Elk a La Pie!

Back when I was a silly teenage girl I made a list of things I wanted in my future husband. Number 6 on that list....NOT a hunter. Welp, I married a guy named Forrest and guess what-he is a hunter. yup. And I love him to death! The reason why I didn't want to marry a hunter you ask?

1.  One word, Bambi. need I say more?

2. The meat, I am a picky eater (I'm big on texture) and when it comes to meat I've ALWAYS been picky about the texture of the meat. example: I only get frozen chicken tenderloins and by the time I'm done cutting all the ookie parts off Forrest wonders where all the chicken went. Also, I'm not a fan of eating meat off the bone. If I see a bone-I gag a little. 

Being a hunters wife (thankfully Forrest isn't a HUGE hunter, he really just likes the quality time with his dad when they go) I set some ground rules. 

1. I will not touch or cook the meat

2. I will not GO hunting-EVER I refuse to shoot an animal (except maybe my arch enemy- the bird)

3. No animal heads mounted on the walls of our home. All animal heads are only allowed in "The Man 

    Room/Cave" (which we don't have right now. so animal heads in house is a no no)

4. I will try the meat but I can't promise I will like it.

5. No. dead. carcasses.will.enter.this.home. All meat must be packed and wrapped. 

Well last night I broke one of those rules, here is the story:

People have been making a stink about "pink Slime" in hamburger and frankly it sounds-mmm-nasty. And I didn't know how to check if my hamburger had "pink slime" in it or not. So while cringing inside I had Forrest get out some of his elk he had in the fridge. I knew it didn't have any "pink slime" goop in it. and I TOUCHED THE MEAT. eek. AND I cooked it. yea thats right I cooked elk for the first time in my life. Now, since I've been pregnant the smell and texture of hamburger makes me want to...um... makes me sick. (don't ask why I insist on using it meals still) But to be perfectly honest I've never liked the smell of cooking burger or the texture of it. Whenever I cook hamburger I always have to add some spice of some kind so I can't smell the plain meat cooking. So I was bracing myself for the worst before I put the elk meat in the pan. - don't worry- I took pictures. 

[The Meat]

(notice the open window-I was preparing for the worst)

Can I just say, I was pleasantly surprised!! I didn't add any spice or seasoning of any kind and the meat smelled SO good! (this is coming from a 6 month pregnant women who gags at the smell of meat) You might think I'm crazy pants but it smelled.....butter-y. mmmmm!!!! 

All cooked and ready to go! wondering what I'm cooking??? (if not-too bad)

Shepherds pie! YUM! The only way I could eat hamburger- smothered in mashed potatoes and cheese. Ahhh. heaven. 

Forrest LOVED it and I tried some- not to shabby. Guess who still picked out the elk of her mashed potatoes and veggies and plopped all the meat onto her husbands plate----THIS GIRL! 

So in short: Cooking Elk for the first time- good experience. baby steps. 

(exceptions only allowed on rule #1) All others- NO EXCEPTIONS. nope.