Some thoughts on cravings, cheese, and having things to look forward to #40thingsbefore40

“A satisfying nibble that offers a little of what you fancy.”

No not that, don’t be rude, I’m talking about cheese.

It’s how The Laughing Cow describe their new Mini Cravings – little cubes of cheese with only 14 calories each. They’re tasty too, coming in a variety of strong flavours including garlic and herb, three cheese, (because one cheese is never enough), and ham and herb. They come in packs of 24, so even if you eat all them at once, (which isn’t really the idea), you can probably still pass it off as a light lunch.

mini cravings laughing cow

 

Looking at the picture I had a little flashback to soft cheese I used to eat as a child that came in a pack with different flavours – possible triangles in a wheel. Do you remember those, or did I dream them?

Anyway, I was thinking about the whole idea of cravings, (cue seamless link into something else), and that whole idea of ‘a little bit of what you fancy’, and it reinforced for me how important it is to have things in your life that you do for yourself, cravings that you indulge. It could be a cube of ham and herb cheese, or it could be something bigger, like taking a few days away from everything once a year to reflect on your goals, ambitions and achievements. 

It’s partly why I came up with my list of 40 things to do before 40. I get these moments sometimes where I know I’m craving something, but I’m not sure what it is. Mostly I think it’s just a little bit of excitement, something that’s different from the everyday, something that takes me out of that routine that it’s so easy to get stuck in. Having a list helps to give me a bit of focus. It means I can plan things to look forward to, but also have a resource for if I find myself having that urge to do something new.

The Laughing Cow have been very kind indeed, and offered to help me satisfy a couple of my list related cravings, and I don’t even have to add ‘eat 24 small cubes of cheese’ to the list! Instead they wanted to help me with a couple of items that felt like real ‘treats’ – the sort of things I really want to do, but would feel bad about spending money on.

This is what happens when you’ve been a parent since you were 17 – you get these odd feelings of guilt whenever you do anything that’s totally for yourself, just for the fun of it. Or so my fiancé keeps telling me. He says I should do more stuff like go shopping and buy clothes, but honestly, I went to a shopping centre yesterday and it was awful – I really don’t need to see any bit of myself from so many angles. That isn’t a treat for anybody.

The stuff I do want to do is a little more experiential – doing things rather than buying things. One of them is to take a ride in a helicopter. I imagine that the reality of this will be mild travel sickness, but the fantasy is much more exciting, and involves leaning out of the open side of the helicopter, James Bond style, and shooting out the tyres of a fast moving car, at the same time, (obviously), as wearing a headset and carrying a suitcase full of gold bars.

This one is now booked, so all I need to do now is brush up on my marksmanship.

The other item that The Laughing Cow is going to help me with is making fresh pasta. (If you have a picture now in your head of a cow kneading pasta dough and chuckling to herself then I’m sorry to say it’s not quite like that. Disappointing I know.) In classic poor/lazy family style, we’ve always eaten a lot of pasta and when Bee was little, and we lived alone in a house with no fridge, cooking on a camping stove, we ate a lot of ‘Pasta ‘n’ Sauce’ – a culinary delight if ever there was one.

To balance this out I’ve always fancied having a go at making proper, fresh pasta. It’s one of those things that I’m sure isn’t difficult, but if you’ve never done it before it’s a little scary. I’m now booked onto an Italian cookery class in Bristol in October, so no more dusty broccoli and cheese flavour tubes for me.

Instead I’m going to discover a love of cooking. They’ll be more ravioli in my kitchen than you can shake a stick at.

ravioli

If you fancy indulging yourself, why not pop along to visit The Laughing Cow at one of their pop up Cravings Cubes over the summer? As well as getting to eat cheese, there is also the chance to win some brilliant prizes, including some chosen by me! (Look closely and you should spot my face on the cube too.) If you’ve always craved an Anglepoise lamp or a Nutribullet, then get on down to one of these dates:

image002 - Edited

You can find out more about The Laughing Cow and see pictures from The Cravings Cube on their Facebook page.

What things do you crave? Are there things, like riding in a helicopter, that you’ve always wanted to try?

 

Image – ravioli from StockPhotoAstur/shutterstock. Post in collaboration with The Laughing Cow. (In case you couldn’t tell.)

 

Follow:

13 Comments

  1. 4 August, 2015 / 2:44 pm

    Ooh, I’d love to learn to make pasta. I have a 30 before 30 list which I’ve been enjoying working through as a bit of fun.

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      5 August, 2015 / 1:47 pm

      Which has been your favourite thing to tick off so far Adele?

  2. 4 August, 2015 / 6:15 pm

    Ooh now you have me thinking. I’m not sure really, I’d definitely like to travel more with the girls and now they’re getting older that feels a real possibility. Hope you enjoy the helicopter, I did one last year with my eldest and we loved it! x

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      5 August, 2015 / 1:47 pm

      Travelling with kids is fun – I love it because you get to do the more childish stuff that you might feel bad doing otherwise!

  3. 5 August, 2015 / 8:32 am

    I totally remember those tiny triangles of cheese in my lunchbox! Making fresh pasta sounds super fun, I think I’ve always wanted to try white water rafting but I’d probably scare myself silly doing it! X

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      5 August, 2015 / 1:46 pm

      Gosh, that’s brave! I don’t think I have anything that scary on my list! I have done a skydive but I passed out mid-air…

  4. 5 August, 2015 / 6:08 pm

    I’m such a wimp and hate heights so there is really nothing very interesting on my list of things to do before any age! x

  5. 5 August, 2015 / 6:17 pm

    I LOVE making fresh pasta but haven’t done it in ages. Will give it a go, perhaps with my small ‘helpers’ (we all know how that will end).

  6. 5 August, 2015 / 6:52 pm

    that pasta looks amazing, I’d love to give making it a go! I did think of doing a 30 before 30 list but I currently have about 4 months left of 29 and being pregnant is probably going to stop me from doing anything super exciting ;) still having a baby will be a pretty nice thing to look forward to! x

  7. 6 August, 2015 / 9:07 am

    Oh I have travel on my list, I’m so passionate about it, and would love to be able to take my children all around the world. I’d also love to improve my photography. I did go to gin school a couple of days ago, so that’s off my list now ;)

  8. 11 August, 2015 / 10:25 pm

    Growing up I was a Dairylea triangle girl but I don’t mind Laughing cow. Sadly my kids won’t either and are more into Babybel – cest la vie! I love allll the cheese!

  9. 20 August, 2015 / 12:54 am

    This has totally reminded me to make a 40before40 list – love yours – so many great ideas

    Laura x

  10. Chris Hutson
    3 September, 2015 / 10:00 pm

    I remember the flavoured triangles. Had them at my grandparents for Sunday tea. Also I’m sure there was a company that made little squares of cream cheese but I don’t think they were flavoured.

    I am frightened of heights so have book a balloon flight, Unfortunately it’s been cancelled twice because of weather conditions and not had the time to rebook it, But soon I will do it.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.