Mint Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream for Lunch

I have been on a diet for about 2 years.

OK...not really a diet. I watch what I eat a little more carefully and exercise more. I gave up sugared pop in favor of diet pop ('cause I still have to have that caffeine kick at 2 pm) and actually, I drink a lot less pop and a lot more water. I eat what I want, but I eat less of it. I try not to go back for seconds and all that stuff. And actually, it has worked. Very slowly, but it has worked. I have gone from 345 pounds to 285 pounds. It's a little disheartening to say, "I've lost 50 pounds!" and look at yourself in the mirror and still see the same fat blob sitting on your belly. But, I know it is working.

So, why am I sitting here with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream on my desk?

I just took another bite and I can tell you: Because it is good! It tastes good! It is REAL food. I don't have to guess about what is in it. It will be the same things I put into the Ice Cream maker when I was a kid - sugar and cream and mint extract (along with whatever is in these WONDERFUL Oreo knock-offs). I got one of those "Light Ice creams" once and there was an in gredient list as long as your arm with things like "Carageenan Gum" on it. Does anyone REALLY know what carageenen gum is? No, I want real food. Not polymers and plastics flavored to taste like food.

I could say that the devil made me do it. But, that's not true. I did it because I like Mint Choclate Cookie Ice Cream. I discovered it when I was about 14 at a chain called G.D. Ritzy's (anyone out there remember them?). They made Mint Oreo ice cream. Having been a Mint Chocolate Chip fan, most of my life, I was thrilled at this new development in ice cream technology. I think I had a cone everyday after school for the first two years I was in High School. Ritzy's was at the end of the street where my high school was. I have been hooked ever since. Mind you, I didn't gain the weight immediately. No, it wasn't until I stopped walking the 1.78 miles home from school that the ice cream began to leave it's mark.
Yes, everyday, is too often. But every once in a while...it calls to me from the freezer aisle. I always check the Ben Jerry's display to see if they have Mint Chocolate Cookie. No other will do. Not everyone carries it, so when I find it, I always try to buy it. To encourage the grocer to keep it stocked, of course... Well....and it tastes good! I don't always buy it immediately, as in this case. Today is the product of a 4 week wait. I have known it was there and I would studiously avoid that aisle so that I wouldn;t be tempted. But today, I was no match for the siren song.

The great thing about Ben & Jerry's is not that it is organic, or family farm friendly or any other platitude you can come up with. No, it's that it only ocmes in pints. Otherwise, I would have to eat a half gallon when I have a weak moment.

Now, if you'll excuse me...my lunch is melting on my status report.

(God, this stuff is good...)