At this very moment, my house is quiet.

Zak is at drum practice, the girls are off on a mini-adventure with a beloved aunt, the boy is napping.

I can hear crickets.

Yes, crickets in the winter. Hard to believe, eh?

Well believe this – I just finished this kick-ass salad for lunch.

The ass-kicking was thanks in part to the pile of arugula I added to the greens mix.

Arugula, spinach and red leaf lettuce, tossed in a little olive oil and balsamic.

Topped with some leftover grilled salmon and crumbly blue cheese.

This was great. Arugula is such a spicy, peppery green. And crumbly bleu cheese? It adds some awesome flavor and maybe even does some good for your cardiovascular health too. I’ll eat to that!

I think the best part about this salad was that it was so different from my usual lunch time salads. I purposely bought arugula and bleu cheese for salads this week, but I threw this together today without much forethought and found it surprisingly satisfying.

So satisfying in fact, that it got me thinking; sometimes I think I’m craving something sweet or some kind of treat, when actually what I’m craving is variety. What I’m actually hungry for is something new, something different.

I think it can be easy to mistake cravings for boredom or a need for stimulation. This was good reminder on the importance of asking yourself what you’re really hungry for, especially when you find yourself rummaging through the cupboards for a treat or snack even though you’re not truly hungry. The answer might be something completely unrelated to food – perhaps some other, underlying need altogether that you need to address.

This concludes today’s lunch time contemplation. This must be what happens when my house is too quiet.

Salmon, bleu cheese and arugla make a great salad though! No need to ponder that.