Have Cooler - Will Travel

Most days I shop for groceries at the little neighborhood shopping centers near my house. The closest grocery store is actually walking distance, If I was willing to take a little cart on wheel to help carry them back. It’s probably a quarter mile walk, which is doable, but not so great when lugging groceries back home with you up and down the hills. There is one particular hill so steep that even riding a bicycle back would be a hard go for me. I’d probably have to dismount and walk the bike up to avoid congestive heart failure, considering how out of shape I am.

The closest full service grocery store is a Food Lion. This store is good for basics and a quick trip when I run out of something mid-preparation. They have a limited selection of produce and all I usually buy there is maybe bananas, onions or potatoes. Their meat section is not much variety and too high prices, so unless it is on sale I might pick up a pound of hamburger meat or a ham steak. Their freezer and cooler sections are good and when they put things on sale I stock up.

But today I’m heading out for a long day down in the “Land of Excess.” Their grocery store is a marvelous wonderland of all kinds of treasures shipped here from all over the world. If they have some good prices on meats and vegetables, I’m prepared to take advantage because I’m taking my cooler in the back of the truck to keep them cold while I finish my errands down there. The temps will be in the 90’s today, so leaving groceries in the truck without benefit of a cooler is not practical. But I’m prepared - let the adventure begin!

Success Stories

The only people I know who have gone a serious diet and lost weight AND have kept it off are my former secretary, Cindy, and a former client, John. I have seen pictures of Cindy when she was heavy and it’s hard to believe she is the same person. she looks great now and does not make a big deal about eating food. She is just quietly careful about what she eats and how much of it she allows herself to eat. We talked about it once and she told me that she used Weight Watchers to lose the weight after her third baby was born and she’s kept the weight off for over 5 years. That’s a pretty good testimonial for Weight Watchers.

John was middle aged and letting the weight creep up on him, 10-15 pounds per years. I’ve known him for at least 10-11 years, and up until recently you just thought of him as “could stand to lose a few pounds,” but not really considered him “fat.” But when you think about it, 10 pounds each year for 10 years and all of a sudden you are looking at 100 pounds.

So when I ran across him last week at the Chamber of Commerce meeting, I was shocked to see that he has shed almost all those pounds. It was a remarkable transformation and I’m sorry if it was ride, but I had to comment on it to him. He was so proud of his new look and didn’t appear offended at all. When prodded, he admitted he had been on the South Beach Diet for about 8 months and he looks marvelous.

John had chest pains one night and his wife rushed him to the hospital, fearing a heart attack. But thankfully it turned out to be severe indigestion. It was his wake up call,and he found his diet online by looking for great tasting heart healthy foods and discovered that the South Beach diet met his needs and matched his lifestyle. I think that’s was the secret to a successful diet must be: meet your needs and match your lifestyle.

Mixed Nuts

I love nuts. Good thing, considering where I work. Ha!

Nuts were always a Thanksgiving and Christmas treat. Something you put out in a big crystal bowl with a couple pairs of hinged nutcrackers. You would site out on the front porch or in the kitchen and crack the nuts and chit chat. It was a great way to keep your hands busy while your tongues wagged.

Now I buy them already out of their shells and vacuum sealed in a can with the Planter’s Peanut guy winking at you. I like the mixed assortment with less peanuts, but I do like peanuts, so it doesn’t really matter. I don’t think I can pick a favorite, it’s a 3 way tie for first place between cashews, almonds and pistachios.

Clever Brews

For a while the buzz on the street was all about microbreweries and the thousands of local beers that were popping up all over the country. I never really thought much about how beers are a regional thing until I moved out of state the first time. Suddenly, several of the beer brands that I was used to seeing on the grocery shelves were no longer available. I especially noticed and missed the little green bottles that had Rolling Rock beer in them.

I just read an interesting story in the San Francisco Chronicle about a local brewery that is breaking all the rules and putting their beers into cans instead of bottles. They say that the cans offer several advantages that bottles don’t, such as cans being allowed in a lot of public places where glass containers are not allowed. Cans are better for the environment. Also, cans keep out the light, the number one enemy of beer flavor.

I also like the names of the beers they make and think they are really clever brewers: “Hell or High Watermelon Wheat” and “Brew Free! or Die IPA.” I just hope the beer tastes as good as I’m coming to expect.

Grilling Tonight

We bought a Coleman portable propane camp stove/grill at the beginning of the season with the intention of taking it camping with us on weekends. Well, my work schedule has spilled over into the weekends every single chance we’ve had to get away for a couple nights and we’ve not been camping yet. How’s that for a poke in the eye?

But the grill has not been left idle. I bought an adaptor valve for the propane and hooked it up to a large propane tank and set up the grill right by the porch door. So we’ve been enjoying grilled steaks, chops and burgers several nights each week. And we aren’t having to sleep on dirt to enjoy it.