[quote]Anything with beans or sour cream in it cannot reasonably be classified as "food." The stench alone is worse than anything I've ever had the misfortune of smelling in a public restroom.[/quote] Sour cream has barely any smell to it, and neither do beans. So I'm in need of context on what convoluted mess you experienced to bring about your summation. [quote]Soup is gross. Food is supposed to be solid, not liquid.[/quote] Your -blam!- ratio is obviously to blame. My soups all become a casserole by the time I'm dome smashing saltines into it. [quote]If the meal includes some kind of plant-based meat substitute, it cannot be called dinner, and I want nothing to do with you. We cannot be friends.[/quote] FTFY

[quote]Sour cream has barely any smell to it, and neither do beans. So I'm in need of context on what convoluted mess you experienced to bring about your summation.[/quote] Do you not have a nose? Dead serious. My sense of smell is [i]barely functional[/i] in most cases, but I can detect the pungent odor of sour cream from another room. (Beans aren't [i]always[/i] as malodorous, but I can smell chili if I'm near the same room and it's pretty awful.) In what [i]universe[/i] does it not have a smell? It sure as -blam!- isn't this one. [quote]If the meal includes some kind of plant-based meat substitute, it cannot be called dinner, and I want nothing to do with you. We cannot be friends.[/quote] I don't touch plant-based "meat" myself, but I added that for the people that don't eat real meat. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy something at least [i]vaguely[/i] similar to meat with their dinner. Imagining a life without ever experiencing the joy of a good burger is just a sad, sad concept :(

[quote]Imagining a life without ever experiencing the joy of a good burger is just a sad, sad concept :([/quote] That is plant based meat substitute in a nut shell! And I actually have a very developed, sensitive sense of smell. I just have never found sour cream to have much of a scent, let alone a bad one.

I hope you stub your toe.

I will, and you'll [i]never[/i] know about it.

So you hate Mexican side dishes and soup? Do you eat fish, fish can be had for every meal, fish is also a meat and you can have it for dinner. I personally enjoy frying up some kippered herring and some fried eggs with bacon for a tasty breakfast, maybe add a cold beer as well...

I would *mostly* agree with one, with the one exception of rice + beans. Something about rice just makes beans not only bearable, but actually pretty tasty. I can't eat most soups, so no real comment there, but I will say I have had one soup that is very good. Don't ask me what it is, I don't know. It was still mostly made up of solid foods, like veggies and whatnot, but they were sitting in a tomato thing. Which, like, to my knowledge, this is how most soups work; solids in a liquid. If soups aren't food, then cereal wouldn't be either. The last one is just kinda dumb, no offense. There are plenty of ways to have dinner without meat. I don't even understand where this idea is coming from.

There are plenty of [i]meals[/i] that don't include meat (or pseudo-meat), but I wouldn't call any of them dinner. Without meat, there just isn't enough substance for me to consider it a proper dinner. Dinner is meat.

I don’t know how you figure. I’m just about 30 and my family’s never had a dinner [i]with[/i] meat except on holidays. I don’t see what about dinner requires meat.

Maybe it's just because I grew up eating meat? A dinner without meat just leaves me wanting more food. Like, if you handed me a peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch, I'd happily take it. Lunch is just there to hold me over until dinner, and sandwiches are perfectly good at that. If you handed me that same sandwich for dinner, I'd laugh at you. Dinner needs to hold me over until the next morning, and not having meat invariably fails at that goal. I've yet to have a "dinner" without meat that didn't result in me getting up for another meal late at night.

