Category Archives: Food

M Street Kitchen (or A Happy Hour Adventure At Lunchtime)

Posted on May 28, 2013 | 1 comment

I used to go on a bunch of happy hour adventures with my friend Kate. It just happened to work out that she and I both had Wednesday evenings free. But Kate’s schedule changed recently and we can’t do happy hour adventures any more.

But we were able to meet up for lunch this past Friday and catch up (it was the first time I had seen her since the horrible 5K). We decided to check out M Street Kitchen. I had actually never heard of it before, but Kate’s sister had gone there this month and loved it. Plus, it was close to my work so I didn’t have to go far for lunch.

I had checked out the menu online before, but I was still a bit undecided when we got there.

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But I did know pretty quickly what I wanted to drink. I’m still diet soda free (with the exception of the calorie-free sparkling flavored water I get every once in a while). I’ve been trying to find drink that I like that aren’t sodas, and one that I’ve re-discovered is iced chai lattes. I get a non-fat one from Starbucks maybe once a week or so. I need to start keeping milk in my house so that I can make them at home.

But I will say, the iced chai latte (even though it wasn’t non-fat) was pretty yummy at M Street Kitchen.

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For my lunch, I got the BBQ turkey sandwich. It was good, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. First of all, it was a bit spicier than I thought it would be. Also, somehow in my mind, I thought the turkey would be ground turkey (like a turkey burger). This was sliced. But it was still a filling sandwich.

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Over lunch, Kate and I discussed our plan for the 5K that we are doing this Friday. Since it’s a nighttime 5K (my first evening one), we wanted some glow-sticks. So I made a stop at Party City to pick some up, along with a few other items for me which you will see in my recap post next week.

Even though I miss my happy hour adventures, lunchtime adventures are pretty much just as good!

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A Visit From The Chocolate Fairy (or Thank You Crunch Bars!)

Posted on May 16, 2013 | Comments Off on A Visit From The Chocolate Fairy (or Thank You Crunch Bars!)

A while back, I attended the Nestle Crunch Birthday Party (that had some amazing cupcakes!). I guess they remembered me because I came home from work one day to see this on my doorstep.

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Nestle Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Bars!

I’ve heard of them before (and a lot of people were talking about them at the cupcake event) so I was super excited to try them for myself.

I brought my mom some of the samples when I saw her at Mother’s Day (she hasn’t given me her review yet). And I brought the rest of them to work where my co-workers and I got to enjoy them.

I personally tried the Peanut Butter Creme and Thin Mint bars. I love peanut butter and thought that bar was delicious. It was nice and light. And the Thin Mint bar tasted exactly like a Thin Mint (perfect for my Girl Scout cookie withdrawal).

Two of my co-workers tried the Thin Mint as well as the Caramel and Coconut ones. Both of them love Thin Mint cookies and thought that that bar was amazing. But they both said that they were pleasantly surprised how much they liked the Caramel and Coconut ones. While it was tough for them both to pick a favorite, they both went with Caramel and Coconut.

All of the samples that I got in the mail went very quickly at my work (I think my co-workers were pretty happy that I was willing to share). The cookie bars won’t be in grocery stores until the summer (June until September). However you are able to pre-order some now through the Nestle Crunch Facebook page.

I’m planning on getting some to have as a treat over the summer. One thing that I didn’t get a chance to try is freezing the Thin Mint cookie bars. I love frozen Thin Mints (it’s the best way to eat them in my opinion). I’m curious if I can freeze the cookie bars for a similar experience. Anyone from Crunch reading this and able to answer me?

Either way, thank you Crunch for introducing me to this great treat! I only wish they weren’t going to be a limited time thing!

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Chinese Broccoli Slaw (or Changing Up A Family Favorite)

Posted on May 7, 2013 | 1 comment

I’ve been working hard at being better about bringing my lunches to work. I’m trying to use recipes that sit well in the fridge so I only have to make a batch over the weekend.

This week, I’m going to be eating a modified version of a family favorite.

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Chinese Coleslaw! This recipe is such a family favorite that when my mom and I made a cookbook for the whole family last Thanksgiving, we made sure to include this one!

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The original recipe is as follows:

1 head green cabbage (shredded)

4-6 green onions

2 packages of Ramen (Oriental Flavor)

almonds (optional)

And for the dressing:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 salad oil

1/4 cup water or chicken broth

1 tbsp sesame oil

pepper

seasoning packets from Ramen

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The main modifications that I made were using broccoli slaw instead of cabbage (no shredding necessary!), using about 3/4 cup vinegar (I love things vinegary), and using 1/4 oil and 1/2 water instead of the other way around.

