Happy Tummy

I woke up this morning for church feeling achy all over -- like I was coming down with something. I turned off my alarm, rolled over, and slept a VERY solid three-and-a-half hours more. Now I'm feeling better.

Since I've been eating this way I haven't been sick. I always get a big ol' honkin' winter cold and this year I got the cold and it went completely away in less than three days. I always get a cough with my cold. This year, no cough. It's probably a coincidence (no one promised "no colds" if you eat a plant-based diet), but still.

My knees are hurting, though. :p

On the Sundays that our church has communion we eat lunch together. Last night I cooked up a storm for lunch today. I made my very very most favorite bruschetta topping: mushroom. The real secret to this recipe is the apple juice. It gives the mushrooms this hint of sweetness that is amazing. I like it warm, I like it cold, I like it any way I can get it. (I use no oil or Parmesan cheese, of course.)



I made this Southwestern Black Bean Potato Salad because I bought tons of potatoes for that creamy tomato soup recipe and have to use them up. BUT -- man, I like this recipe.

My changes: I used Yukon Gold potatoes because that's what I was trying to use up (I also have russet potatoes, but they do not boil well -- if you're boiling potatoes you want a waxy potato like red potatoes or Yukon Gold). The fresh jalapeno would've brought Bruce to his knees, so I bought it but at the last minute I had compassion and did not use it. I used one of those short cans of corn, so there's about 1 1/2 cups in there. That's basically it. I did use about two tablespoons of the chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (Publix sells them in the Hispanic foods section) because I wanted SOME spice. I think it's excellent. It makes a ton (as potato salad recipes do), so it would be great to take to a potluck.



I also made this tomato salad. Instead of the onion I used some of the scallions that I had left over from the potato salad (I don't like raw onions and Bruce's tummy can't handle 'em). I think the salad was very good, but I would add about a teaspoon of sugar (maybe more) to the dressing. I think a little sugar makes tomatoes taste tomato-ier. But, you know -- crisp, colorful, fresh, healthy.



For dessert I ate some pecan pralines I bought from Publix. Usually they contain eggs, but these were just sugar and honey and salt. And pecans. I will not be buying them again because I can't stop eating them!!!

More later...