have computer, will blog

here i am again!  after a long time missing the blogging.  i have been loving vegan month and probably would have had the inspiration to blog everyday, but since my hard drive crashed and died on my laptop...well, not having a computer makes it hard to blog.  there's work, but i am not allowed to really just sit there and use the computer (I work at an herb shop and the computer is out on the floor where the customers are...and where the store owner randomly pops in.  and he already doesn't want me to be there, so i don't need to be doing personal blogging to give the guy another reason to fire me.  although firing me would be nice.  ok, totally different topic)  there's the library, but for real, i can't even seem to get myself to drive by the place to return overdue books.  it's like there is a opposite magnetic force pushing me away, just so the library can make money off my late books.  and there's the neighbors, but it seems so personal to sit there and blog right in someone else's living room...i mean, what if someone walked in and read it?  haha.  no, it just never happened.  but hey, no need to live in the past.  here we are...back together.  and partially because of the blog.  how cool is that?  it was my birthday when the computer crashed and as i heard it, my dad and his wife, becky, were chatting about maybe getting me a totally awesome gift...a computer.  and becky says...you know, melissa really needs a computer because i love reading the blog.  she got on the phone with me to say....Melissa, i am eating a tomato today that i grew because of the blog, and my house has never been to organized and free of clutter after your "purging month."  i just have to say that i am so honored.  when you give good, you get good.  when you put positive energy out there, it truly does come back if you are open to receive it.  gratitude.

and now onto being vegan.  i really love it.  once i was at a restaurant and the meat and dairy items on the menu looked sooo soo good, and i wanted them sooo bad...that was my hardest moment.  besides that, i haven't missed it.  i can remember what i last talked about being vegan.  highlights of late have been: a great flashback dinner to the old vegan days.  the best part being mac and cheese made with nutritional yeast.  now i think i remember mentioning it in my last quick post.  but it was that good, to me.  i forgot how much i love nutritional yeast.  i have been putting it on popcorn too.  and i don't miss butter at all.  it was my biggest worry.  but i went for the Earth Balance.  it's margarine.  i was strongly against margarine.  especially after reading michael pollen's books, margarine stood out as one of those "food-like substances" that is ruining our bodies and the earth.  see, strongly.  but i gave into temptation, and i love it.  it's like my hand are over my ears and i am singing la la la la la with my eyes closed, but loving every bite.  i think i like it better than butter.  weird and unexpected.

the other unexpected thing would have to be the amount of food i am consuming.  jesus people.  i mean, there are fat vegans, and i just might become one of them.  just because you don't eat meat and cheese doesn't mean you eat healthy.  there's bread...lovely crusty baguettes (with earth balance of course....right, Erin? :)  i am blaming you for that one!), there are french fries...which may be a vegan's only option when at a restaurant.  there's wine...which since vacation has been a standby...melissa! vacation is over!  there's popcorn.  and since i haven't been going to yoga.  ugh.  i just need to get back to yoga.  as much as i loved loved loved vacation, it really threw me off my game, physically and spiritually speaking.  next week, i get back on track.  and with the food...i feel like a shark that got a whiff of blood in the ocean and can't stop eating the carcasses of a whole seal family, and it's extended family.  maybe even close friends and co-workers.  it's ridiculous.  i just bring this up because i envisioned vegan month to be a guide back to healthy eating.  and well, now that i purged all my baggage here, i do have a couple weeks left to change that.

today i leave to San Juan Island to cook for several women all weekend.  i created a vegan menu, mostly, if not all.  so i am exited to see how that goes.  i'll tell you all about it when i return.  and guess what, it's healthy stuff...not just a bunch of fried things and white bread.  with earth balance. :)

oh, and Plum was very good, and very sweet of my husband to take me out for a nice vegan dinner for my birthday.  his plan was to also take me to a vintage boot store beforehand, but i had to change the date of the date, and the boot store was closed.  but i still totally want to check that out! anyway, the restaurant was a little dark, but i heard from the server that they are getting new lighting soon.  i liked our sever...great sense of humor.  she says about the lighting, yea, it's a great place if you want to sit in the dark and not see what you're eating.  i ordered a margarita, called something like the Fiery Desert...a jalapeno margarita.  it was too sweet, and not spicy.  so i ordered wine instead and she didn't charge me for the margarita.  nice.  then we got three appetizers.  and can i just say, it was great to look over the whole menu and know i could order anything...not having to pick apart the ingredients to see if it is dairy or meat hidden in there.  we had a stuffed portabello mushroom with chard and tempeh and a cream like sauce....yum!  and their version of the mac and nutritional yeast cheese....yum again! and an avocado roll.  it was too fishy, i guess the nori.  jamie loved it, but i couldn't eat it.  then we shared a cajun tempeh burger with yam fries.  sooooo good.  very messy, but good.  they brought out the wrong sandwich at first, so she packed that up for us to take home for lunch the nest day.  awesome.  so, jamie and i both had a free lunch, and it was very tasty.

ok...i gotta get these kids to school and get myself ready for the weekend trip, i am not even packed.  i have 40 minutes to shower, pack, make sure i have all the ingredients for my meals, and get the kids to school (so like me).  then i am off to work and leaving directly when i get off.

have a great weekend!!!!
xoxomelissa