Food, tedious food

You know, sometimes I just get so sick of food.

An odd thing for me to say, not just as a vegan but as someone who used to live to eat, rather than the other way around. I am in one of those moods right now where I am just so sick and tired of planning meals. I feel a constant pressure by the need to put together a perfect meal of protein, carb, green, and I sadly am NOT one of these gifted people, true chefs who can look into their cubbards and make something out of any three ingredients. If I don't have a recipe in front of me, forget it. When it comes to food, I am just not impulsive or creative enough to take a chance and just whip something together.

And sometimes I just want the odd, whatever-is-there-in-the-house-that-is-the-easiest-to-put together meal. I can make do easily some nights with a plate of steamed broccoli with salt and nondairy butter, some bread, and a small spinach salad. Or maybe just some Gardein chicken wings cooked on the stove. Maybe just a cup of Leahey's vegan chicken noodle soup. Unless my hubby is away, I don't have the luxury to do that too often.

I guess what also makes food planning such a chore is the fact that I live in a bi-nutritional (is that the word?) household, by which I mean I am a vegan and my husband is a devout omnivore who also happens to hate most vegetables and ALL faux meat (even apparently brands like Gardein which he has never tried). This rather limits my options, as you can see, and that gets tiring. Some nights I have made two different meals for us, and let me tell you, that gets old very quickly.

I really do love to cook and bake and have many cookbooks to prove it. But I go through times like right now when I am just sick of it all, when just once, I would love to come home, knowing that someone else is cooking dinner tonight (and by this I don't mean take-out--we do a lot of that too.) To be able to sink into a chair and inhale the aromas of food someone else is preparing--THAT to me would be bliss. It is also NOT reality. I just will wait for this mood to pass. In the meantime, I am settling for Imagine Butternut Squash soup and salad tonight (and feeling guilty for being so chintzy about this meal too.) Just don't have the energy--and creative juices--to come up with anything else.

The Hoppy Vegan