Thursday, April 30, 2009

I Changed My Mind...

I've been having one of those weeks of small discoveries. Silly things, but it makes me laugh at myself a bit. As the years pass, I find myself more willing to revisit things I disliked before; either out of necessity, curiosity, or opportunity.

Recently, it's stemmed from a desire to be more budget-conscious and less wasteful. I've never liked leftovers, but I've discovered how much money you can save when you stretch a meal 2 nights or for lunch. The next night is also freed up to play with the kids, pick up before dinner, or make a small dessert instead. I've always thought bananas overwhelmed foods, so I didn't put them in smoothies. Aldi has big bunches of bananas cheap, so I buy them and use them in smoothies - it avoids waste and gets more fruit in Ella. The other night we went to Steak n Shake (a very popular fast food restaurant here). Everyone loves it, but Tim and I have always been disappointed. In fact, we'd just told our friends days before that we didn't really like their fries or burgers, but the shakes were pretty good. The fries smelled so good, so we ordered some...small and crispy (very little potato flavor). I thought, "Wait, these are good." I prefer to shop at a lovely, well-ordered grocery store with a myriad of choices. I detest the Walmart experience. But I live in a small town with few choices and I finally decided to heed Heather's advice. Now I shop at the local Aldi with it's 25 cent (refundable) shopping carts, store brand only, debit card/cash policy, and bring your own shopping bags experience. It's inconvenient, but it saves money and the produce is outstanding. Rather than focusing on the inconvenience, I savor the savings and run to Walmart for the stuff I can't buy at Aldi. Now Aldi is growing on me and I wonder if the other stores truly offer a better experience.

These things are trivial, but funny because I'm such a talker. I love to read and try things and talk to people about it. I'll share my current, passionate reaction, not worrying about how future information might change my opinion. This sometimes puzzles, sometimes annoys, and sometimes gives someone else a good chuckle. I'm not fickle - I'm not constantly changeable. But I used to worry about having to admit that I changed my mind. Now I think it's a good thing to admit. We should be changeable as new experiences come into play. So, I've regularly said that bananas overwhelm food. I make banana bread for my family and still don't like it when I try it. But balanced right in smoothies, they're okay. Maybe I'll find a banana bread recipe that will change my mind...

3 comments:

The Kelley's said...

I have a fantastic banana bread recipe that I can send you. I'm sure it will change your mind. Plus, you could always add a few chocolate chips to the bread. That makes it really yummy!

Mert said...

I'm the opposite, I find myself constantly compelled to maintain loyalties at a clinical level to opinions that I haven't evaluated for eons. People probably listen to me and think, "oh gosh, here it is again, she said that when she was ten."

Rebecca Pierce said...

Keep in mind this is coming from a person who prefers the banana laffy taffy, the banana runts, banana ice cream, and always puts bananas in her Cold Stones...so maybe I'm not the right person to weigh in, but there is the BEST banana bread at this breakfast place in Sumner. If you are in town sometime when I am coming up there, tell me ahead of time and I'll bring you a loaf. Honestly, it melts in your mouth it is leagues better than any other. Sorry, don't have the recipe!