Hello John,
Just a quick line to say Hi, and welcome to the AA forum! I'm an alcoholic, and people call me chip.
Phobia is a good word. I work in a bar, and I NEVER leave my virgin drink unattended... I'm parinoid about drinking the wrong drink. Once, and only once, somebody joked about spiking my drink. I waited untill he had a break, and I called him up to my office. Needless to say, nobody ever made a joke like that again....
Yep, I don't do mouthwash either.
I'll tell this story here only because is sort of relates to the topic.... It's an example of an unwanted tasting of liquid.
Once, at work, I was stuggling with a stuborn beer keg. I was having trouble hooking it up to the system, and the bartender couldn't get it to work. All of a sudden, I was sprayed with a pressurized spray of beer. It soaked my shirt and hair. The worst part was that beer was shot into my nose...and yes...some was on my lips and in my mouth.
I sort of freaked out. I spat anything in my mouth out on the floor. I went to the sink and rinsed out my mouth and nasal passages. I went home and showered.
The cool thing about this experience is that the taste and smell of beer doesn't make me want to drink. Later, I was even able to laugh at myself about it.... Here I am, the alcoholic, working so hard at my program... and I get sprayed all over by beer. I know the staff snickered at me behind my back, but I'd snicker at me as well.
For me, the point is that if I am right with my HP, and I'm working my program.. Stuff like this isn't going to make me relapse. Eating food certainly isn't going to send be back to drinking, unless I am not working on my recovery. Just my opinion. Like I said earlier, though, I try and avoid eating things with booze in it. I've made ribs without boiling them in beer, and they are tasty. Boiling the ribs in a mixture of apple juice, spices, and water works great as well
chip