Obsessed

The other day, I was reading this post on my friend Breezi's blog, and I started thinking about what's in my kitchen. We do seem to have a theme that is hard to miss. I might even go so far as to say we're a bit, well .........

....... obsessed.

I had to take a picture to back me up:

The label on the front of the drawer says, "Deli Fresh".

Don't be deceived. The actual use for the drawer is for only one kind of food.

Cheese.

(Only you have to draw out the vowel sound: Cheeeeeeeeeeeese.)

We may have gone a bit overboard, especially lately, but we do love our cheese. I justify it by telling myself that it's really our major calcium source, since most of us have cut our milk consumption way back. Then I started counting. In the drawer and shelves above, we have:

1. Basic Medium Cheddar (we prefer sharp, but cave to the lower price point)
2. Kraft Singles (American -- not fancy, but sandwich-worthy)
3. Cream Cheese
4. Pepper Jack
5. XXX Sharp White Cheddar
6. Jarlsberg (a Swiss relative)
7. Smoked somethingorother (I've forgotten, but it's really yummy)
8. Farmhouse Cheddar (I just know it's from Hickory Farms)
9. Snack Cheeses: Babybel, Cheddar sticks and Colby-Jack sticks
10. Pre-Shredded Medium Cheddar
11. Pre-Shredded Mozzarella
12. Shredded Parmesano Reggiano (can you see a pattern here?)

Now add in the ones we have downstairs in the "spare" fridge:

1. more of the XXX White Cheddar
2. String Cheese
3. Yancy's Fancy Bergenost (a mild white cheese with a green rind!)
4. Yancy's Fancy Hot Buffalo Wing Cheese
5. a "Mexican Blend" of pre-shredded cheese -- finely grated

Now add in the other cheese products, like the cheese-in-a-cans and Emma's favorite "sprinkle cheese" (which is actually Kraft Grated Parmesan), and we're at about 20 different kinds of cheeses at our house.

I don't know, do you think we're over-doing it?

Maybe a little more justification. How about,

• There are a lot of essential nutrients in cheese: protein, calcium, phosphorous, zinc, vitamin A, riboflavin, and vitamin B12.
• Cheese is good for your teeth (remember all that calcium, and it keeps your mouth cleaner by making you produce more saliva.) -- actually helping prevent cavities.
• Cheese is even better for your bones (back to the calcium thing, and it might help prevent osteoporosis)
• Cheese can reduce problems with PMS, and make your pregnancy go smoother
• Cheese may be good for your skin: those B vitamins (who knew?)
• Cheese might prevent cancer, especially colon cancer
• Cheese can boost your immune system

I'm starting to feel better and better about this.....

P.S. I feel obligated to disclose that not all of us are cheeseheads. Alyssa maintains that she's not a big fan of snacking on cheese. And that's ok. All the more for the rest of us!