Seriously, this is such an easy recipe but it’s so delicious and impressive!

First, I put the broccoli slaw in a big bowl (I used about 1 1/2 packages of slaw, each package was 12oz).

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Next, you break up the Ramen noodles. You can do it by hand, but I put them in a plastic zippy bag and smashed them with a mallet.

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Thanks Dad for giving me a mallet!

Pour the crushed noodles over the slaw.

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Next, slice up the green onions. Tip: if you put the rubber bands on the green onions where you want to cut away, it will keep all the ends together and easier to throw away.

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Green onions go on top of the slaw and noodles.

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Then mix up all the dressing ingredients together. I did this in a measuring cup so it would be easy to pour. Also, this way I didn’t have to get my little measuring cups messy. I just used the measurements on the side.

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Finally, pour the dressing on top of the salad and mix everything together.

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Let the salad sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but the longer the better. I made this around 5pm on Saturday and took it out of the fridge to stir it up a bit before going to bed. I had some on Sunday and it was so delicious!

I have some pre-cooked chicken that I can add on top of it for lunch so it will be a bit more filling.

While this recipe is wonderful the original way, I have to say I think I like it more with broccoli slaw instead of cabbage! I might have to do another batch of each and do a taste test!

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Some After Work Fun (or I’m Definitely Getting The Most Out Of My Disneyland Pass)

Posted on April 23, 2013 | Comments Off on Some After Work Fun (or I’m Definitely Getting The Most Out Of My Disneyland Pass)

After my first full week back at work, I was ready for some fun. So when I found out that my friend Kate was planning on going to Disneyland with another friend, I decided to join in.

I headed down to Anaheim after my work shift on Saturday. I actually got out an hour early because I worked some extra hours on Friday. I was at the park at about 2pm, and met up with Kate and her friend.

Our first stop was to get some Dole Whips. I do love my Dole Whips, but it was also so hot there that the soft serve was nice and refreshing!

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Since this was the only day that Kate’s friend had to go to the park (he’s from out-of-town), we sped through the rides. Right away, we did the Matterhorn, rode the monorail round trip, went on Star Tours, did Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, and then took the train through the Grand Canyon diorama to get to New Orleans Square.

The next ride was Splash Mountain. I am not a huge fan of this ride. First of all, I don’t like getting wet (or having to be wet the rest of the day). Secondly, the last time I rode it, I got stuck for a very long time and had to be evacuated. This was when I was on crutches and we got stuck at the top of the main drop, so it was not good.

But since it was so warm I decided to go on it. The three of us went through the single rider line since the main line was well over an hour. I ended up in one log and Kate and her friend were both in another log.

At first, I was nice and dry, and then as soon as we did the first little drop, a wave went through the log I was in. My shoes and jeans up to my knees were soaked. I mean dripping wet! I didn’t actually get wet at all on the big drop, so once I was off the ride, I was only wet from my knees down.

You can’t really see how wet my pants are in this picture, but you can see my cute new shirt I bought on my last Disneyland trip!

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Since my pants were so wet, I ended up rolling them up so I didn’t keep tripping on them. Then we were off to keep riding all the rides. We did Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad, and Alice all before stopping for dinner.

We went to Cafe Orleans near the Haunted Mansion for dinner. We wanted some nice food and a sit down restaurant, but didn’t want to spend a ton of money.

I ended up getting the veggie ragout with blackened chicken.

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It was so delicious and filling! And I don’t think that this was a bad food choice at all! For dessert, the 3 of us split an order of beignets.

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I love that they are Mickey shaped!

After dinner, we did a quick ride on Pirates of the Caribbean (where some annoying teenagers behind us spent the entire ride trying to throw pennies at the various animatronics), and then we decided it was time to head home.

I was at Disneyland for 7 hours, and managed to do 12 rides plus dinner. Not bad considering that this was just a quick after work trip!

I’m going to be going back to Disneyland on a Sunday late next month, but I don’t know if I’ll go back before then. But I have been able to go 4 times in the 2 months I’ve had my pass. That’s pretty darn good!

PS: don’t forget you still can enter my “Cougar Town” contest! Comments must be in by midnight on Thursday to be eligible!

