... and it frequently comes after I've eaten out. Like tonight ~ I had gotten a few things at the store to make a Greek salad with a simple pasta dish for dinner tonight, but when my husband got home after three days away, we said: "Let's go out."
Forty dollars later, we asked ourselves, "Why did we do that?"
That's how impulse buying feels ~ rationalizing before as to why you should, and thinking of other ways you could have spent that money if you didn't. Were we celebrating? No. Was it a special treat? No. It just felt like a good idea ~ maybe because we could leave the house.
Any way you look at it, when you're income is stretched, like it is for many of us ~ it was a big price to pay when we could have stayed here, saved the money, and ~ most important ~ probably eaten a much healthier meal!
(As we drove home I thought ~ I could have paid for two extra days of pre-school classes for my granddaughter this week with that money!)
Another example of our heads battling with our hearts ~ we can count on our heads to supply the arguments for going against our hearts ~ every time.
To be mindful here, what I know for sure (as Oprah would put it) is that I get a very good feeling inside when I've put my energy (represented by money) into nurturing myself. I do that with good food ~ and the $13 I spent at the grocery store this afternoon felt a lot better than the $40 I plunked down at the restaurant.
The food was good ~ but not as good as I coud prepare at home. Fortunately, the next meal always provides the opportunity to make another choice!
(Go to my Recipes linked at the bottom of this page to see what I could have had!)
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2 comments:
At Paula's Mindful Eating class yesterday, she shared an amazingly easy way to make a Greek salad. I went home an prepared this and oh wow my husband does not often say how much he likes a dish and this one he did! I peeled 3 large tomatoes, layering some on two salad plates, then added a chopped cucumber, sprinkled over, and over that, crumbled Feta cheese mixed with chopped mint leaves fresh from outside our door, and some sliced Calamata Olives to top it off. I sprinkled salt and fresh ground pepper, the over that, according to Paula's directions, I poured a mixture of whisked olive oil 1/4 cup, and lemon juice 4 tsp and 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest. Wow, what a salad. I added a simple Soba noodle dish, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. If I'd had Pinion nuts I'd have added those, as well. Paula said that a glass of wine and some French Bread would top it all off, sounds perfect. It was! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Great advice and it looks like some great recipe suggestions.
Thanks, Paula!
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