I put the D in Delirious

Before I begin, let me make one thing perfectly clear: If you are expecting this post to be coherent, you are being completely unrealistic.

Since December 26th, I have clocked 131 hours at work. In case you weren't counting, it has been only two and a half weeks since that date. My brain hurts, my shoulders grow new knots the minute immediately after Mister stops kneading them, and my left eye has been twitching at random points throughout the day. To say I'm stressed out and running on adrenaline might begin to cover it, but we've been through this before.

The point is, I'm exhausted and I don't expect to make much sense, but I really want to share about dinner tonight. I think I would like to share about last night's dinner, too, but I can't remember what it was.

Tonight I made Chili sin Carne al Mole from VwaV. I am very proud of myself for remembering to get tortilla chips on my way home so I wasn't halfway through the simmering process before Mister had a mild heart attack and explained to me for the umpteenth time the crucial role these chips play in chili consumption before bundling up and running through the Philly cold snap to get said chips. Didn't happen - I got them first.
There were several things of note about this chili:

1. Whole Foods did not have my now-beloved Ray's Seitan, so I got Michael's Savory Seitan instead. Once again, locally produced and terrifying looking in its little tub. Remembering how well Ray's worked out, though, I ignored how gross it looked. It was okay, but not as flavorful as Ray's or White Wave.

2. Cocoa powder does not dissolve completely, leaving a slightly gritty texture to the mole sauce. That was actually profoundly disappointing, because I had imagined it melding with the other ingredients to create a luscious, thick, velvety sauce that just hinted at a chocolate flavor. That is not what happened. It was thick and had notes of cocoa and cinnamon, but it was definitely a little chalky.

3. Chili is a slow-cooked meal for a reason. Don't taste the mole sauce until it's had at least 15 minutes of quality simmering time. So gross. I seriously didn't know if I was going to be able to eat dinner. It definitely improved over the next 25ish minutes, but I would not have been able to eat it without the aid of those helpful little multi-grain Tostitos.

Speaking of which, how devious is it that Tostitos is really trying to convince people that tortilla chips can be healthy? Popcorn is also a whole grain, but that doesn't matter when you slather it with carcinogenic "butter flavor" made of God only knows what. So, somehow I think the excessive amount of salt and what is probably an inevitable frying process probably strip these multi-grain tortilla chips of any nutritional value. It did make me feel better about buying them, though...I'm such a sucker.

And that leads to another tangent (did you read the title and disclaimer??): once again, I fell prey to the strategically placed items at the checkout of Whole Foods and added a travel size hand lotion to my purchases the other day.

I haven't used it yet, but I got to thinking the other day about whether or not vegan hand lotion existed and if it was any good. This is vegan as far as I can tell, so the next part is to use it and let you know how that works out - I have some seriously dry hands and work in a seriously dry office.

I think I'm going to call it a night. My eyes are starting to cross.