dear teacher...

...please excuse Natalie; she's been sick.

So, it looks like I used up the last of my energy on the mega-post I used to greet June!  The very next day, I developed a painfully sore throat on my way home from work.  I stubbornly resisted any/everyone's attempts to classify me as "sick," and bravely went to work again on Wednesday.  By the time I got home, it was clear that denial is not just a river in Egypt (da Nile, get it?  yes, it was stupid), it was a way of life for me.  Even though I alternated between my two health elixirs:

Yogi Tea Detox Tea (I'm sure it's not meant to eradicate colds, but it does that pretty well!)

Echinacea Tea, which is probably useless once you're already sick, but give me my sugar pills

And even though I ate my Magical Don't-Get-Sick Fruit (an orange) and made myself a healthy dinner with miso, carrots, greens, and rice:

I

I still got sick.

Being the brave and stupid stubborn soul that I am, I decided to try to "tough it out" and go to work on Thursday, despite mounting evidence that all systems were not go.  Mister was battling the same enemy and got as far as crossing the threshold at his job before giving up and coming home.  Fortunately for him, that meant trudging four blocks back.  When I made it 5 hours into my day, I couldn't take it anymore and drove 30 miles home, complaining bitterly about the fact that our sub-zero A/C at work made me cold even when I had the foresight to bring (and wear) a sweater and cover my neck.  I may have made the same bitter complaints to my boss as I was leaving...

Mister was generous enough to pick up a ready-made (by someone else) dinner from one of the fine establishments near our home, so there was no cooking Thursday, just sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and eating heartily.  I did my best to turn our home into a sweat lodge on Friday while Mister was at work and I truly think my efforts to sweat out the illness [kind of] worked.  After a short[ish] nap, I found the energy to actually make a tasty and nutritious dinner:

I made Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Garlic Puree from Vegan Italiano.   It absolutely hit the spot for me - I think Mister would have liked the flavors to be a little more pronounced and for it to have had a little less zucchini and yellow squash.  I know he doesn't care for them, but the roasting brought out a delicious sweetness, complemented by the little grape tomatoes waiting to pop in your mouth (some couldn't wait and popped in the oven).  I had a glass of Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes with mine and must admit, I was a little taken aback by the first taste.

I had done a little research about Torrontes because I had seen this specific wine so many times in my continuing attempts to find the Crios Malbec I enjoyed with my salad in October.  I've mentioned before that one of the only whites I'll drink willingly and regularly is Riesling, but I still keep an open mind.  I've liked most South American wines I've tried, though they've all been red, so I wanted to see what this Torrontes was all about.

All the descriptions emphasized the fruitiness and crispness of the wine, so I was able to completely overlook the teeny-tiny mention of the wine being "quite dry."  After that shocking first sip, I looked on the back of my bottle and found that this popular Argentine wine can most closely be compared to Sauvignon Blanc...probably the white I hate the most.

Anyway, between the one glass I drank and the effort of making dinner draining me more thoroughly than I thought, I found myself quite ready to sleep a couple of hours later.  When I woke up the following day, 12 hours later, I felt completely rested, energetic, and all-around better!  I still coughed my way through my lessons, but that was all.  I'm pretty sure my peppermint Americano aided my energy level, but either way, I was happy to flit about the kitchen last night and prepare Moroccan Chickpeas with Couscous from One-Dish Vegetarian Meals.

It did not pair especially well with the Torrontes, but it seemed to go better than it had with the pasta dish (and I did not feel like opening my new bottle of Zaccagnini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo just yet).  This dish is easy, but nothing special, so I will move on to two links (yes, more!) and my new menu.

First, I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this site, but I am so glad I did - I have mentioned before that all of my logical arguments about why I chose such a "difficult" diet/lifestyle tend to fall right out of my brain when someone demands I explain myself.  I don't know why - I don't actually owe anyone an explanation for MY dietary choices.  I guess I see it as my opportunity to help someone else make this amazing change and I don't want to blow it.  Regardless, How To Win an Argument with a Meat-Eater gives a great breakdown of all the knowledge I encountered that helped me make my decision.  It's a great resource and a helpful reminder of why I chose this path - give it a read, you might learn something!

The second link is an absolutely brilliant article written by Sherry F. Colb, regarding a recent petition from the dairy industry to stop labeling non-dairy dairy substitutes as the thing they are replacing.  In it, she points out that the dairy-substitutes are not actually riding the "success" of the dairy industry, as much as they are adequately labeling themselves as an alternative product for people seeking to avoid dairy for one reason or another.  The whole article is just so well written - you will seriously do yourself a disservice if you don't read it, regardless of your own [present] feelings about dairy.

It's nearly time to start dinner, so let me share the new menu that I managed to get the goods for prior to the skies opening up with the gale-force thunderstorms we aren't actually having right now (thanks for putting the fear of God and a sense of urgency in me, though, weather.com):

1. Mediterranean Rice Salad with Roasted Red Peppers from One-Dish Vegetarian Meals and also from last week's menu.  That whole getting sick thing threw a wrench in the works, but I'm pretty sure that's dinner tonight.

