SINGLE INGREDIENT "ADVENTURAS"

Single Ingredient “Adventuras”

I am not a calorie counter and have no future plans of becoming one.  I count on my brain using a ¼ of my caloric intake.  I will wait until my stomach feels uncomfortably full for 2-6 weeks straight with daily prospects of wearing a Brazilian bikini before I start saying things like, “I don’t feel so good and look like I am 4 months along.  I think I need to stop eating so much.”  This is called a “perpetual food coma” and the feeling is categorized as being “no bueno”.

The Olive Garden isn’t the best place for fine dining or to count calories for that matter - despite their helpful display of calories on the menu that I intentionally ignored.  Food is one of the elements to many an “adventura” but this is ultimately about another key ingredient - friends.

When funds are low or time is short or you just don’t have the energy to do something major like helicopter skiing or hiking the nearest mountain, it is a perfectly viable option to have a mini-adventura by planning to meet your good friend somewhere for lunch – even at a chain restaurant. 

Recently I met my best friend for lunch in Rohnert Park at The Olive Garden.  Miss Claire and I have been best friends since High School but don’t see each other as often as we would like. It was an excellent reminder how a simple thing like meeting a good friend for lunch can do wonders for the soul.  Not only are good friends the ones that know the most about you and your life, they are also the ones you laugh freely around.  They are the ones you allow yourself to be vulnerable with.  Vulnerability can be as big of a risk as climbing Mount Everest.  They are the ones you trust to some tremendous degree or another and happily belay for you while you climb your way out of a dark hole.  They will refer you to their awesome hair stylist, Barbera Simpson, so that your hair can look good even on your otherwise off days. They help you through horrible times when you have been kicked down by the world, or work, or family, or other life situations.  They have your best interests at heart and want you to be healthy, safe, successful, and most of all, happy.  

Good friends are comforting in the way a big bowl of pasta loaded with parmesan cheese is, healthy in the way a salad is, and the laughter you share is like a slice of black raspberry cheesecake, delicious and rich and worth every calorie you refuse to count.

Life is short.  Some of us know this better than others.  Good friends are important and you don’t need to wait for some special occasion or a fancy restaurant or an exotic location to enjoy them.  Sometimes you need to simply have lunch with them on a Monday at The Olive Garden in Rohnert Park.