PinkPanther08

I decided to make mussels tonight and realized the recipe called for white wine. I have about 2 weeks. I have not been counting, I just have not been drinking and have been keeping busy with work.

I looked in two stores for just a small bottle. Actually 3 and finally settled on a 3 serving size box wine. I usually don't drink white wine but of course I will.

I have not been thinking about alcohol. But I started having racing thoughts about drinking.

I made the mussels and thought I was going to only make half and would need the other half of the bottle but I had the bottle left and it was on my counter.

I wasn't really feeling tempted to drink it at the time but I flushed it down the toilet.

I don't know, it was so strange.

Maybe because I've turned into a hermit drunk and am most comfortable drinking at home alone.

I have been out with friends and not even been tempted to drink.


Other than that things have been going well...

Just working, working out --- wash and repeat!

Dee74

I'm glad you flushed the rest PP

maybe next time you can explore a non alcoholic recipe?

D

Newway7

Thought that was a bold move to go and purchase the wine for it etc, even being in the liquor store would have me itching! I admire your strong will in facing temptation. I recently found an old bottle of red in my fridge from something I cooked ages ago and had a similar experience, even held it in my hands for a minute and smelled it before dumping. It was an odd sort of life flashing before my eyes experience lol. Glad we dumped it down where it belongs. Grats on 2 weeks , all the best.

August252015

I'm two years and a dash sober.

I do not consume foods with alcohol, cook with it at home, nada. I often research a resto menu ahead of time, and I am pretty well-versed in dishes like mussels (yikes), classic bolognese (red wine) or other pasta sauces, mushroom sauces (often port wine) and steak (plenty of them come topped with something alcoholic even if the menu doesn't say so...).

I unabashedly send dishes back if I somehow missed an alcoholic ingredient.

I'm not afraid of drinking- I simply don't want it in my body.

There are SO many other things to make - why put yourself in the situation that you did?

Take good care. It really is worth it.

RenRen

WOW!
Kudos to you - I could never have trusted myself!

Rar

Good for you for dumping it.

J50

Nice job building those sober muscles! 💪💪💪💪

doggonecarl

Depending how it's cooked, alcohol remains...

lessgravity

PP-

Couple things.

1. I can relate to being out with friends, not drinking, and then being tempted to drink on my own. That's the kind of drinker my Beast wants me to be anyhow. Nothing like a weekend to myself on the couch to poison my body and spirit!

2. I am a home cook myself. Mussels is one of my go-to recipes that my wife loves. There is simply no need to use wine! Of course I know the recipe calls for it. Just like red wine in a short rib braise. Just like white wine in my famous seafood stew. But the truth is none of the people who have eaten my food would know that I didn't include the wine. I have found that the desire to purchase that bottle to cook with was really my AV/Beast talking to me. Maybe it's not for you - but it sounds like it.

Nonetheless, excellent work getting rid of that crap.

I'm sure the meal was delicious.

Razorback

I've been fine with buying one or two of those four-pack-sized mini bottles and using them up. Or freezing the remainder in an ice cube tray for sauteeing and such later.

Anna

I'm glad you got through that.

For me, I chose the simple route, and there is never, ever alcohol in house for any reason. I haven't been in a liquor store in years.

Snowydelrico

Well done pp,
If I find unexpected booze hiding somewhere I get a bit of PTSS
Very unpleasant.

Breakingcycles

Awesome! Way to take care of yourself!!

August252015

THANK you Carl. I couldn't find my copy to link it. This is eye opening when what most of us have thought "oh it cooks off." It really doesn't as quickly or as much as we thought.

DoneDying

I have a fair amount of sobriety now so my triggers come few and far between. But even early on, I didn't worry about if there was cooked alcohol in food that was served to me while I was out. That simply wasn't a trigger for me although I know it can be for others.

However, I cook a lot at home and never use alcohol in my cooking. There are lots of substitutes for the alcohol in those recipes that you can find on the Internet. While cooked alcohol in food is not a trigger for me, having an open bottle of alcohol next to me while I am cooking would be.

PinkPanther08

You know I really didn't think about it that way. When I think of alcohol I don't think about it being in foods. I just am not that extreme. I intended on buying just one small bottle but after visiting many stores I didn't find any so I ended up with what was 3 glasses when I needed 1-2.

The effects of alcohol evaporate when cooked. UPDATE - thanks for the chart.

I really purchased the mussels without thinking I would need wine. Bought the wine without thinking I would think twice about it as I have been around people drinking with out an issue. And while I was cooking with it, it was not so much an issue. I thought i would need the other half but half of the mussels were already opened so while it set on my counter I just started to think, why save this 3.50 carton of wine???

And with out thinking about it too much, I just tossed it .

PinkPanther08

I think everyone is different. I've learned that I can not drink and things are perfectly fine. It is when I think I can have a few drinks. My drinking is linked to emotional issues so the bottle becomes my friend, my lover etc. and kind of gives me something to do and from there it just spirals out of control. I don't want to go through that again.

I was just sharing my experience.

Gottalife

In early sobriety I could not cook, so never bought any wine for that purpose. However the thought occured to me that If I had a half bottle back then, I probably would chuck it out as there is just not enough to get me interested in drinking it. Often I refused a drink where it was obvious there would not be enough to do a proper job.

MythOfSisyphus

I've been sober for over five years now so I don't worry about cooking with alcohol, I know I'm not going to drink it. Still, I don't keep it around, just use what I need for a given recipe, then if I don't have plans to cook with the rest I give the remaining wine to my normie brother. And yeah, it's always wine or beer for cooking; there are some uses for vodka, etc but not really my general style.