How Bad For Me Is It??

My parents and I were discussing great recipes at breakfast. We talked about whether or not we learned to cook at our momma's knee (not!) and how long it took for us to become passable cooks.

We also talked about the best recipes we had, and the best food we'd ever eaten. Years ago, my mom gifted me with a set of old cookbooks. Some 1950's hardback entertaining cookbooks from Better Homes and Gardens or something like that... They are very fun to look through, but I've only actually cooked a few of the recipes.

One of the biggest hits from that set of cookbooks is from their Mexican Fiesta party menu. It's a recipe for Spanish Rice that is the best thing you've ever eaten in your whole life. I've made it to take to barbeques and end up fielding compliments all day long. It's so yummy. It ought to be. The recipe starts out with a half a pound of bacon fat.

That got my mom talking. She made the comment that if I only made it once or twice a year, how bad for me was it really? If you only eat something like that once in a blue moon, is it really so bad? Or is it a treat?

We don't have a lifestyle that has enough activity/exercise to allow us to intake that many calories. Not any longer. Not since we worked in the fields.

But once a year, to indulge in something steeped in bacon fat can't kill me. Can it? For the rest of the year, I cook things that are nutritionally dense and low calorie. I cook at home. I bake and broil. I use fresh vegetables in season and avoid canned, using frozen when possible.

I've really taken hold of my food intake. I read labels and avoid fast foods. So the question is this: how bad is it for me? Can I indulge a little once in a while?

--Sandee Wagner