Manic Much? (foodie edition)

Bulgher/Quinoa Tabhouli

I’ve long suspected (as have most people who know me well...hey…don’t you LOVE parentheses?) I may have a weensie bit of OCD, a smattering of adult ADHD, and a pinch of bipolar disorder. Or, maybe a more accurate label (because we can’t have too many labels, right?) would be climepolar disorder: fluctuating by climate—depressive in winter, euphoric in summer. Right now, semester has crawled off to hibernate till fall, South Dakota is twirling in her gorgeous flowered petticoats, the apple & plum trees are in bloom and alive with much-welcome bees, and life is grand!

Kongnamul Bab

Now that the fog of trying to teach while pretending I didn’t have a stroke is lifting, I’m shifting my focus back to recovery. My awesome PT person just wrangled a few more sessions out of my insurance company. I’ve seen an ENT, an ophthalmologist, a podiatrist, and a pulmonologist since school got out, sizing up the residual effects of BS (my nickname for my pesky brainsplosion). I’ve cut my meds as low as I dare, to try and get rid of this mind fuzz and to kick-start my stalled metabolism. I sang with my friend L last weekend!!! And my friend M and I have vowed to spend more time at the gym.

I’m also continuing to adjust, monitor, modify, supplement, and detoxify my diet. Yesterday, Ray and I took Mom to Omaha, so she could catch a ride to KS for my nephew’s graduation. But before we rendezvoused with her ride south-er, we did some intensive shopping in support of our nutritional therapy…

(1)   We hit Trader Joe’s for nuts and salmon oil.

(2)  At Whole Foods, we snagged raw greens superfood for our breakfast smoothies (frozen organic berries, fresh raw kale, a spoonful of yogurt, whey protein, superfood, a packet of Emergen-C, and water).

(3)  At the Asian Market, I found shaved bonito fish (for making homemade dashi, the fish-broth base of miso soup, since we’re trying to add fermented foods to our daily diet – see http://www.lafujimama.com/2010/01/how-to-make-dashi/ for recipe).

(4)  Our last grocery stop was at Penzey’s Spices, where I sniffed the saffron, re-stocked my spice rack, and got some berbere to make this chicken & lentil dish: http://www.feastingathome.com/2012/11/crispy-berbere-chicken-with-ethiopian.html#.UZjwW4LkAy4).

Tofu-Mushroom-Seaweed Miso Soup

I’m not much for baking (I’ll take savory over sweet any day) but I LOVE to cook. Pearl Bailey said, "My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me." I get that. For me, cooking is the perfect combo of chemistry, meditation, prayer, occupational therapy, love & magic. A Reubenesque shape signifies survival, safety, security (clearly, I have food issues, to which the swishing of my generous thighs and flapping of tender arms will atest). I chop/slice/dice/julienne by hand. I put spacy new-agey instrumental music on the house system. I sip strong coffee or red wine, depending on the hour. Sometimes, I wear a dress, an apron, and cowgirl boots while I cook. I cook enough to give at least half away.

Packrat Discovers Penzey's

2nd Picking

Today, however, we’ll eat our 2nd picking of fresh garden asparagus, and we'll clean up leftovers: For breakfast, I had an incredible miso soup my son-in-love made with mushrooms, tofu, and kombu. Later, we’ll have kongnamul bab (one my all-time favorite foods…Korean soybean sprouts & rice – my recipe’s here: http://uncanneryrow.blogspot.com/2013/02/rice-and-greens-and-sproutso-my.html). For dinner, we'll eat the last of the tabhouli, with pine nuts and feta. And since I walked at least 20 miles gathering the goods yesterday, I might indulge in reward therapy tonight with a glass of homemade petit shiraz zinfandel and a chunk of the sea-salted 75% cocoa dark chocolate I found.

 Yes, by gum…life is darn-near euphoric, isn’t it?

No well-appointed kitchen is complete without solar hula dancers.