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Rita’s Ice (or Trying An East Coast Food In The South Bay)

Posted on April 11, 2013 | Comments Off on Rita’s Ice (or Trying An East Coast Food In The South Bay)

Over the weekend, I was invited to a preview of Rita’s Ice. I said yes first, and then looked up what Rita’s Ice was afterwards.

Rita’s Ice is water ice and custard. It’s pretty big on the east coast, but until this week, there were no stores on the west coast. But now there is one in Redondo Beach!

Rita’s Ice is in a shopping center, so there was lots of free parking (a huge thing for me!). I walked right up and it was nice and crowded for the preview inside.

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I got a menu of what was available.

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And while I was deciding, there were a ton of free samples to test out.

This was a Misto with strawberry ice and vanilla custard.

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This is the lemonade ice (which was amazing!).

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I also tried a chocolate custard milkshake, but I finished it before I took a picture.

There were a ton of other ice flavors to try, but I didn’t want to get full before ordering.

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I decided to get a Gelati with strawberry ice and vanilla custard.

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Honestly, everything I tried was delicious! If you haven’t had water ice, it’s tough to describe the texture. It’s like a mix between a slushy and snow cone, but a softer texture (if that makes any sense).

I loved my Gelati! I ate all the custard off the top first and then worked my way down the water ice. I wasn’t able to finish it, so I dug out the custard from the bottom and mixed it in with the ice and had a few more bites. Sadly to say, I ended up throwing some of it out because I couldn’t finish (and this isn’t exactly a treat to enjoy while driving).

Even though this location isn’t the most geographically desirable for me (I’m hoping they will open one up closer to my house), I know I’ll be back, especially over the summer. When it’s super hot out, one of my guilty pleasures is having frozen yogurt or a slushy for dinner. I know it isn’t the healthiest, but when it’s so hot outside you can’t think about eating, you have to cool down somehow.

So if you are in LA, I highly recommend making the trip down to Redondo Beach to try Rita’s Ice. Maybe you loved it on the east coast and want to have it again, or maybe you are like me and have never tried it. But in my opinion, this is a great treat to have in LA.

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Wedding Season (or A Bridal Shower For Another Jen)

Posted on April 10, 2013 | 1 comment

One of my good friends, Jen, is getting married next month. Jen and I met through our mutual friend Devon (we joked that she was collecting Jewish girls named Jen) and we’ve been friends ever since. In fact, when I tried online dating way back when, Jen and I attended a JDate event together. We joked that it was like an adult bar mitzvah because all the men were on one side and all the women were on the other.

Jen met an amazing man, Rich, online 2 years ago, and their wedding is fast approaching. So this past weekend, Jen’s aunt threw her a bridal shower, and I was honored that I was invited!

The shower was held at Inn Of The Seventh Ray in Topanga. I had never been there before, but it was a great drive up there. I was pretty much following the ocean up the coast for about 20 minutes.

When I got there, the first thing I noticed about the shower was how beautiful it was.

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The tables were set so nicely and we were all underneath the clear tent so we could enjoy the views.

After chatting a bit with some of the girls at my table (who I didn’t know before but were all awesome!), the bride-to-be arrived!

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I know it’s hard to tell in the picture, but her dress was so amazing! It reminded me a bit of Tinkerbell, but in a good way. I might try to find something similar to wear to my brother’s wedding.

Brunch was a buffet, and there were a lot of things to choose from. If you are vegan, this is a good place to go as many things available are vegan. I got an assortment of things to try.

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Eggs, potatoes, more eggs, and fruit. Not the healthiest, but this was counting for 2 meals.

Next was the cake. It was made gluten-free and dairy free just for Jen.

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Everything was Hawaii themed because that is where Jen and her fiancée will be going on their honeymoon.

I tried a piece of cake (it was red velvet which I love).

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But I actually wasn’t able to eat it. I don’t know if it was because it was gluten-free and dairy free, but all the cake touching the fondant on the outside was as hard as a rock! And since I had the edge piece, my whole slice was impossible to cut into. It was actually a bit of a joke with one of the girls sitting next to me. I attempted to put my fork tines down into the cake, and it got stuck in there! Oh well. I really didn’t need to add those calories anyway. And it will be the same cake at the wedding so I can try it again then.

After presents and cards, it was time for me to say goodbye to Jen. I don’t know if I’ll see her before her wedding. I’m super excited for the wedding, and I got a new dress that I think I’ll be wearing to it.

