Patty's latest, greatest, tiny adventure.............................................

If you have ever been on a cruise you will totally understand what I mean when I say I did not eat much over the past week. One gets so used to simply making their way to the food line whenever hunger strikes that once back home to reality it seems like too much effort to actually have to fix the food before you can eat it. Picture this:

Me meandering out to the kitchen... When I get there and note that the counter is totally void of anything (except a bowl of bananas which was breakfast) a slightly shocked look comes across my face, I muter something about how I would kill for just the salad bar to magically appear, and then go back to what I was doing before thinking I was hungry. This behavior it known as post cruise re-adjustment and also happens when I go into my bedroom and the bed is still not made and there are not chocolates on my pillow at night.

Anyway...After totally vegging out in my house since returning home, I had to make a trip to the grocery store. You know, the highlight of my life! Normally I go down the isles pretty zombie-like getting the "usual." I spent lots of time price comparing and label reading so that I could practice the "grab and go" style of shopping and yet do no harm to any one's health and/or our budget.

For whatever reason last night (and I am totally blaming it on the large food selection on the cruise, as well as the fact that I needed something from the far end of the store that I got first so I wouldn't forget it, which ended up with me starting my food shopping at the opposite end from where I usually start) I noticed that there were tons of new items adorning the shelves. I counted fourteen new kinds of salsa alone. There are sections with totally organic flours and spices, and "cage free Omega 3" eggs that "are an excellent source of Vitamin E, with no drugs, antibiotics or animal by-products." I "shelled" out THREE BUCKS for them cause I just have to try those eggs and see if they really are an "egg innovation" as the carton exclaims.

I bought some Claussens refrigerator pickles because I caught a segment on them on the Food Network the other night and they were showing how loud the crunch was when you bit into one and I just had to see for myself. (It IS pretty darn loud, and they are really garlicky. Yummy!)

I also found some 100% whole wheat gnocchi (little potato dumplings) made with sweet potatoes (on sale) doggie breath fresheners, 100% whole wheat garden tortellini, and red pears for a dollar a pound. I also found some blue moon ice cream (which always reminds me of when my kids were little and it was their favorite and they would end up with cold blue mouths that would then make them stick their tongues out at one another and fight over whose tongue was the bluest).

I also started getting stuff to make sushi. Remember the stumble upon site? Well I stumbled upon a site all about making sushi (vegetable not raw fish kind) so I have decided I am going to try it once I study up on it a little more.

I rounded the salad dressing isle and my eye caught this absolutely beautifully shaped bottle of dressing. It was "Asian Sesame Ginger" and was the perfect shade of creamy tan with two tiny white flowers adorning the top of the label. I gently picked up the bottle and just held it for a few seconds and then forced myself to do what needed to be done. I slowly turned it over and just as I expected, sugar was the first ingredient so I put the bottle down and tried to turn my attention to all the other new kinds. That darn bottle kept calling to me and I picked it up like three more times until finally I said out loud, "Sugar is the first ingredient. Put down the bottle and walk away from the salad dressings." Just as I finished saying this the lady passing me gave me a sad smile and replied, "I know just what you mean." That really helped to break the spell I had seemed to have fallen under and I was able to move on.

And the people I interacted with. There was the sweet old woman I met at the brownie mix when I couldn't help but point out which ones had the least amount of sugar, the least fat, and the most protein, along with the fact that they were on sale as compared to the box she was reading. She loving thanked me for my advice (as opposed to telling me to mind my own business) and said she should take me shopping with her all the time. A few isles later it occurred to me that I should have given her a business card. Oh well.

Then there was the guy at the deli counter that I insisted try my reduced fat salami that "tastes just like the real thing but doesn't leave that greasy film on your tongue like the regular kind does." I thought about going back and telling him it was really tasty on the one gram of sugar light rye bread but I didn't want him to think I was a total psycho, since I had also told the lady behind the counter to let the powers that be know how happy I was that they were again carrying 100% whole wheat pita bread (it makes the best pizza!).

As I came down one isle I caught a whiff of a stock person and before I could stop myself commented on how good he smelled. And then totally backed up to get another whiff and ask him what it was (Polo by the way. Talk about yummy smells...better than the bakery). Or the guy in the cereal isle that gave me a strange look most likely because I was grinning ear to ear which caused me to burst out laughing and say to him, "Ya! I'm having such a great time shopping. It is kinda freaking me out how much fun I am having too." Not sure if he had gotten what he came for or just couldn't get away from the "fruit loopy lady" fast enough, but he was gone in a split second.

So, I got up to the check out lane and did my usual line of, "Try and keep it under three hundred dollars will you?" to the check out person. So we round two hundred ninety-four with several items left, and he stops ringing and starts taking off my coupons which brings the total back down to two eighty-one. When he gets back up to two ninety-six and I mutter something about if only I hadn't had to have that damn four dollar jar of pickles, he looks at me and I realize he took me serious and thought I only had three hundred dollars to spend. He was being so diplomatic about the whole thing I felt really bad as I explained it was just a goal I like to set for myself that I rarely reached, showed him my hundred dollar bills, to assure him I had plenty of money to pay for my stuff, and told him to keep ringing up the remainder of the pile. Poor guy!

So today I am planning a nice relaxing day to recover from my fun night out. The hardest part of my day will be deciding which yummy delight to fix for dinner.