I mean, I would agree with you in that specific context. A sandwich isn't a good dinner. I personally also wouldn't consider it a good lunch, though, it's more of a snack. It could be part of a good lunch, but not a good lunch on its own. It kind of sounds like it's more of a size thing, not a content thing. Like, you don't need meat for dinner, you just need a big enough dinner to fill yourself up for the next morning, and to that I would say fair enough. Dinner isn't my biggest meal--mine is usually lunch--but that's a logic I could more fully get behind. It makes sense. But, like, I've gone to a restaurant and gotten just salad, soup, and breadsticks for dinner, and nobody seemed to think that was strange. It wasn't just people who grew up in my household, either, there were other people there. Plus, it's not something I personally eat, but I know plenty of people who would consider pizza dinner, and while pizza [i]can[/i] have meat, it doesn't have to (and in fact, most people I know prefer plain cheese). Pasta was often pretty popular in my house growing up, with lasagna and spaghetti being pretty common dinners. I'm personally quite fond of a good baked potato or two. And, for the record, if you always want meat for dinner, there's nothing wrong with that. It just seems weird to disqualify something as dinner just because there's no meat in there.

[quote]But, like, I've gone to a restaurant and gotten just salad, soup, and breadsticks for dinner, and nobody seemed to think that was strange. [/quote] I just don't get that. Salad is notoriously bad at sating my appetite, so I've always viewed salad as a waste of money at restaurants. You mentioned that a sandwich is a snack to you, but I've always viewed salad as even less than that. It's basically just plate garnish in terms of sustenance. [quote]I know plenty of people who would consider pizza dinner[/quote] Yep, it's a dinner. [quote]and while pizza [i]can[/i] have meat, it doesn't have to[/quote] ????????????????? My mind is in utter shock at that horrifically insulting statement. That's not a pizza, that's a warm slice of cardboard. [quote](and in fact, most people I know prefer plain cheese).[/quote] WHAT?! That's like ordering a bread sandwich. Why would anyone do that?! I've seen people that prefer [i]extra[/i] cheese on their pizza (not my thing, but some people just really like cheese), but I've only ever seen one person that actually ate a plain cheese pizza, and it was when I was in elementary school. I just chalked it up to kids being kids. (Let's be real, school cafeteria "pizzas" weren't real pizza anyways.) [quote]Pasta was often pretty popular in my house growing up, with lasagna and spaghetti being pretty common dinners.[/quote] I love both of those things. They also both have meat in them. In fact, [i]all[/i] of the pasta in my house growing up included meat. We had [i]chicken[/i] alfredo, tortelloni was always stuffed with various meats, we made our spaghetti sauce with a combination of mild and hot italian sausage, lasagna has layers of sausage in it, I regularly made polish sausage to go with cheese-stuffed tortellini, et cetera. I accidentally deleted the part about baked potatoes, but those go [i]next[/i] to the meat on my plate (usually on steak night). Potatoes are an excellent side dish. (I'm personally not big on [i]baked[/i] potatoes, but there are many good ways to cook a potato.) [quote]And, for the record, if you always want meat for dinner, there's nothing wrong with that. It just seems weird to disqualify something as dinner just because there's no meat in there.[/quote] I guess that's fair, but I'd feel ripped off if somebody put a plate in front of me and called it "dinner" when there wasn't enough food to keep me full for the rest of the night. Like, "Where's the rest of it? Thanks for the appetizer, but when is the main course gonna be ready?" (I obviously wouldn't [i]say[/i] that because it would be terribly rude, but you bet your -blam!- I'd be stopping by a drive-through on my way home to get the rest of my dinner.)

[quote]Salad[/quote] Well, it was an infinite salad kind of deal, and I really love salad so I ate a lot. Plus, as mentioned the salad wasn't the only thing I ate. I'd actually agree that a salad by itself is just a snack. :p [quote]Pizza[/quote] I'm not the best person to comment here because I'm vegan, so I can't even eat pizza. Back when I did I just preferred plain cheese, though. Saying it's just cardboard is a bit of a hyperbole, though. Cheese pizza can be pretty good. It was one of the hardest things to let go when going full vegan, actually. I was always partial to Pizza Hut. Cheese + bread + tomato sauce is just a good combo. I also like a lot of things plain, though. One of my friends theorized I have overly sensitive tastebuds or something, which leads to me liking a lot of flavors other people consider "bland" because I get more out of them or something. I have seen a lot of non-vegetarians who do still prefer just cheese, though. [quote]Pasta[/quote] This is another scenario where they can have meat, but they don't have to. Pasta is another thing that I like plain, actually, so I don't even put sauce on mine. I just like the pasta itself. My family--including my extended family--who have more normal tastes still usually tend to agree that my mummy's lasagna is, like, the best, and she doesn't put any meat in there. [quote]Potatoes[/quote] I really really really love potatoes. A single potato I would say just barely crosses the border into being a meal, but you never need to limit yourself to [i]one[/i] potato. I do know once I went over to a friend's, and her family just got a baked potato for everyone for dinner. Everyone else had stuff on it, but everyone seemed content with it. At least I hope they were, because they only got potatoes because they knew I loved it. :p [quote]I guess that's fair, but I'd feel ripped off if somebody put a plate in front of me and called it "dinner" when there wasn't enough food to keep me full for the rest of the night.[/quote] But that doesn't necessarily mean meat is all I'm saying. If you had a big enough serving size to keep you full, it could be literally anything. I'm assuming meat fills you up faster, which is where this train of thought is coming from, but again it's not a necessity. If you were to eat 9 baked potatoes, for instance, I'm pretty sure that'd keep you full for the rest of the night, meat or not.

