A Trip to the Darkside

My husband, the Handsome Australian, actually has another alias: the Healthy Australian. Ever since I've met him, he has continually shunned the fast food lifestyle and has always opted to take the high road when it comes to food choices. There is very little that passes his lips that isn't fresh, healthy and in most cases carefully prepared. He is after all, a self declared food snob who enjoys a healthy meal, but wants it to be really tasty as well.

On the other hand, I'm a reformed fast food junkie. Growing up in the USA meant it was very hard to escape the multitude of fast food options available. As a high school student I can recall crossing the road and eating at McDonald's 4 days out of 5 each week during our lunch hour. I cringe at the thought of the calories and fat I was shoving into my adolescent body. I really didn't know any better at the time. When I got a bit older and had a car, I could drive all the way down to the local Whataburger for lunch. Oh my, Whataburger. Yum, Yum, and Yum. So much better (tasting) than McDonald's, but still not very high on the health-o-meter. Don't even get me started on all the Tex-Mex fast food choices. It will only end in tears...oh how I miss it.

When I first arrived in Australia, it became obvious that the fast food options here were limited. Also, Australian fast food isn't exactly the same as American fast food. Aussies seem to flock to the Fish and Chips shops when they need a quick meal. They also like to pick up a quick meat pie or sausage roll (YUCK and YUCK) or another Aussie favourite the pastie which is a pastry shell filled with assorted ingredients (meat, potato, veggies, etc). The country isn't overrun with Burger joints although it does have it's fair share of McDonald's and Burger King (or Hungry Jack's as it's affectionately known in some parts of Oz). This new fast food scene took a bit of getting used to.

As the Handsome Australian was really one of the few people I knew in Australia when I first turned up here, my food choices were largely dictated by his tastes. In keeping with his healthy attitude towards food, this meant little or no fast food. Slowly but surely, he worked the fast food almost entirely out of my diet.

Once our children were born, the Handsome Australian expressed his desire to keep them largely away from the McDonald's and Burger Kings of the world. He's not a fast food Nazi or anything, he's happy for the Grandparents or Aunties and Uncles to take the kids to McDonald's as a special treat, but he believes as their parents we should avoid taking them there. It's his theory that we should lead by example.

How can he be so perfect, this healthy living Handsome Australian? No junk food, nothing but goodness for the kids, it's all a bit frighteningly utopian. That is unless you know his secret, because let's face it we all have a dirty little secret don't we? The Handsome Australian's secret is when push comes to shove, he loves a little bit of the Colonel! That's right folks, he's a KFC man. Where did this chink in his armour come from? Turns out the Handsome Australian's Dad was partial to a bucket of finger lickin' goodness now and again when the Handsome Australian was just a boy. He has many fond memories of demolishing these buckets with his Dad and brothers. It reminds him of being a kid.

So when the Handsome Australian is feeling a bit on the cheeky side, he'll have a bit of KFC. He doesn't visit KFC very often, so it is particularly noteworthy when he does. Even more noteworthy is when he takes his own children there, for a meal. That's exactly what happened this weekend. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Handsome Austrlian standing at the counter ordering lunch for all of us on Saturday. I had to take a photo.

Will wonders never cease? What are your secret fast food splurges?