2. Granada Paella from The Urban Vegan.  When I was scooting through some old posts to find the information I shared in my round-up, I decided to just go back and read some of them.  My nostalgia lead to most of this menu, as well as some new treats I hope to cook up (ha, ha) for the next one.

3. Orecchiette Con Broccoli also from The Urban Vegan.  This will probably be dinner tomorrow primarily because I was wrong about the broccoli being done with being gross and I don't think the two crowns I picked up will last more than a couple of days.

4. Spaghetti Carbonara also from The Urban Vegan.  I haven't made this before, unlike 2, 3, and 5 (hang on, I'm getting there).  In fact, I've never made a carbonara sauce, so we'll see how this bacon-free one comes out!

5. Seitan and Polenta Skillet with Fresh Greens from Vegan Express.  I never know how long Dynise's recipes will take, but I know they don't usually go all that quickly, so I like to have one blink-and-it's-dinner recipe in my back pocket.

cardboard cask...classy

Due to several factors, I was actually off from work today. The first part of the day (after the coffee and strawberry/yogurt oatmeal part) was quite full of angst and Angst. It involved him hiding from me and me banging on things to try to get him to stop hiding - probably not the most effective strategy in hindsight. Anyway, after I gave up on trying to "unhide" the cat, I went on my food shopping adventures.

And so, faithful readers, in this post we will:
1. see this week's menu
2. see tonight's dinner
3. babble about wine (2 glasses in)
4. discuss neighborly behavior

Starting from the bottom up (no pun intended), I will now tell you the previously alluded to story of what it means to be a good neighbor. When I had my hair done last week, it took three hours to put two colors in and cut it. That's a lot of time to talk to the person slopping your head up with colored goo. In our conversation, Candi related a tale of not-so-neighborly conduct by some girls who work at a salon across the street, located in a gym, strangely enough. We shared our ridiculously out-of-fashion ideas of how new neighbors were greeted to the neighborhood "back in the day." I can remember being a child and accompanying my mother with a plate of brownies or chocolate chip cookies to the still-disheveled home of a new neighbor just moving in. Anyway, today I made 2 dozen ginger-coconut-carrot muffins and packed half of them up in a shiny gold shoebox, then marched them across the street to "welcome" Candi to the neighborhood. So, I'm feeling like a good neighbor right about now.

I bought wine today. I'm very amused that I can't say "I bought a bottle of wine" and the reason is that I bought a cask of wine. Or at least, that's what the manufacturers decided to call the cardboard box that houses the bag that holds my wine. Either way, it's 3 liters of delicious Pinot Noir - as summer ends, so does my affair with Riesling. I have had this wine before - it marks a brilliant crossroads between dry and fruity and the fruitiness is primarily a darker variety - cherry and blackberry - so it fits well with the drier qualities. Nevertheless, the whole reason I ever tried this wine was its name: Pinot Evil (see no evil, ha ha ha). It even has the three monkeys.
According to the box...er...cask of wine, those 3 liters represent 4 bottles of wine, so hopefully it will last me a while!

Tonight I made Polenta & Vegetable Bake for dinner.
It was wonderful - good enough for Mister to have thirds. It was perfectly hearty and very rich without being overly so. It was also extraordinarily easy to make and came together much more quickly than I thought it would. Mister doesn't like eggplant, so I just diced two zucchini. I also added two cloves of garlic because I just felt like it needed it. It was a little watery and was difficult to transport from the baking dish to our eating dishes, but it tasted amazing. I will definitely make this again. As a side note (hearkening back to that wretched Cavit Pinot Noir), my pretty glass of Pinot Evil was the perfect match to dinner's flavors.
Now for this week's menu (my refrigerator and cupboards are full of fun ingredients!):
1. Stewed Lentils with Soy Sausage; with Fingerling Fries (both from Vegan Express by Nava Atlas - I just can't get away from this book!)
2. Pasta Jambalaya (also from Vegan Express)
3. Pasta with Beans and Chard (also from Vegan Express)
4. Double Pea Soup with Roasted Red Peppers (from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
5. Roasted Yellow Pepper and Corn Bisque (also from Veganomicon)
6. French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme (also from Veganomicon)
7. Tuscan Vegetable Ragout (from Vegetarian Times Fast & Easy) This is another one of those old favorites you can lean on when you want something savory and simple. The whole book is great, but a little tofu-heavy. I like tofu now, but when I first got the book, I really wasn't a fan.

You'll notice I've cited sources for all recipes on this week's menu, which means they aren't mine. Now that the weather is cooling down (to my ineffable delight), I want to make soups and baked dishes. The same way that I learned to create skillet suppers and sautes over the summer, I will learn to create savory baked dishes and soul-warming soups: by recreating other people's for a few weeks. I figure I'll spend September, maybe the first part of October "researching," and then I'll get another creative streak like I did in early August and pump out a bunch of casserole and soup recipes. So, for now, I will make what has been made before and I will focus every last tastebud on the purpose of discerning what makes this dish or that dish taste so good. And then I'll let you know!

One last thing: I have added a poll on the right side of this page because I want your opinion. If you think the name I've quasi-settled on is stupid, please leave me a comment and either tell me why you think it's stupid and/or what better name you would suggest. Thank you!!!