I'm an Addict

I don't know how it happened or why, but it seems I'm addicted to salsa. Chips? Not so much. Chips are just an edible, crunchy substitute for a spoon. I'm pretty sure I could eat half a container of salsa using only ten tortilla chips.

I'm not quite to the point where salsa seems like a good breakfast alternative, but salsa for lunch, dinner, and/or dessert--yep, I'm there.

I guess it COULD be worse. After all, salsa is low in calories, low in fat, and high in vitamins. Unfortunately, it's high in sodium too, but I'm not addicted because it's the perfect food. Oh no.

Sometime in the early summer, I "discovered" heirloom tomatoes. I've always enjoyed fresh, homegrown tomatoes when paired with basil, and I found the heirlooms made the dish even better. I think that's when I started to really THINK about tomatoes. A lot. Then there's the whole "healthy eating" thing we've been doing. After all, tomatoes are pretty good for diets. And because I wanted to make sure I was adding more veggies to my diet, I started drinking a small can of V8 as an afternoon "snack" a couple times a week. Who knew that V8 was the "gateway drug" to salsa addiction?

A couple weeks ago, we were at my sister-in-law's house for a barbecue. She put a bowl of salsa and a bowl of tortilla chips on the table for us to snack on while we enjoyed a cold beverage or two and waited for the meat to cook. THAT's when I think it started. If I hadn't thought it would be obvious, I would have taken the chips and salsa with me and locked myself in the bathroom.

In the last couple of weeks, I've "tested" several salsas. Well, I say I'm just "testing" them, but we all know the truth. And as it turns out, I found the Wild Child's a salsa hound too. I'm not sure which one of us is worse. Just think of all the sad stories you've heard and the TV programs you've seen about mom and daughter addicts and picture us. It's not pretty.

I thought maybe I was craving salsa because of some obscure nutritional need. Maybe I had a deficient salsa gland or something. Do you have any idea how many theories there are about tomato cravings? Maybe it's anemia. Maybe it's pica and I'd really like to eat dirt, but I'm settling for salsa. Maybe I'm pregnant (NOT!). Seriously, it could be any number of things, but there's also the theory that it's mental, and I think that's me--mental.

Now that I've identified my addiction, I guess the next step is fighting it. Hey, I quit smoking, right? So how much harder can quitting tomatoes be? I wonder though: Is salsa one of those things that once I quit, I can never have even one bite again without risking a relapse? And do I need to abstain from jalapeno peppers, onions, and cilantro too, or just tomatoes?

Unfortunately, salsa addiction is neither well researched nor well understood, and as far as I know, there are no treatment facilities or 12-step programs. Sometimes I wish I was addicted to sex instead of salsa. Oddly enough, so does Hubby.