Monday, July 24, 2006

Spiced



Funny how your tastes change when you cut out junk food. I rarely crave sweets anymore, though I still must have a piece of chocolate from time to time. A small amount is supremely satisfying to me now.

I still want pizza about once a week – some things will never change. I have no real desire for pasta, though I still love a good sandwich. Soups and salads taste marvelous to me, and there are a lot of good diet soda options these days.

My biggest potential downfall right now is tortilla chips and salsa. I struggle to keep myself from eating the whole basket. In fact, Mexican food in general is nearly irresistible to me. There is one Mexican restaurant near my office where they serve a marvelous chicken in mole sauce. Hmmm, might have to sneak off for lunch one day this week. If I don’t eat the chips, and keep the rice to a minimum, it might not be such a terrible lapse for me.

I’ve developed the oddest taste for hot peppers. I’m not usually crazy about very spicy foods, though I do remember many summers ago having been on a Big-T cheesesteak-with-hot-peppers kick. If memory serves, I was even eating hoagies with hot peppers at the time. But now I seem to want to nibble on plain pepperoncini, which would have been unimaginable to me in the past. I’ve even packed a couple in my lunch for tomorrow. Fortunately, peppers are very low in calories, and they’re fat free, so why not?

Come to think of it, a cheesesteak with hot peppers would be a tasty diet break sometime soon. I think I’ll allow myself one or the other (cheesesteak with hot peppers or chicken with mole sauce) this week. I might have to hold out on the cheesesteak until I can find a companion for a road trip to Philly. I must confess that I have never had an actual Philly cheesesteak. I know, I know – I grew up right over the bridge from the City of Brotherly Love, and I’ve never consumed their most famous product. I must make amends soon.

Of course, I work in a town with an extensive Italian population and many good Italian restaurants. I have to guess that I will be able to find a respectable cheesesteak with hot peppers for lunch if I look hard enough!

So, cheesesteak or chicken mole. Anyone want to join me?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the chicken mole with what borders on an unhealthy passion, so I am in. Mexican is my fav. and I agree, is nearly unable to to be contained

Zelda Parker said...

Should you wish to run off to south street for the real thing, I'm in. Now where will it be? Pat's or the other place????

Merci said...

joey b-
Let's get a group together soon! I can't stop thinking about that mole.

Zelda-
Since I've never been to either, I'll go anywhere! Might have to make a couple of trips for comparison's sake! Let's do it very soon, OK?

missmagnoliathunderpussy said...

Darling, I adore good Mexican food but It's one of the few things I have to avoid as it takes a week to work itself through my system.

Merci said...

Miss Magnolia-
That's too bad! I can't eat it often, but I'd hate to give it up altogether.
Guess we'll all have to stick to the Bellevue and the Four Seasons when you're in town!

Anonymous said...

Broke down and picked up a creme brule torch at Wegmans today (Which I fell in love with). Thanks to the Big Z for the heads up.

Merci said...

joey b.-
First free weekend I have, I'm headed to Wegman's!

pissed off patricia said...

I lived in the Philly area for a few years and I so so miss the cheesesteaks.

No one makes them the same as Philly folks. Gotta have all that grease dripping down your chin. God they were good!

Merci said...

pissed off patricia-
That's it, I really do have to go get one! Do you have a preference on the Pat's vs. Geno's rivalry?