Random Thoughts on... Crunch 'n Munch

I am usually a pretty shy person.  But, every once in a while, I will strike up a conversation with some random stranger about something innocuous.  (maybe it’s my insecurity that, where there are 2 people in a room, why ignore them and pretend they’re not there?  What is the saying? ‘A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet?’  That could be how Ted Bundy was so good at what he did… suckers like me…)

Wow, this went off the rails faster than usual. (Suddenly the Crunch 'n Munch company posts a comment requesting that I please not mention their product and serial killers in the same sentence.)

So, last Friday, I was in the kitchen getting some hot water for my tea and the vending machine guy was also in the kitchen restocking the vending machine.  He had the big box o’ snacks out and he was refilling the vending machine from the box, selecting random items.  I spotted some Crunch ‘n Munch and suddenly was overtaken by Extrovert Missynation.

“Ohhhh, Crunch ‘n Munch!  Could you put some of that in the vending machine? I love Crunch ‘n Munch.”

Mr. Vending Machine was polite enough to fill up the machine with some Crunch ‘n Munch.

Then, he filled up a WHOLE ENTIRE ROW with Crunch ‘n Munch.

I was so excited.  (I know, it doesn’t take much and I live a rather boring life…  I am also aware of the high percentage of my posts that involve/revolve around food.)

I thanked the guy for indulging my Crunch ‘n Munch cravings.

Later that morning, I was craving a snack.  You know, something that’s a little bit sweet, a little bit salty.  HEY!  There’s Crunch ‘n Munch in the vending machine!  And that’s just popcorn (a whole grain!) with a “little” caramel on it. Plus, peanuts, so there’s protein.  Yay!

Yes, this is how my mind works when I’m hungry…

So, I grabbed my dollar, headed down to the kitchen and hit the ol’ A-9 button for some Crunch ‘n Munch goodness.

For 90 cents.

And then I opened the bag.

90 cents?!!?  For this?????

The bag’s only ½ full!!!!  What the Crunch ‘n Munch!?!!??

So, I paid 90 cents for 1 oz. of Crunch ‘n Munch.  Now, I’m no economist, but I work with a lot of them and I’m pretty sure they would tell me that was a bad deal.  I got hosed.

Curiously, my Crunch ‘n Munch cravings trailed off.  

Until Thursday afternoon.  I glanced at the vending machine (as I filled up for my 3^rd or 4^th cup of tea that day) and noticed there was a lot of Crunch ‘n Munch left in the vending machine.

Suddenly, I felt, conflicted.  Am I responsible for making sure the Crunch ‘n Munch is eaten so Mr. Vending Machine doesn’t think he made a bad choice indulging my craving?  Should I start a division-wide publicity campaign for the Crunch ‘n Munch?  What the heck is wrong with me and how do I fix this????

I figured I’d give the Crunch ‘n Munch another shot.  Maybe I just got a stingy bag.

90 cents.  A-9. Drop.

Nope. 

Still ½ full.

I tried. I bought 2 things out of the vending machine over the last week (and that’s actually 2 more than I usually get).  I cannot single-handedly consume the entire overpriced Crunch ‘n Munch in the vending machine.

I felt fine about my decision and my actions.

Until the next morning, when I was headed to the kitchen to get some hot water and I heard the rustling of candy wrappers and chip bags.  Mr. Vending Machine was back to refill the vending machine.

So, I did what any self-respecting person would do.  I quickly and quietly dashed back to my office to wait a few minutes until he left.  I didn’t want to have to explain how the Crunch ‘n Munch was still there. I didn’t want to say “90 Cents for one friggin’ ounce? Of popcorn?  Are you crazy????”

Le sigh.  (ok, le cower…)

Next time I want Crunch ‘n Munch, I’ll just go down the block and pick some up from the CVS.  At least then, I’ll get some extrabucks for it…

Following the Pie Truck Around

Sadly, I have not been going to the gym as much as I would like… well, let me clarify. As much as I should.  And perhaps that’s where the problem lies: I have been going as much as I like…

I did go to the gym on Monday for Pilates and I went to the gym Wednesday for a workout with my trainer.

And, since I aim to be as honest as possible here, I’ll admit this: I had pie for lunch yesterday.

Yep, you read that right, pie.

I read on the blog Let The Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore a while ago about something called the “Baltimore Bomb” pie.  It’s made up of Berger Cookies (which apparently are very famous in Baltimore) and a kind of vanilla pudding/chess type filling.  There is a place that makes the Baltimore Bomb called the Dangerously Delicious Pie Co., and, I recently discovered that they have their very own food truck.

