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“How to eat Fried Worms” (vegan-style)

Does anyone remember the book from elementary school: How to eat Fried Worms?

That’s what came to mind as I assembled today’s lunch. I started out with a monster salad (mixed greens, spinach, and lots of chard), with sesame-ginger dressing and crunchy almonds. So far so good. But then, when I cooked up some of my newest-favorite high-protein spaghetti, things got ugly.

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Really ugly. Above, the spaghetti and salad, along with garlic-y zucchini, which I sautéed using this healthy method. Nothing wrong with how my lunch tasted!

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Do you know how hard it is to make that pasta appear appetizing? Looks like a plate filled with earthworms!!

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Published on September 12, 2010

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51 Comments

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  1. Faith says

    Thank you for admitting you’ve tried Milk Bones! I remember once when I was very little – like 6 or 7 – I was SUCH a picky eater that my mother told me if I didn’t want to eat the dinners she made me, she’d just start serving me dog food…so what did I do? JUST to be a petulant little imp I stuck my hand in the bag of Alpo and started crunching the kibble…and she swears I was smiling like I liked it :/ That right there is far more worrisome than worm noodles! (Which look absolutely fabulous, for the record).

  2. abby says

    hahahahahaha oh this post made me laugh so much! when i was little, i was always afraid to eat watermelon seeds, because my mom said a watermelon would grow in my tummy!

  3. Katie says

    Haha, I loved that book in elementary school – and my kiddos still love it today! And now it’s even a movie.

    I ate cat food when I was little, just to see what it tasted like. 🙂 No worms, though…

  4. Valerie says

    My dear little daughter has you all beat: about a year ago, she ate a red ant. Picked it up and just plopped it onto her tongue. I was horrified! And not just because we’re vegetarians ;).

  5. Sarahishealthy says

    Oh those banana cereal pictures DO look good! I’m off to check out Marianne’s blog now.
    But Katie, I also think your lunch looks good :).

  6. Albizia says

    These spaghetti actually look appealing to me. But I’m weird so I suppose my opinion doesn’t count 🙂 .

    I haven’t ever eaten real worms but I have also tried dog food and I must admit I liked it. Other weird things… Well, when I was 5 I ate a whole snow ball while my mom wasn’t looking at me. And I didn’t catch a cold 😛

  7. VEGirl says

    HAHA!! I read how to eat fried worms like four ears ago or something. Ick, I really didn’t get it (it was the year before I went vegan). Let me see… have I ever eaten anything strange. Well, I used to like sucking on coins! I really liked the metallic taste. And, um…. yeah can’t think of anything else. There’s probably a ton of gross stuff I’m not thinking of right now!
    VEGirl

  8. Jenny says

    Your lunch looks awesome to me, Katie! Wish I could try some of that black bean pasta – I LOVE your garlicky zucchini “recipe”/cooking method and have it with whole grain spaghetti… but I love black beans so…

    I remember eating black ants during recess. :S There was an ant-eating competition… and I was a tomboy, so I joined the boys in some of their weird competitions like that. I also lived in Asia when I was little, so I had lots of chances to eat strange things. XD Fried grasshoppers, scorpions on toasty flatbread, and some pretty horrific Filipino dishes…

    What are Milk Bones, though?!

  9. radioactivegan says

    I don’t remember eating anything too odd, although I do remember reading that book.

    My friend’s little sister ate a battery once (needless to say she went to the hospital for that one). And my Dot (grandmother) will readily admit she was a paste eater in her younger days.

  10. Fi says

    I cant say Ive ever eaten worms, but I have eaten washing up liquid, thinking it was icing sugar, not a very good mistake to make, ha.
    xxx

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      Eh, I get more than enough fiber in other areas of my diet, so I don’t really care about that. Sometimes I have to worry about getting too MUCH fiber lol! I love the protein stats in this, as I’m more of a carb-loving girl who isn’t big on meat analogs.

      Yeah, the only ingredients are black beans and water.