Congrats Jen (and Rich, her fiancée)! I can’t wait to see you exchange vows soon and live happily ever after!

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Family Day (or How A Broken Hip Allowed Me To Celebrate My Mom’s Birthday With Her)

Posted on April 8, 2013 | Comments Off on Family Day (or How A Broken Hip Allowed Me To Celebrate My Mom’s Birthday With Her)

As I mentioned before, my grandma fell and broke her hip. As soon as I heard about that, I wanted to go down to San Diego to see her.

But my mom advised me to wait until we knew that she would want visitors.

My parents were down in San Diego taking care of my grandma, and my mom said that I could go down on Thursday, which was my mom’s birthday.

So on Thursday, I made the 2 hour drive down to San Diego. The original plan was for me to see my grandma at the hospital, but she was doing so well, that the day I came down she got moved to the skilled nursing care in the building she lives in.

So when I arrived, I waited for my parents to meet me at my grandparents’ building. It was a gorgeous day out.

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Once my parents got there, we grabbed a quick lunch while we waited for my grandma to be brought over. And pretty much as soon as she was settled into her new room, we all went down to visit her.

Considering that she had just had a major fall and surgery, she looked amazing! She was a little tired from everything, so the visit was pretty short. But I’ll see her again for Mother’s Day, so that isn’t too far away.

After the visit, I went over with my parents to the hotel that they were staying in for a few days. Our dog Dante made himself at home pretty quickly.

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And then we all dressed for dinner. Since it was my mom’s birthday, we went out for fancy steaks at Donovan’s Steakhouse. I was excited for a yummy meal, but even more excited as this was the first time I got to celebrate my mom’s birthday with her since I was in high school!

Dinner was delicious. I had the twin filet medallions off the Prix Fixe menu.

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And a split of Prosecco since we were celebrating my mom.

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And then my mom got a birthday creme brûlée.

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I had ordered cheesecake as my dessert course.

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It was so much food, so I got a little to-go box for half of my steak and some of my mashed potatoes.

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It made a very delicious breakfast the next day.

After dinner, it was time for me to make the 2 hour drive back home. I’m so glad that I got to see my mom on her birthday. I wasn’t expecting that at all (I mailed her birthday card to the house and she won’t get it until they get back). I wish that the reason we were all together wasn’t because my grandma got hurt, but I’m trying to focus on the positives of that visit.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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Chocolate Heaven (or Happy Birthday Nestle Crunch!)

Posted on March 29, 2013 | Comments Off on Chocolate Heaven (or Happy Birthday Nestle Crunch!)

Warning, this is a picture heavy post because of all the delicious treats! Do not read on an empty stomach!

I was invited to the kick off party for the Nestle Crunch 75th Birthday Showdown (that’s a mouthful isn’t it?).

I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but I did know that I would be tasting some desert items that were made with Nestle Crunch bars.

I got to the party when it started at 1pm.

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As soon as I walked in, I saw Lynn from The Actor’s Diet and Jennie from Garlic My Soul. I was nice to see familiar faces especially since the bakery the event was being held at (Sweet E’s) was extremely crowded and at first it seemed a bit disorganized.

We got to check out the samples of all the different treats that we available to try.

A Crunch Peanut Butter Brownie from Sweet E’s.

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A Crunch Chocolate Royalty Cupcake from Casey’s Cupcakes.

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A Candied Bacon Ice Cream Cookie from CoolHaus.

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And a Crumbs Crunch Cupcake from Crumbs Bake Shop.

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While we were checking out the awesome desserts, we had no idea if we were allowed to try them yet. So Lynn decided to be the brave one and took one off a plate.

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After we were there for about an hour, there was a little presentation with all the bakers, and they each explained their desserts.

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Then, finally, we got to try some!

I tried a little bit of each one, but those cupcakes were huge! My favorite was the ice cream. The candied bacon in it was delicious!

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As we were leaving, we all got a gift bag.

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Inside were samples of all the desserts we tried (except the ice cream which I got a gift card for). All the cupcakes are now in my freezer for when I have a sugar craving (although I promised to save some for my mom too).

If you want to check out all the desserts in the showdown, you can go here. There is voting for your favorite dessert until April 21st. The top three bakeries will compete in a final baking competition to declare the winner! If you want to try some of the desserts, all the bakeries competing in the contest are giving away samples of their entries (I highly encourage trying some of them).

