An Imperfect Vegan

Today I had an absurdly enormous lunch at work because I participated in a tasting for the upcoming fundraiser I’m planning. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that I ate six hors d’oeuvres, two salads, two main courses, and four petit fours desserts, along with two glasses of wine. Needless to say, a big dinner was not in the cards tonight. Also, my hubby spontaneously decided to see a movie with a friend after work, so I didn’t have to worry about whether or not he’d be on board with a light dinner.

I figured a veggie-heavy meal would be the best idea, but didn’t have many fresh veggies on hand. Luckily, back on a random meal prep Sunday, I had grated and frozen two zucchinis with the idea that I could use it in the future to make zucchini bread, add it to a stew, or make zucchini pancakes. On my commute home, zucchini pancakes seemed like a perfect dinner option: loaded with veggies but still warm and comforting. Growing up, these delicious fritters were always a summer staple in…

Today it was hubby’s turn to handle dinner, but he very nicely asked if I could help him make risotto since he wasn’t sure how to cook it and he had a yen. I also liked the sound of risotto for dinner, so I agreed to help. Plus, it would be great for him to know how to do it for next time. We also arrived home the same time, which rarely happens, and for whatever reason that makes it easier to for us to cook dinner together being that it’s from start to finish. To put it bluntly, the stars had aligned for the risotto!

I’ll be the first to admit that hubby and I don’t cook very well together due to a variety of reasons: I get frustrated when he doesn’t know how to do things or asks a lot of questions or takes a long time to chop things, and he gets frustrated when I don’t have patience or when I try to rush things or when I don’t explain steps clearly. But, when I’m tired from a long day of work and hungry for dinner, there ain’t no way I’m going to be patient. I also am not a cooking …

About a week ago, I was rummaging around in our food cabinet and saw that we had a box of oven ready lasagna noodles buried in the back - a rare find! When I ordered my groceries for this week (grocery delivery is the life hack of the century), I included extra red sauce and a package of tofu so that I could make my version of vegan lasagna for dinner one of the weeknights. However, only after my groceries were delivered did I realize that the box of lasagna noodles had a measly two noodles in it. I had all the other ingredients, as well as a serious hankering, for lasagna - what a tease! Each day after work it was my intention to swing by the grocery store to buy a supplemental box of oven ready lasagna noodles. Each day came and passed, and guess what - the post-commute grocery store trip never happened.

Finally, Sunday came. We had exhausted all other dinner options by then, and gosh darn it I was determined to have lasagna. I walked eight blocks out of my way to the grocery store …

One of my biggest faults is that I cannot say no. If someone I know asks me to help them out with something, I can never refuse. Recently a coworker asked if I would volunteer to help with a special project she was initiating; as you might have already predicted, I said yes. The volunteering entailed working all day Saturday and Sunday at a book fair. The good news is, I like books, I like helping people, and as volunteers we got free bagels (and tofu cream cheese!). The bad news is, the work week leading up to the fair was overly hellish and demanding, and the last thing I felt like doing on my precious Saturday morning was go to work to, ahem, volunteer. However, I must say that all in all, iIt turned out to be a very rewarding experience and a fantastic event, and I was glad to have offered a helping hand to my coworker.

Regardless of these warm and fuzzy vibes, after seven hours of being on my feet and smiling at customers, I was not very hyped to go home and slave over the stove.…