The food truck phenomenon has hit DC hard.  Over the past year or so, we have seen an explosion of food trucks.  I’ve seen the empanada truck, the Mac ‘n Cheese truck, the Lobster Roll truck, various cupcake trucks, and several others.  So, when I heard about the Dangerously Delicious Pie truck, I was intrigued and figured this could be my chance to try to Baltimore Bomb pie without, you know, hoofing it to Baltimore.

I started following the Pie truck on twitter, hoping that someday, they would schedule a stop close to my work.  That day finally arrived.  I got the twitter notice, or “tweet” that they would be just one block from my office.

So, I walked out to the pie truck, and perused the menu. They did have the Baltimore Bomb pie, but they also had so many other types of pie.  And, they weren’t just sweet pies; they also had savory pies.  Since I had actually forgotten to grab my lunch before I rushed out the door in the morning, I thought I might try one of their savory pies for lunch and grab a sweet pie to save for later.  Then, I saw they had a chocolate peanut butter pie.  Hubs ♥s chocolate & peanut butter.  So, I picked up a piece of that to give him for after dinner.  I also got a slice of the Baltimore Bomb to try at home with Hubs.  And then I saw they had something called “winter berry”.  It had apples, blueberries and cranberries.  So, I thought, I’d like to try one of those.

I am embarrassed to type that I got 4 slices of pie. (in my defense, they were not all for me; all except one was intended to share!)  When I got back to my office, I was so hungry that I just started scarfing down the savory pie (which had steak, mushroom, onion and gruyere and a little bit of cream.)  I had about 3 bites before I realized it was just too rich.  I knew that if I ate the rest of it, I would have the biggest stomach ache later on.  Plus, it was a little heavy on the onion and I’m more of an ‘onion-in-moderation’ type of gal.  So, I had a few bites of that pie, but I was still hungry, and I wanted to kinda get the flavor of the savory pie out of my mouth. 

Sooooooo, I turned to try a bite of the winter berry pie.  It was sooo good.  Just the right amount of sweet and tart.  Sadly, before I really paused to evaluate the situation, I had eaten most of the slice.  At least, in my defense, it had a lot of fruit in it.  (No?  Not going for that one?? Ok, give me a minute…)

I did stop myself before I finished the whole slice.  I left about 1/3 of it.  But it was gooooood. J

Until about 2 ½ hours later when I found myself in the gym, working out, and intermittently burping up the savory pie…  not good.  (Curiously, the fruit pie was just fine, with no encores… I blame all those dang onions!)

I did make it through the workout without tossing my cookies (or pie, as the case may be) but I think I learned my lesson.  That lesson is: Pie is not a wise pre-workout meal choice.  Message received.

And, that workout was TOUGH!  I was dying about 20 minutes into it.  One new thing my trainer had me do was the “rope swing.” I’ve seen folks do this on The Biggest Loser and always thought, ‘what’s so tough about that? Looks pretty simple to me.’ Heh.  Well, God heard me and had his finger on the “Smite” button.  It. Is. HARD!  It’s a huge, heavy rope and just swinging it back and forth is exhausting!  So, the point is, if you are looking for something new and challenging, don’t ignore that huge rope in the gym.  And, whatever you do, do not mock it; it will make you pay.

(I actually asked my trainer if he would take some pictures of me doing some of these exercises, but he said he would probably get fired if someone complained that he was taking pictures on the floor; fair enough. Although I would have loved to have some pics of the rope swing to show you…)

Later that night (I promise, I’m getting to the point) I shared my pie purchases with Hubs.  He really liked the chocolate peanut butter pie.  He thought the Baltimore Bomb was “ok.  It’s good, but not great.” Which was just fine with me because I thought it was quite tasty!  And, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate & peanut butter, so I was happy to let him enjoy that one.

After we finished our respective pies, (and Hubs told me some nasty & sad story about a man who ate so much and didn’t get off a chair for 2 years that he got stuck to the chair – literally.  Thanks for at least letting me swallow the piece of pie I had in my mouth before sharing that Hubs…) I realized that, if I counted the 3 bites of savory pie I had at lunch, and I should, I had eaten 3 slices of pie that day. THREE!!!!

That’s when I said to Hubs, “I think I need to unfollow* the DC Pie Truck.” 

(*now, for those of you who are familiar with twitter, you know the term “unfollow” means that you basically elect to no longer get tweets from a certain source you previously signed up to get tweets from, right?  You just say, “thanks, I don’t need to know about your comings and goings on a minute-by-minute basis anymore.”)

Hubs then says this:

“Yeah, I think you should quit following the pie truck around.”

Silence.

Deep breath.

I’M NOT FOLLOWING THE PIE TRUCK AROUND!!!!!!!  I’m not chasing after them in the streets screaming “I NEED PIE!!!!”

Really, I’m not. Really.

So, last night, right before I went to bed, I unfollowed the DC Pie Truck.

But I’m still following @BronxZoosCobra.