  11. stylish1 says

    While I’ve never had worms I’ve had my fair of spaghetti in my day lol. Hmm weird food? Um I’ve dipped dorito’s into plain vanilla ice cream loL! Oh man to make it worse, it was good!!

  12. GabyE says

    When I was a kid I ate mud on a dare, and I’ve definitely had Milk Bones before, its very unfortunate that Scooby Snacks look so similar.

    That banana bread in a bowl looks amazing! And so do the ugly noodles, I love ugly food, it’s so much fun!

  13. EmbraceYourSkin says

    Yep, I too tried a dog treat once. That was about it though. I knew lots of kids who ate bugs but I always thought it was gross!

  14. Kiersten says

    Bugs freaked me out so much when I was younger that I wouldn’t even read that book, let alone eat a worm! They still freak me out a little actually. I don’t remember doing it, but apparently I ate an eraser that looked like a hamburger when I was little. hehe.

  15. monicanelsonfitness says

    What a Great book, I have not thought of that book in so long. 😉
    Your Meals look good to me! I cannot find that pasta at Whole FOods- on many occasions too, Any tips on how to find it???They said they ordered it too….
    I might of taken a bite out of a cranyon once in K (ok I know I did for sure, it was purple) but that is better than a worm right?!Katie, I also have tried a milk bone! Glad to know we have another thign in common!!

  16. ~Jessica Zara~ says

    I can’t recall eating anything strange, although I was rushed into the Emergency Ward because my parents thought I had swallowed a pound coin (UK currency) Luckily an x-ray exonerated me though 😉

    To me that spaghetti looks delicious! In fact, I could gobble your whole meal right off the screen. I wish I could find the spaghetti or something similar in backward old England!

    Hope you’re having a fab Sunday

    ~Jess~
    xxxxxxxxxx

  17. 40apples says

    Yeahhh I tried cat food once. And I remember at least like 5 kids every year “accidentally” swallowing worms (how that even HAPPEN?!) throughout elementary school. Haha. Some of our school lunches could be categorized as “strange”/inedible too (e.g. their “McRib” sandwich. nuff said.).

  18. Mary @ Bites and Bliss says

    I ate wet cat food once. I swear I remember my mom telling me it was good but she has no idea what I’m talking about. Maybe I asked if the cats liked it and she said yes..and then I somehow twisted that into “it tastes good.” I was 4 so that’s probably what happened. Granted, it.was.disgusting.

  19. Namaste Gurl says

    Mmmm, that black- bean paste looks yummmyy. Too bad it’s not available at WF. I do hate shipping costs, too, but lemme know if you find a cheap site to get them from!

    DO give the recipe for your semame- gingah dressing, looks good 🙂

  20. Kelly says

    Yep, I definitely crunched on some Milk Bones in my day – I wanted to sample every flavor to see if they were really different!

    I also used to tear off a bit of paper, crumple it up, put it in my mouth, and pretend it was chewing gum. My mom was just a tad overprotective and was afraid I’d choke on real gum, so I wasn’t allowed to have it for the longest time. Good job, Mom; instead of hypothetically choking on gum, I probably ingested whatever nasty bleaches, dyes, and chemicals are in notebook paper! Gross!

  21. Kiki says

    Haha I sooo remember that book! And when I was a little kid, I thought I was a dinosaur from watching The Land Before Time so much and ate the leaves off trees. Now I’m a vegetarian… go figure.

    And I actually really want to try that spaghetti! Did you find it at Whole Foods?

  22. Marianne says

    Perhaps I’m weird, but I don’t think the noodles look all that bad 🙂 And thanks for the shout out! I would argue those aren’t exactly my best photos though 😉

  23. BroccoliHut says

    Ha! I was about to write “Milk Bones” before I even saw your confession. Great minds think a like:) I thought they would taste like Wheat Thins at the time…

  24. Rachael says

    Milk Bone confidential: I liked the yellow ones.
    I ate worms, bugs, dirt, clay, usually on a bet, and sometimes just because i was curious. Sadly, to this day I don’t wash the beets or carrots I dig up from my garden – just eat ’em raw with the dirt still clinging….don’t judge me 🙂

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