Fat People And Fat Pepper

We don't have a Whole Foods Market around here, probably because we aren't quite the right demographic, but as I was walking into Foods Co this morning (the low price food and drug warehouse) I got to noticing that yes, indeed, Bakersfield IS the fattest city in the nation. I got to thinking that fat people probably don't shop at places like Whole Foods, they probably aren't allowed in the door, but us fatties definitely shop at the cheap warehouse type food stores. Yep, we were all in there this morning.

I did ride the bike over there, mostly because Keith was not home from work yet, having gone out on a train from Barstow at 4:30 this morning, but also because if I force myself to ride the bike on an errand it really is much more enjoyable than driving and I don't have to look for a parking spot. I get hot and sweaty on the bike, but I get hot and sweaty driving to shop, too, getting in the hot car and waiting for the a/c to cool things off, walking through the hot parking lot, fighting traffic, etc.

I wanted to get salad stuff for dinner, I'm still trying to think of things to eat that aren't hard to make, don't need weird ingredients that you will only use once, like the white wine vinegar I bought for the coleslaw that was inedible the other day. I can't think of a single thing I will ever use white wine vinegar in again, and no I don't like vinegar on my salad.

I was planning on making a layered salad that you put together and then it can sit in the fridge until dinner time without getting soggy. So, I got lettuce, red and yellow bell peppers, celery, bacon bits, cheese, mayonnaise, frozen peas, and a steak for Keith to cook on the grill. I did not (and I'm quite proud of this fact) buy anything other than dinner ingredients and did not fall prey to the candy display at the checkout.

The layered salad is like this: You chop up the lettuce, peppers, celery, some hard boiled eggs, and grate some carrot, get some frozen peas (not cooked) and then you put a layer of lettuce topped with the rest of the stuff, including the bacon bits or some real bacon if you want, and then repeat that a second time. You mix a cup of mayo to a tablespoon of sugar (more if you are making a really big salad), spread that on top of the lettuce and stuff, and then cover the mayo with shredded cheddar cheese in whatever strength you like, mild to sharp, and then cover that up with saran wrap or whatever. To serve, you can just dig down into it, hoping you will get a bit of everything in your serving spoon, or toss the whole thing together before serving. I've had these salads done different ways, if you like a sweeter dressing, miracle whip works pretty well, too. They really taste good, you could probably put just about anything you want in something like this, and if you need a recipe just google it like I did.

I had put my bags on the counter after I got home from the store, went into the other room, and came back to this:

Pepper loves the smell of celery, it is like catnip to her, but I was really amazed that she actually got up onto the counter, she is quite hefty and doesn't do a whole lot of getting up onto things.

She rubbed her face on the celery for a while and yes, I washed it off before using it.