Stuff and such.

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Is there a food that is like - the Holy Grail of foods for you?  Something you will search high and low for, eat three days in a row if given the opportunity?  Or for breakfast lunch and dinner for two days?  For me it was Stouffer's Noodles Romanoff.  Aw-w-e-s-o-o-m-mmmmmme.  (did I mention this wasn't a discussion of the best thing Grandma used to make?)  And then it was gone.  Every time I went to the store my feet dragged through the frozen section .. always hoping against hope .. but it was never there.  It was probably 3 years later that I finally wrote Stouffers a letter asking the fate of my wonderful noodle dish.  

They were so very sorry but - their Noodles Romanoff had been discontinued.  That's a forever thing folks!  I was inconsolable.  But like most things in life, you deal with it.  One foot in front of the other until it doesn't hurt so much.  After all, I still had Stouffer's French Bread Pizza!  Luuuurvve it!

So you can understand my panic after going through the Noodles Romanoff loss, when I wasn't seeing my French Bread Pizza in the stores all of a sudden.  Short of breath, near to tears .. each time I went to a grocery store and looked, fruitlessly .. I was so sad.

And then ... then ... out of the blue after about a 6 month drought ... THEY WERE BACK!!!  I pressed my nose against the glass freezer doors and cried.  Okay maybe I didn't do that part.  But I did buy 2 boxes and have also had jalapeno poppers (the cream cheese kind) for breakfast over the weekend.  Not sure why but those jalapeno poppers are really good for breakfast!

So I may not have my noodles, but there are several copycat recipes out there I might try, and for now I am content with my French Bread Pizzas and my jalapeno poppers.  Some things just have to be there, y'know?  Keeps my world smooooooothh and easy.

Eat up!  And enjoy!

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It's getting a tad bit easier. Really.

I have been writing a lot more on my 'Fat' blog than here lately. I'm sure it's because I have been insanely intense about trying to change my diet, forever. Let's face it. I grew up on Beefaroni, Mac n' cheese and tomato soup. After my parents divorced when I was 11 and it was pretty much just my mom and me, I ate what was available and what I wanted. My mom didn't get home from work till 7:30 in the evening and I was hungry way before that. So I would eat a can of something, make a box of something, or every once in a while I would broil a thinly cut steak. No microwaves back then yknow. Although I did eat frozen dinners, the ones that were in the foil trays. There was always a little cobbler or muffin or some kind of dessert-like portion, and you can imagine where the vegetables went. Not in my mouth, that's for sure. A lot of the time dinner was simply a Velveeta cheese sandwich on soft white bread with mayo. Mmm-m-m . . .

Every once in a great while my mom would leave some instructions and I would make a pot roast or some spaghetti with meat sauce for the the two of us. But that was rare.

And there was always chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup in the house. Always. That was a food group all it's own in my house. Funny thing, I didn't really develop a taste for ice cream until well after I moved out of the house.

Today I posted about how I have been opting for natural foods, fresh foods, and God help me - even raw foods, over folded spindled and mutilated foods. I have been able to talk myself out of stopping on my way home from work and getting something to eat that's bad for me, and to enjoy the sweetness of a date or a cherry instead of a candy bar or donut.

There is very little doubt that I will continue to eat some of those bad things. I have not totally converted. But if I continue to eat the good things the majority of the time, having something bad now and then isn't going to be so bad. I just cannot allow myself to get to the point of being diabetic with high blood pressure and heart disease because of my weight. It's simply not acceptable to me anymore. If I end up with any of those things - I at least want to know it's not because I couldn't make myself get disciplined about what I stick in my mouth. There are other ways to develop those conditions but in my case - it's my weight. It's not a symptom of something else, it's the cause of things I am teetering on the edge of having.

This is the first time ever, that I feel like learning to eat in a healthy way is within my grasp. Of course it's always been out there. Obviously. But this is the first time I think I may be able to do this. And I'm kind of amazed!

Those fleeting thoughts

Do you ever wonder what people think of you? I don't mean obsessively. I don't mean like you seriously worry about it or even care really. But do you have those fleeting thoughts when you are out somewhere and you see someone look at you - and wonder what they are thinking?

I do. And I guess I also form quick opinions as I pass by people I don't know. I might see a woman in what looks to be night-club attire at 10:00 in the morning and think "Oh, inappropriate. I wonder where SHE works!" Or maybe I spot an older man in his slippers shuffling into the drug store and think "Oh I'll bet his wife sent him." Things like that.

It doesn't mean anything, these things aren't consciously thought out they just sort of pop into your mind, little snap judgments you have as you walk by people, forgotten as quickly as you think them.

Mostly I don't care what people think when they see me - I'm sure other people have those odd little thoughts when I walk by too. But there IS one that kind of bothers me.

I frequently stop at my local drug store as it is so close to my house. And sometimes on my way home from work it occurs to me I'm just about out of cat food, so I pull into the parking lot and go in to the store to grab a couple of cans.

I, like most people, have heard the stories about old people eating pet food. And the stories tend to focus on old women. And cat food. So as I stand in line with my tuna pate or turkey and giblets grill - it is inevitable that it will cross my mind - "I hope nobody thinks this is my dinner."

It's NOT. I promise.

Did you ever ... ?

Did you ever work with someone whose day revolves around lunch? Before lunch they are so hungry you think they are going to faint from lack of nourishment. They make a big deal about taking their lunch out and getting it ready, micro-waving it and sitting down to eat it. When they do eat, you hear “nummy” noises coming from them the whole time. And when there is free food? You’d think it was Christmas and Thanksgiving and their birthday all rolled into one.

Sigh-h-h. And this person? Aren’t they always the skinniest person in the place? Because you know darn well that if it was anybody *cough cough* full figured like me making all that noise, people would think I was a real pig.

Does it annoy you to no end? Yeah, me too.

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