[quote]Saying it's just cardboard is a bit of a hyperbole, though. Cheese pizza can be pretty good. [/quote] I've gotta [i]hard[/i] disagree on this one. Cheese pizza is [i]the antithesis[/i] to good pizza. I cannot stress enough how bland, boring, and depressing a pizza is without toppings. That's one of the few instances where I'm [i]not[/i] speaking in hyperbole when I compare the taste to cardboard. In fairness, I don't like cheese in general. To have it as the primary flavor is not something that I can ever vibe with. Maybe it's inoffensive to most people, but it just feels wrong to take away the star of the show and let a [i]background prop[/i] try to pull off the entire performance. Like, dude, that's what the cast is here for. [quote]I'm assuming meat fills you up faster, which is where this train of thought is coming from, but again it's not a necessity. If you were to eat 9 baked potatoes, for instance, I'm pretty sure that'd keep you full for the rest of the night, meat or not.[/quote] That's not too far off the mark, but it's not so much about meat filling me up [i]faster[/i] as it is about the minimum quantity required to feel full. While I'm sure it was hyperbole, eating 9 baked potatoes is just impractical. That takes up more space on the pan (requiring at least 2 separate batches if you're cooking for more than just yourself), you can't fit that many potatoes on a plate, it'd take way longer to eat, and you'd be tired of potatoes by the time you got halfway through the meal. Meat is great in that one slice of steak/chicken/pork/etc will fill me as much as 2-3 helpings of rice/potatoes/(insert other staple food here) or several helpings of lighter foods like vegetables. To get back to salad, I'd have to eat an industrial shipping container of lettuce (why do people want to eat leaves???) to make up for a small slice of chicken. I don't even enjoy a [i]bowl[/i] of salad, so eating more would just be annoying. Pasta is the closest substitute for meat in terms of substance, but it just feels hollow without meat on the side or in the sauce. Lasagna or spaghetti loaded with italian sausage is so good that [i]not[/i] having it just makes it incredibly underwhelming in comparison. The [i]meat[/i] is the part that gives it that classic lasagna flavor. Lasagna without meat is like water without the hydrogen atoms - it's a shell of the complete product. To beat a dead horse and return to the salad thing, it'd be like a salad composed entirely of croutons and dried cranberries. You'd be like "What? This isn't a salad, it's just the croutons. I wanted a salad." Sure, croutons are [i]good[/i], but they aren't a salad on their own.

