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The Bagel Shop

So I'm pretty much obsessed with bagels. To say the least. On the weekends when I wake up all I really want is a nice warm bagel toasted to a light golden brown lightly lathered with cream cheese. Honestly I don't really have a favorite type of bagel or cream cheese but have you ever observed the selection. Every time I go to Noah's or a corner cafe I study the baskets of different bagels behind the warm glass and try to make a decision. This takes me a couple of minutes. There's the plain bagel, which I am a fan of but it is kind of plain, there's onion, asiago cheese, chocolate chip, blueberry, cinnamon sugar, sun-dried tomato, sesame, egg, poppy seed, garlic, whole grain, and of the everything bagel. Now how am I supposed to make a decision with so many inviting choices. Usually I'll go with the everything, or the poppy seed, or the onion bagel, now and then I will be boring and get the plain bagel but I usually spice it up with a zesty cream cheese. Which brings me to my next dilemma, which cream should I top my bagel with?? Obviously there's plain, then there's blueberry, garden veggie, garlic herb (a personal favorite), honey almond, jalapeno salsa, maple raisin walnut, onion & chive, strawberry, sun dried tomato basil, and smoked salmon. Now I like to think of myself as an adventurous person but I can't say that I branched out to try each on of these shmears. Plain, sun-dried tomato basil, garlic herb, and onion & chive are the ones I stick to.

So what sparked this bagel craze? Bagels have been around for decades and with the years and as we as a society became more cultured, acquiring new and different tastes, the simple and plain bagel revolutionized with innovative flavors along with the shmears. Not to mention the other breakfast bagels, which is much like a sandwich or breakfast on a bagel. The breakfast bagel contains egg, sausage, and any other breakfast entity that you desire. There's pizza bagels, bagel dogs, and sandwich bagels which is practically a sandwich but on a bagel rather than your usual bread. 

With this wide selection and tasty options it is a wonder of mine that there are people out there who dislike bagels. 

Fast Food Nation With A Diet Addiction

Have you ever been watching TV and then actually payed attention when the commercials come on? Other than the car advertisements every other one is for an affordable diet plan or the new value menu at Wendy's or the improved Bowflex or this season's sundae at Sonic. Conflicting messages?...I'd say so.

I find it almost comical that the media along with the fashion industry disperse the message that beauty is being frail thin and the current in look is a skeleton. Yet the fast food and restaurant industries are constantly advertising their products and inviting you in with low cost deals and of course the apparent notion that people are obsessed with fried, fatty foods. Fast food industries thrive off of society's lower class and people who cannot afford to shop at Trader Joe's therefore resort to the McDonald's drive thru for a double-double and a 16 oz. cup full of thick sugary liquid. Fast food is convenient, it tastes amazing, and it is everywhere. Driving around I can spot a Jack in the Box and then drive three blocks only to come across another one, of course in between those three blocks was a Taco Bell, Burger King, and Carl's Jr. 

So how is that the people on TV, the glamorous celebrities, and the gorgeous models of our time are covering the magazine covers with stories of eating disorders and pictures of protruding spines, collar bones, and hips?? How does a young girl who begs her mother for a McDonald's happy meal, look up to and idolize a celebrity who is in rehab for starving herself? We are constantly surrounded with pizza-any and every topping, french fries, mozzarella sticks, bacon burgers, chalupas, buffalo wings, chicken strips, etc etc etc...and then told to look like a certain way, look like Jessica Alba look like Matthew McConaughey because that's what is attractive, but what they don't tell you is that they're not in that drive thru for that double-double. Which results in people turning to all these diets- Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, SlimFast, and Weight Watchers. There's an outbreak of obesity throughout America and then there's teens suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. How can we continue in a world where the size double zero is the new four, fasting is a trend, but fast food establishments overwhelm our streets, televisions, and minds?

"Salad In A Bag"

A frequent and popular dinner of mine is the easy, healthy, and delicious salads by Fresh Express. It's a kit pretty much...A bag full of fresh lettuce along with a packet containing all of the necessary condiments and ingredients to make the perfect salad. They cater to all tastes, with eight different types of salads. There is the Asian Supreme, the B.L.T Caesar, Original Caesar, Caesar Lite, Caesar Supreme, the Mediterranean Supreme, Pacifica Veggie Supreme, and Salsa Ensalada Supreme. The Salsa Ensalada Supreme is my personal favorite, in fact i had it for dinner this very evening, but I have tried just about each one and have yet to be left unsatisfied. 

I was introduced to these efficient salads when I was probably 14 years old and living with my family. Night after night my mother would make these elaborate dinners with different dishes of pasta, meat or fish, vegetables, and possibly some type of soup. Of course she was not about to forget the salad course but after slaving away with the main and side dishes, she turned to these salad kits to quickly put together a tasty salad that the whole family would enjoy. Conveniently, there was a salad to compliment each of her themed dinners. The Salsa Ensalada Supreme would go with taco nights, Original Caesar with pasta and steak, Pacifica Veggie Supreme with her soups, and the Mediterranean Supreme with rice and chicken. 

As a society, we are constantly searching for shortcuts. Maneuvers that make our lives easier and detours that make the meticulous tasks of life go a little faster. Therefore having strolling through the grocery store and grabbing just one bag packed with lettuce, dressing, and the appropriate toppings makes preparing meals a whole lot easier and faster. You don't have to search the aisles for the croutons, a bottle of dressing, lettuce, and one's desired veggies and other toppings.

While convenient, these salads in a bag leave me with the lingering feeling that we as Americans are lazy. We all have busy days packed with activities, school, jobs, friendships, relationships, hobbies, and so on but where will the shortcuts end? Survey the grocery store shelves, there is instant something in every aisle...instant rice, instant soup, instant vegetables, microwavable meals stock an entire two and a half aisles in Vons. Convenient and I can't deny that my freezer is supplied with instant rice, instant oatmeal, and instant vegetables but I surely don't plan on living off my microwave forever.