Maggie started this thing called “truth week”, and each day she’s tagged somebody to tell the truth. Well she had tagged Mitri and then the Queen of Oats tagged me! So here goes.
The truth is that this week has been hard and I’ve done some reevaluating. I’d say my relationship with food now is a pretty healthy one, but I think this week has been a challenge for me. I’d say… my lack of funds led me to panic for a hot second. I’m use to being able to buy fresh foods and cooking each day. Well, I haven’t been able to spend money for over a week now and I didn’t mind at first because I hadn’t run out of produce. All my frozen produce is gone as well now. And that’s what got me thinking. I have plenty of things in my pantry, I just got so antsy about the fact that – oh my gosh – I have no fresh food. Fresh foods are the only things I really crave too. Weird, I know. I always have a bag of carrots on hand because they’re refreshing, tasty, and I’ve loved carrots ever since I was little. I might’ve said it before but when I was little I swore I was part bunny. I mean… I’ve got raisins and other dried fruits at least and this is only temporary. I’m hoping to get money in a couple of days and I’ll be buying some vegetables and fruits again. It got me to thinking how fortunate and picky I actually am. There are people that live off rice and beans every day. I am so fortunate to have a wide variety of things to choose from. I’ve got grains like rice and oats, nut butters, canned legumes, the package of Sunshine Burgers, Tofurky, and other yummy things. I was also able to use my soymilk maker to make some almond milk this morning. But I guess I got upset because I couldn’t have something. And when you can’t have something… you want it even more, and it almost seems like nothing else matters. So, that is my truth for today. And lots of things I have are simply luxuries, and now I really see what the necessities are. I just had to get that out of my system. Hmm… the bright side? Hey Janetha, I’m also taking part in your “clean out the pantry” challenge!
I heated up the Iced Gingerbread Clif bar and enjoyed every bite with sips of a cup of ZenSoy chocolate soymilk I warmed up. The people over at ZenSoy sent me a gracious sampler package not too long ago. I’m going to do a full review on them soon.
Last week I used my batch of okara (the pulp leftover when I made soy milk) to make a vegetarian meatloaf based on this recipe. I didn’t have any vegetarian “ground beef” on hand so I used a can of beans instead. I just melted some mozzarella on top and went a little crazy with the ketchup.
I finished off my can of chickpeas and frozen spinach. Actually, a little ray of sunshine inspired me for last night’s dinner. Maya is quite the chef! The things her and her sister, Eliza, whip up make me so hungry! I saw she had a recipe for Spinach Ricotta Pine Nut Pasta. I didn’t have ricotta, but I pretty much had everything else. I just grated some parmesan on top and sprinkled on some pine nuts. Now I feel so silly for freaking out.
I had a bowl of Farina with a ton of raisins and some cinnamons. I also decided to mix in a Banana ZenSoy pudding cup and a glob of cashew butter. Afterwards I attempted to make some almond milk for the first time.
I went to the UPS station to pick up some packages that were sent to me, but too large to fit in my apartment complex’s box. Seriously, once I got home and opened these packages up, I counted my blessings again. On the topic of being grateful, check out Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness!
The folks from Newman’s Own Organics sent me an incredibly generous package for me to sample and review on here. Wow!
Awhile ago I had used my last freebie coupon Tofurky sent to me. What’d I choose to get? The beer brat “sausages”! I tried it with beer mustard, ketchup, and sweet relish, and by itself! Yum yum yum. I’ve read that some of you didn’t like the other flavors except for the beer brats. I, however, do like the other sausage flavors and this one as well!
So there’s really been no cooking for me but I have been munching my way through tasty snacks! I hope you are all enjoying your Wednesday aka “hump day”.
Oh, and before I forget, I’d like to tag Holly to partake in “truth week”!