[quote]Pizza[/quote] I mean, if you don't like cheese then I guess of course you wouldn't like it, but for 90% of people I know, cheese is considered one of the best foods ever. For them cheese [i]is[/i] the main flavor of pizza, and the toppings are just there to compliment it. But, like, who am I to say anything on the matter, I suppose? I don't eat cheese! :p [quote]Potatoes[/quote] You can fit, like, 15 potatoes on a single pan when cooking them. You're right about it not fitting on a plate, though. You would need to go back for second helpings if you're eating more than 4. And, personally, I'd never get sick of potatoes. Like, while eating 9 potatoes is a hyperbole, for sure, I have had a meal that was just 4-5 baked potatoes, and every single one was delicious. I could have easily eaten more. But, like, I do recognize I am just a potato freak. :p [quote]Salad[/quote] People like eating leaves, because eating leaves is so nummy. Like, I don't eat salads a ton, but the only reason I don't eat them more is because I live in a big family, and if I leave my lettuce in the fridge someone else will eat it before I get the chance. I'm not sure I'd chalk up a good salad to one of my favorite meals, but it's probably pretty close to the top of the foods that don't quite make it into my favorites list. Especially when topped with Italian Dressing. Delicious. My salads tend to be pretty plain, but that one salad from the restaurant I mentioned, that was genuinely amazing. It was [i]so good[/i]! [quote]Lasagna[/quote] I actually have never had lasagna, so I can only give a second hand account, but to be clear, most people in my family [i]do[/i] like meat. I'm the only vegan. So, when my family says they think my mummy's lasagna is the best, it's not just a bunch of vegetarians saying it's the best, it's a bunch of meat lovers. So, like, I don't actually know, but at least from the impressions I get, lasagna doesn't sound like it requires meat. This could be one of those "needs to be cooked right" situations, though. Like, nobody in may family would choose to eat a vegetarian lasagna, except for my mummy's, so, maybe there's just something she does with it? I don't know. Again with the disclaimer that I don't actually eat it, though, the key ingredient in lasagna to me has always seemed to be cheese. It's a cheese centric dish. As with your thoughts on pizza, I think the reason you see meat as the central part of it is because you don't like the cheese. Saying meat is the core of lasagna feels like saying chicken is the core part of a quesadilla. Like, I know people who won't eat a quesadilla without chicken, but cheese is still the central ingredient. [quote]Meat[/quote] But yeah, I guess I can see what you're saying. If meat is more filling, and you don't like getting second helpings for some reason, then I [i]guess[/i] I can see the logic behind saying your biggest meal of the day has to have it. I would still say disqualifying something from being dinner just because it has meat is a bit much, though. But also, like, meals where you go to get second helpings are the best meals. There's nothing better than finishing your food and being like "I'ma go get more now!".

[quote]But also, like, meals where you go to get second helpings are the best meals. There's nothing better than finishing your food and being like "I'ma go get more now!"[/quote] I think I see where our ideologies differ. I've always been a [i]terminal muncher[/i], much to my detriment. If I'm even slightly hungry, I feel the need to munch on food, and then I put on weight. I want my dinner to [i]make[/i] me full and [i]keep[/i] me full so I don't feel compelled to go eat more food. I also eat [i]very[/i] slowly, so going back for another helping basically adds 20+ minutes to my dinner block. The other thing that I forgot to mention (which is probably even more important than the minimum quantity required) is how long it takes to actually digest the food. Meat tends to stay in my system significantly longer than other foods, so it keeps me sated longer as well. I usually eat lunch until I'm full as well, but I'm hungry again far sooner than I am after eating a meal with meat.

Wow, you ruled out [i]so many[/i] types of delicious foods I'm not sure where to go with this. 😕

I have not ruled out any [i]foods[/i], only abominations that should never have been consumed by humans.

Beans, sour cream and soup qualify as food, especially since they're often a staple of many types of ethnic foods. Suggesting these are otherwise essentially tells entire cultures that what they've eaten for millennia are wrong. Please understand this isn't meant to start any sort of heated debate about culture, countries and all that, merely providing facts to support my opinion.

I get that. Saying that they don't qualify as food is obvious hyperbole for the sake of expressing how offensively disgusting those things are to me. Yes, they are technically "food." I maintain my stance that I don't understand how anybody could possibly be willing to consume things that look, smell, and taste like they came from a toilet.

Well, with sour cream and beans (some beans anyway) I don't eat them as they are; they're usually a component of a bigger dish like a burrito or some Indian dishes. Of course, then you have other types of "beans" like green beans, which I don't think actually are beans, that can be eaten without them being added into a dish. Preparation can also have a hand in this. So, I guess it's kind of a grey area without you specifying what types of beans you're referring to.