October 10th, 2017

This is my most recent "guilty pleasure.  Peanut butter filled pretzels. Yummmmm.   And not just any sort, mind you, the store brand which comes in a rather large container so that I can be not only bad, but really bad, I suppose.  They are crunchy and salty with that creamy, peanut-buttery middle. Perfection. At least at the moment, they satisfy my cravings perfectly.

For years, I mean years and years and years. A. Very. Long. Time, M&M's were my guilty pleasure.  What am I saying?  I never felt guilty about it one single bit.  M&M's were, in my opinion, nature's most perfect creation.  I had them in the fridge at home. I had them in my desk drawer at work. I had them ON my desk at work (the party sized bag of course) and thanks to my friend, Aaron, in a clearly marked, M&M emergency container in my purse.  It was usually empty of course because, well, M&M emergencies happened.  Any chocolate was a pleasure, but M&M's specifically were what I craved. 

 But shortly after we moved here, that constant M&M craving went away. And was replaced by a craving for all things salty.  It was so odd. Until now, I had never been especially interested in salty things. Suddenly, that was the one thing I wanted most in the world.  Finding out what new thing was going to fill this new "hole" took some experimenting.  Veggie chips were good.  Ritz crackers, not bad.  Pita chips, meh. Craving remained unfulfilled.  Then, one day, I happened across a box of the  peanut butter filled pretzels and the light dawned.  Could it be?  Was this finally the one?  I bought the box, brought it home, opened it up and Yes, Yes Yes!  This is it!  This is the thing!

I'm mystified as to why this is my new "thing'.   They are dry.  They are salty. The peanut butter inside is definitely not what you might call top notch quality.  And if you peek inside (I did. I couldn't resist) there is nothing appetizing looking about them whatsoever.  And yet!  It satisfies my craving, at least for now, like nothing else.

Without any scientific proof whatsoever, I am going to take a shot as to why my cravings changed.  When we lived in Colorado, at nearly 6,000 feet up, the blood thins and the body has to work harder to manufacture iron which is very important. And with my tendency toward anemia already a fact, maybe my body was craving what it was missing - Iron. Oh and there is iron in chocolate.  And if you eat as much of it as I did, well there you go.

Currently I live at 7 feet. That's right.  7 whopping feet above sea level. That's one foot ten inches more than my own height.  My body apparently now creates enough iron to satisfy it's greedy little clutches.  However, it's warm out.  In fact, from July through  September it's freakin' hot and humid. And if ever I was going to sweat, that would be the time. I need to replace the salt that my body sweats out. Craving salty things!  Hey maybe that's it!  I cannot explain the peanut butter part.  Well wait, peanut butter has protein (along with a ton of fat of course).   Since I rarely eat meat maybe it's the protein in the peanut butter?

Well that's my theory anyway.  As the temperatures cool off we will see if this addiction for peanut butter pretzels goes away. I can't remember exactly how it went down last Winter. Everything here was knew.   I do know I was craving salty and I remember being surprised by it.  I also know that while I still enjoy chocolate, I no longer have that deep down craving for it.  And in fact, there was a box of chocolates in the fridge for MONTHS last year that eventually I just threw away.  THREW AWAY???  That's just crazytalk!

The only salty thing I have thrown away since we moved here were empty bags. And while I do not lower myself to lick the inside of those empty bags before throwing them away, I have been known to lick my finger and press it to those lovely salty,  crispy, pretzel crumbs to get every last bit.

Satisfying cravings.  There is at least one of the secrets of happiness.