I am still not feeling well…horrible actually. Why is it that when we have a cold, we don’t feel like eating? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind not being hungry but the sensible side of me KNOWS that I have to eat. Wednesday night, Carlos and I went out to eat – we both got cups of soup and after trying to make a decision for what seemed like 20 minutes on what we were hungry for, we ended up ordering a couple of appetizers but not finishing them. I went home and was curled up in bed by 9pm. Thursday, I got to work and made my oatmeal with psyllium husk at about 8:45am…and at 10:15, I ended up forcing myself to eat it because I knew that I had to eat something. Am I wrong? Do you think that when we are sick, if we don’t feel like eating, we just shouldn’t? Or should we force ourselves to eat something just to get a little nourishment in our tummy? hmph – anyways…
I mentioned yesterday in my seven random things that I quit smoking about a year ago (yep, right in the middle of loosing weight!). Shortly after I quit, my taste buds came back with a vengeance! I can remember it clearly, the first time I noticed…it was a dip my sister Heidi made – a Buffalo Chicken & Cheese dip. I can remember it like it was yesterday…dipping my celery stick into this gloryness dip (ha, my poor attempt to justify eating the dip was that I was using celery). I quickly became to desire this feeling of slight burning. I devoured as much as I could without drawing attention to myself. And that, my bloggin‘ friends, is the beginning of the end.
From that point on, I needed to find reasons to bless my taste buds with this worth-its-weight-in-gold RedHot Sauce, so I began dribbling it over my pizza. Then I started adding it to my scrambled eggs. Carlos also began to recognize & feed my addiction notice my new habits and started to use it when he cooked for us. Flash forward to Tuesday. I ran to target to pick up some coffee and while there, grabbed a bottle of RedHot to keep at my desk. Upon my return to work, I warmed up my Smart One’s Rice & Beans frozen meal. Back at my desk, I opened the bottle of RedHot and did a couple of shakes to lightly share the RedHot with my rice & beans. Stirred it up and took a bite…mmmmm – 
delicious! But it wasn’t enough, so I shook a couple of more times and took another bite. SO SO CLOSE TO PERFECTION, but not quite there. I grabbed the bottle with a quick snap of the wrist and began shaking with both hands the bottle of RedHot like a addict trying to get a fix. Red sauce became a thin layer draped over my rice and beans. Although nervous that I was about to overdose on hot sauce, I spooned in mouthful after mouthful.
For a short moment in my day, I was in my own little world, warm from the inside out – participating in what felt like culinary heaven….until it was gone. All the rice & beans gone. Then it happened.
I quickly began to feel the taste buds coming to life as if they had been held down during a moment of insanity. And they began screaming at me. Had they lost conscious and stopped breathing for a moment in time and were now grasping for area? Holy hannah!!!!! Relief…I needed relief. I looked left. I looked right. I didn’t know what to do! I was stuck in my chair, immobilized by the intense feeling of pain erupting from every single taste bud on my tongue.
I grabbed the key to unlock the drawer next to me. Yes, this for emergencies-only-drawer had the answer. It had the relief I needed. If I could only get it open faster…need to move quicker, I must move quicker. The key turned and the the drawer slides open….R-E-L-I-E-F!!!
HAHA – okay, I SSSSOOOOOO added a little dramatic effect at the end. But I swear, I almost overdosed on RedHot and I DID use a piece of chocolate to calm my taste buds.
When you receive motivation & inspiration from me, pay it forward.
Jen
