Moving Forward and Foods

Well, I'm finally starting to feel like a human again. I want to thank everyone for all of the kind and supportive comments from last week. They really meant the world to me. I don't think I'm alone in dealing with negativity. If one hundred people compliment me, but one insults me, I will fixate on the insult and ignore the positive. It's been a lifelong struggle and I hope to change that way of thinking sometime in my lifetime. Anyway, I am choosing to focus on the positive in order to be healthy.
Last week I wasn't taking care of myself. And I felt it. I'm starting to snap back. I wasn't doing myself any favors, and I was starting to let depression take over and it was scary scary. I've even gotten back in the kitchen. Sunday night I made some delicious baked mac and cheese. I had some tofutti sour cream that needed to be used, and some FYH shreds in the freezer. I remember seeing a video where someone made a very non vegan baked mac and cheese, and it had like a million different cheeses and sour cream and it looked very decadent. So, since I was pulling myself out of my funk, I decided to make a comfort food. I made my usual coconut/nutritional yeast sauce, and added a good amount of the FYH shreds. I then stirred in the sour cream and baked it for about twenty minutes. This was not low calorie or healthy by any means, but man was it AHMAZING! And I think we have to be decadent every once in awhile, right?

This was one of my better experiments if I do say so myself. I feel like this would really please a mixed crowd for the holidays or any time. It really proves that vegan food can be rich and savory and dreamy and cheesey!
When I lived in Erie there was a grocery called Wegmans. They had an olive bar that had a caramelized onion hummus that was seriously the best hummus I've ever had. It had that deep delicious flavor of caramelized onion running through it. It was better than any onion dip ever! Yesterday I decided to recreate it using the food processor that came with the Ninja bullet. Hummus is so much easier to make with a food processor. I roasted some garlic and half an onion till they were nice and brown and sweet and blended it with chickpeas and a little tahini. I made it oil free because honestly it's creamy and rich from the tahini. This is maybe my favorite batch of homemade hummus I've made. The roasted garlic and onion just make it so rich and savory. It was hard to not just eat it with a spoon!

This would be a great spread on a Portobello sandwich, or any veggie burger. I made some oven fries and wrapped them in Romaine leaves and dipped the wraps in the hummus and a little sweet chili sauce. It was such a simple dinner but so delicious. It really hit the spot.

Expect to see a lot more meals like this for the next while. I've decided to focus on my health to counter my depression. Last week when I wasn't eating regularly and whatever I did eat was processed, I felt it working against me physically and mentally. And I felt weak. It reminded me of my past, unhealthier self. I was even tempted to buy cigarettes and booze and just totally go backwards. That scared me because I am proud of the positive changes I've made, and proud of myself for trying to learn how to love myself. I know a lot of people really commit to getting healthy after the holidays so they can enjoy all the delicious holiday foods. Since celebrations and all that aren't part of my world, why not start focusing on health NOW. I'm going to be eating a very simple diet for the next few weeks, maybe longer. I want to feel better and stronger. I notice when I'm really taking care of myself physically, I feel stronger mentally. Plus, I certainly wouldn't cry if I lost a few pounds. I figure I'm just getting a jump start on New Year's Resolutions which I never do anyway.

Here's another of Kanye's favorite spots. Looking down on the world from the top of the fridge. The cupboard behind her is also a great spot to hide from the vacuum.
Happy Tuesday!