I've always had a careful attitude towards the food I will put in my mouth. If a bug so much as sniffed a bag of flour I would throw it away. I would sometimes wash my vegetables in bleach water and usually throw out food that had sat outside of the fridge for 4 hours or longer. Things are a little different now. I am living on a small budget and food is a long way away so it's not always viable to be so selective. I have kept an open mind. As I entered training in St Lucia, I was scared to find ants all over the kitchen. I was disgusted to find the chickens were allowed in the house, because those birds carry a lot of diseases. But as my host mom plucked a ripe sugar apple from the tree, the skin crawling with ants, ripped it in half and pushed the soft, custardy flesh up to her mouth I took a deep breath and nibbled my half, trying to avoid thinking of the ants. The sugar apple tasted good and tropical and I didn't taste any ants. Later on I noticed people left food out all day and I was beyond scared. I don't want food poisoning! But I ate what was made for me and trusted that I would be ok. Time went on and similar experiences came up, each time softening my picky attitude. Last night I was preparing a curry and I dumped a measure of lentils into the spiced, boiling pot and then noticed a few beetles in the sack. I also had cumin seed in my curry so they also looked like little bugs. I decided not to throw away the whole pot but to see if my stomach would allow me to eat it, I was really hungry! And it did. I forgot about the bugs until I picked one out. Yay for me! Perhaps there is a tv deal in my future.