It's easy to get wrapped up in all life has to offer.

For instance, the finer things in life.

Being employed at a luxury Hotel is incredibly stimulating. In my particular line of work, I spend a lot of time interacting with the Restaurant and Pastry Shop.

Let's just say I need photos of the new breakfast menu or Holiday desserts. I simply run down to the kitchen, where the food is perfectly plated and expedited, then snap a few photos.

Here's the downside: when the photos are done, I'm handed a fork.

As if I'm supposed to sample an entire menu on my own?

indulgent: "a gluttonous appetite for food

and praise and pleasure"

I really cannot complain. My job is amazing, I'm so blessed. But I can't help but want eggs benedict every morning, or chocolate soufflé after each meal.

After months of "sampling" excessively and enjoying a few free meals here and there, I had to come to terms with the fantasy world I had been living in. It was time to realize that all good things must come to an end. And if I wanted my waistline to stop expanding, I should not be quite so indulgent.

I decided the best way to come to terms with growing palate would be to come up with a list of my favorite foods. Not my favorite meals to order fancy restaurants, but my favorite day-to-day foods that I just cannot get enough of. A list of foods in which reveling in their excellence does not elicit strong feelings of remorse or glutton.

Here is the abridged version:

black beans

a ripe banana with peanut butter

raw, crunchy red bell pepper

hot oatmeal with raisins, sliced almonds and honey

queso fresco, crumbled over... anything.

fat free half & half heated in the microwave before pouring into hot coffee

balsamic vinegar & olive oil with cracked black pepper

warm, fresh baked bread

I am aware that not many people share my same list, but it is good to have a list to refer to when self control suspends itself at the worst possible time.

This is not to say that I don't indulge in items that are not on my list (i.e. Thanksgiving Day). But I know that if I skip a bite or two I won't miss them, because I can always find a few items from "my list" in my personal kitchen.

Sarah