Where's the closest Cheeseburger in Paradise??

While I was very fortunate in my early weeks of pregnancy to not have any morning sickness, I did have several days where the thought of most foods made me feel like I would yak them if consumed. At that point, I was lucky to get down a granola bar and some fruit for breakfast. My lunch usually consisted of chicken noodle soup, crackers, and whatever vegetables sounded appealing. My queasiness usually subsided by dinner time, and of course by the time dessert rolled around and David was pulling out Drumsticks or chocolate truffles, I was just fine!


One Saturday morning, I had a huge craving for sleepover cereal...you know the kind I am talking about. Sleepover cereal is the kind of cereal that our moms never bought unless we were having a huge slumber party. When I woke up, my mind was rushing with thoughts of Lucky Charms and Trix. I poked David to wake him up and told him I was going to the store for some sugary cereal. This is how that conversation went...


Me: What kind of baaaaddd cereal do you want me to get you?
David: Oooh, Life!
Me: Life?! Life isn't bad. Come on, what do you want?
David: KIX!
Me: Kix?! Seriously, baaaad cereal, you know, Lucky Charms, Froot Loops, Cinammon Toast Crunch...
David: Oh, I know, Crispix.


Frustrated, I jumped out of bed and headed for the store in search of the perfect sugary cereal for our family! I got a box of Lucky Charms for me and a box of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch for Dave. I had remembered him saying once that he LOVED that cereal. Oh, I also picked up a box of mini powdered donuts (or carrots, as I like to call them when David asks me what I am eating.)


While that breakfast was filled with sugary deliciousness, most of my cravings have not been that unhealthy. One of the strangest cravings I am having is for wilted spinach. I have NEVER been a fan of spinach before...not wilted, nor in salads. (Give me my iceberg and romaine lettuces please!) While we were at a restaurant in Austin (and I was getting fried chicken), Dave ordered salmon and spinach. I took a bite of it and it was SOOO good that I had to take more bites. Well, that started my kick and every week since then, salmon and spinach have been on the menu.


Another hunger I am having is for Olive Garden salads (I told you I liked iceberg lettuce). We have an Olive Garden about 10 minutes from our house and every time we are in that direction I beg David for us to go and eat there. Earlier in my pregnancy, he had sympathy for me and would give in. Those days are pretty much over. The last time we had it, I had convinced him to at least do carry out. I placed the order and repeated numerous times to the guy on the phone that we wanted LOTS and LOTS of salad. Well, when David went in to pick up the order, there was a half container of salad in the bag. Dave had to do some finagling, but ended up walking out with three whole containers of salad. And, yes, he used his pregnant wife as an excuse! Because we can't eat there all the time, I had to get a bottle of the dressing to keep on hand at home...

(It tastes best when eaten in the large bamboo bowl!)

Speaking of salads, another one I am craving is the Son of a Son of a Sailor salad from Cheeseburger in Paradise. We don't have a Cheeseburger in Paradise out here, so this is one craving that is going unsatisfied. I was even planning a trip out to see my brother in Atlanta in November and was THOROUGHLY looking forward to eating that salad at least once. That trip has been rerouted to our parents' house in Phoenix, and much to my dismay, there is no Cheeseburger in Paradise there. But, there is an Olive Garden AND a Buffalo Wild Wings!

Oh, have I neglected to mention my cravings for Buffalo Wild Wings? It's a wings place that Dave and I used to go to almost every Saturday night. We would get wings, Blue Moons, and multiple orders of celery and play trivia for hours. (Yeah, we were nerds and acted like an old married couple. So what!) Anyway, when we were in Dallas, driving from the airport at 10 pm to the hotel, I spotted a Buffalo Wild Wings on the side of the road. I yelled to David, "We are SO eating there this week!" So, the next night, we took my parents to Buffalo Wild Wings for wings, beer and trivia. Okay, okay, it wasn't exactly the same without a Blue Moon for me, but the wings and the company made up for it. It was so good, in fact, that David and I had it again for lunch the very next day.

Okay, the last and final craving I am going to tell you about is one that I have and satisfy daily. I have given up my most favorite drink in the world. No, it's not red wine (that's my second favorite). It's the most wonderful drink ever created...Diet Coke. Ice cold Diet Coke in a can. Mmmmm. I know I could probably have one a day and it probably wouldn't do any harm, but I'm not...and, boy do I miss it! To curb that hunger, I make myself a nice pitcher of decaffeinated iced tea. My favorite used to be the kind my mammaw made with tons of sugar in it, but I do without that too. I still make it in the same pitcher she used, because somehow, that just makes it taste even better.

Will I ever crave pickles and ice cream? I hope not. I'm perfectly content with my meal of salmon and spinach or wings and salad as long as they are accompanied by a nice glass of iced tea! Oh, and the answer to the question/title of my post? Oklahoma City! That's not too far, is it??