A Moment in My Life – Thursday, February 11, 2021
I am dating myself. Yet, I can’t ignore growing up to the beloved Popeye cartoons with his famous sidekick, Wimpy, the hefty hamburger mooching buddy with the memorable one-liner, “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” As a kid, I always wondered if Wimpy ever paid his tab. I guess I will never know. Many of us, okay, some of us, okay, maybe just me, may have quoted Wimpy from time-to-time. I wasn’t a big burger person. On the rare occasion that I had a burger, I couldn’t help but think of Wimpy and recite his famous quote, “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
I share this because I’ve been repeating Wimpy’s quote a little too often these days. Do you know what that means? I’ve been enjoying burgers a lot lately. Becoming a burger mooching Wimpy-wannabe began the day I discovered Beyond Burger patties. Before this discovery, hamburgers were too much meat for me. I was never much of a meat doting kind of gal. I enjoyed a burger on occasion, like during my birthday month, I would claim a free Royal Red Robin Burger to be doing it. I chose this burger because that was Mark’s favorite burger. He had his with a fried egg while I had mine how it was intended, sunny side up, runny.
As life revealed my heart challenges, it was a good thing that I wasn’t a big meat eater. Otherwise, I may not be here to tell you my story. The silver lining because of my heart condition, I changed my diet to a version of plant-based. I’m a flexitarian, meaning I am plant-based mostly, but I partake in healthy lean proteins, such as salmon and chicken, and the occasional beef and pork, minimally.
My new plant-based diet meant no more fun foods that I had gotten used to, like Costco hot dogs, which by the way, I haven’t had one in 19 months. I’m reserving my right to one when I really crave a hot dog. I haven’t been able to convert to a decent plant-based hot dog yet. When I discovered the Beyond Burger patties, that lit up my world, and suddenly I could enjoy a burger more healthily, and that was it. I always have Beyond Burger patties in my fridge now.
At the time I found Beyond Burger, the Impossible Burger was around but not circulating fast enough. I heard about them, but none was available in my area. My friend, Rich, raved about it and one day took me out to a restaurant near him, and I tried my first Impossible Burger. It was thoroughly convincing, just like Beyond Burger. I had to pull my burger away from me to scrutinize the patty thinking maybe the cook made a mistake and delivered a beef patty instead. It was that comparable.
The Beyond Burger patties have been readily available. Costco began carrying them and has promoted this item a couple of times at a to-die-for price. The Impossible Burger patties weren’t as widely available. When they were, the price hurt my eyes. You can imagine my surprise when I saw a pack of two Impossible Burger patties for $7. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I read that correctly. I bought my first Impossible Burger patties and made my own Impossible Burger last night, and I’m a believer, praise the Lord, that this is the new burger for me. I made an avocado, Daiya cheddar cheese, butter and spinach lettuce Impossible Burger on a thin whole wheat nutty bun paired with reduced-sodium potato chips. It was an immensely satisfying burger.
In shopping for healthier food options, I met another new best friend, the salmon patty—adding to my burger experience in a delightful way. Now, I have three different healthy burger options to enjoy. These days, if you are near me, you’d be saying this quote in your sleep, “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
