Appetite

Sir John Suckling wrote a very long time ago, "Tis not the meat, but tis appetite makes eating a delight." One problem that I do have on diets is the need to feel full when I am done eating. In other words, I have an appetite, and it must be satisfied. I have talked to other men, and this is a general problem. To put it into terms of Beldar Conehead, the Dan Ackroyd character from Saturday Night Live, I need to consume "mass quantities". So don't throw me in with the crowd that can skip lunch, and have a yougert and an apple for dinner. That just isn't going to happen. I've had to develop other eating strategies.

The answer is food with lots of soluable fiber in it. It supplies the bulk without the calories. One of my favorite dishes is Smoked Sausage with Beans and Rice. The meal is simple and quick. It requires an 8 oz bag of Vigo Santa Fe Beans and Rice, and a 16 oz package of Hillshire Farms Lite Smoked Sausage. The directions are simplicity itself. Prepare the Beans and Rice as it says on the package and cut up the smoked sauasage and throw it in. One third of it comes to 560 calories. One third is a very ample serving and guaranteed to keep you hunger free for the rest of the evening. 560 calories for dinner on a 2000 calories a day diet is just about right.

I like the meal for another reason. There are certain foods that define a culture. These are the foods that the common people eat because they are inexpensive, plentiful, and supply most of the nutrients needed for life. In Scotland, it was oats. In the orient, it was rice. In Mexico, it was beans and rice. For the southerner, it was soup beans and cornbread. Eating them is a tie to your past.