I am pretty sure I am just making this up in my mind, but I realized this morning when I woke up that the normal aches and pains I usually feel in my joints just weren’t there when I got out of bed and started walking around. For those that know me, I have some pretty horrible joint issues stemming from some pretty gnarly injuries in my life, which has left me with tendonitis in my right Achilles tendon, constant swelling in my ankles that hurt pretty much nonstop, and knee pain that always alerts me to a change in the weather. Beyond all of that, I’ve also been extremely blessed with having sciatica nerve issues that have provided me with pain shooting down the left side of my body. I know that a lot of this is because I need to lose weight (who doesn’t), but it’s also because I have crazy inflammation all over. My ortho docs have told me for years that my joints are just constantly inflamed and that I should be prepared for arthritic in the future (hooray!). However, looking down at my ankle this morning was like looking at an ankle that wasn’t swollen to double the size. Sure, you can still see the knot of scare tissue down there, but it isn’t swollen to the touch. Could it be that just a few days of not eating dairy and meat has helped to reduce this inflammation? The jury is still out, but I haven’t changed much else in my life, so I probably have to attribute this to my diet. If this continues to be the case, I may need to serious sit down and think about what will happen on February 1st.
One of my best friend’s here in DC is laid up from having surgery, so I wanted to make her something special. It just so happens that she is also doing the Veganuary thing, so I’m going to make her a pot of delicious vegan soup so she doesn’t have to worry about food for a bit. In looking at recipes, we both agreed that Spiced Chickpea Soup would help to cure what ails her. I tried a recipe from Grain, which looks like it is a website for flour, grains, beans, and kitchen stuff. The recipe isn’t really that hard to make, but does take a little time. You can find the recipe here.
When I was making the soup, I was tasting it as I was going along, and I have to say this: what is with all of the bland vegan recipes? Both things I’ve made (this soup and my chili) have been so lackluster that I’ve had to double the spices. Has eating meat for more than 3 decades killed my taste buds or are these recipes all just flavorless? Regardless, I doubled the amount of cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garlic, so it finally started to pop. Frankly, I could probably have tripled the spices and been just fine. This is a perfect soup for when you need something warm and tasty when it is cold outside, and we just so happen to be going through a “bomb cyclone” right now, aka a winter hurricane. What better way to weather the storm than with this? I definitely would recommend this recipe, though like I said, double the spices. We aren’t messing around with flavor in this house.
I also made a new snack out of dates and peanut butter. You take a date, take out the pit, spread any nut butter you like (I only have peanut butter on hand right now), throw them in the freezer, and then eat them whenever you’re peckish. They are really good. Anyway, I’m off to make breakfast for tomorrow. I have a bunch of bananas that are starting to go bad and I just found a 4-ingredient banana pancake recipe, which will be perfect for tomorrow morning. Though, I may save a few and make vegan banana bread this weekend. This is my last free weekend before law school starts up again, so I need to get as prepared as possible for late night eats and snacks to tide me over during my night classes. This is what I signed up for after all! *weak smile and thumbs up*
Don't Worry, I Saved the Beer. 