I’m so excited that I got to attend this event, but I’m still on a bit of a sugar high from all the delicious treats!

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Being Helpful (or Using Unemployment To Be A Better Person)

Posted on March 20, 2013 | Comments Off on Being Helpful (or Using Unemployment To Be A Better Person)

I’ve been doing a lot of selfish things while out of work. I’ve gone to Disneyland, taken lots of spin classes, and hung out with friends who I haven’t seen in a while.

But the past two days I’ve focused on other people, and that makes me feel good.

My friend Trevor, who happens to host the podcast I work for, was in a bike accident last week. He’ll be fine, but for a while, he was looking like this.

So while he had both casts on, he had to go to a doctor’s appointment. He texted me, and of course I was going to help him out (he’s going to pay me back when I must have my other hip fixed). I actually didn’t mind driving him because he had taken a pain pill that made him pretty loopy. He didn’t say anything too bad (I promise), but it was pretty darn entertaining. Some highlights were him saying hi to every car that passed us, discussing the bee that landed on my windshield, and saying that I needed to make him banana bread.

By the time I drove him back to his house, his loopiness had ended, but it’s still nice getting to chat with a friend and help him out.

Then yesterday, I made the 2 hour drive down to San Diego to see my grandparents. I wanted to see them, first of all. They had moved into a new place last January, and the last time I was there was before they had any furniture in the place.

So it was nice spending time with them, and I was able to help them out as well. I drove them to the store (neither of my grandparents are driving right now) and helped them get groceries and other necessities.

I also helped my grandpa fix something on his DVR (he’s super tech-savvy, but this was a weird fix). And I brought them some treats. I brought my grandpa some Peeps (I remembered that he used to love them), and then I made them some banana pecan bread.

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It’s actually the exact same recipe as my banana blueberry bread, but the store was out of blueberries. So I used the same amount as pecans in it. We didn’t try any of it because we ate dinner at the restaurant where my grandparents live, but it smelled really delicious.

I drove back from San Diego the same day since it’s just easier to not have to bring all my stuff down there for a night (and I didn’t want to impose). Added bonus, as I was driving north on the 5, I got to see the fireworks over Disneyland as I was driving past! That was good timing!

I’m glad I was able to do a bunch of good things over the past few days. And I’ll be doing some babysitting for a friend for the next two days, so I’ll be helping out some more. I just want to make sure I balance the selfish things in life with being a good person.

 

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Soda Free (or Maybe I Can Keep This Last Bit of This Vice)

Posted on March 19, 2013 | Comments Off on Soda Free (or Maybe I Can Keep This Last Bit of This Vice)

I’ve previously mentioned that I’d like to get rid of my diet soda habit. Well, after that post, I wasn’t able to kick my diet soda habit. I wasn’t drinking it every day, but I’m aware of the problems that artificial sweeteners can cause.

But somehow, for the last month, I haven’t had a soda once. I didn’t realize at first that I didn’t have a soda, but after a week or so, I thought that maybe I’d try to keep it up.

And it wasn’t easy at first. There are some places that seem to go hand in hand with drinking a diet Coke. Like when I forgot my lunch at my day job and would run to Wendy’s for a baked potato (best emergency lunch). Or going to the movies. Or when I’m driving around and  get really thirsty and want to grab a diet Coke from a drive through.

But I’ve managed to avoid getting a soda while going to those places. The key for me is getting a bottle of water (with a straw). It has seemed to work really well for me for the last month. But I will admit sometimes even though I’m not craving a soda, I almost get one out of habit.

But the one thing I haven’t been able to kick is drinking sparkling flavored (calorie-free) water.

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I’ve tried plain sparkling water, but as I described it to a friend yesterday, the bubbles seem different.

But if this is my one vice, maybe it’s not so bad. It’s not like I smoke, do drugs, or something else harmful to my body. And if this sparkling water keeps me sane, is that so horrible?

If I’m not thinking about it, I’ll just drink plain (non-sparkling) water for an entire day, but sometimes I really do crave it. And drinking one over the course of the day does help me stay hydrated.

I’m going to try to limit how many I drink (when I was doing the RFO diet I could easily drink 4 a day) . I’m not going to drink more than 1 a day. That seems reasonable.

And maybe one day in the future, you’ll see a post from me saying how I was able to give up the sparkling water. But for now, I’m not going to beat myself up over it.

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