Warming Up

Boy, it's almost like I have been too busy to blog or something! Imagine that.

The high school where I work is not a very efficient building. The district is also broke as hell, so they won't turn on the freaking heaters until maybe December or something. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration. But the nights here in Minnesota have been really chilly, even though the days have been gorgeous and sunshiny, with temps hovering around 70 degrees. During the day, the school stays colder than the part of a witch that would nurse a baby if the witch had a baby. For serious. I am a hot-blooded person, the kind that can hardly even wear a long sleeve shirt because I get too warm, or feel claustrophobic or something. Forget sweaters! I hated wearing sweaters. I couldn't bear to be bundled into one until I began working at this school. Now I need them.

This week in English class the teacher had to teach with her gloves on. I sat in the back with my arms inside my sweatshirt and my legs pulled up under me, trying to keep warm. My nose was cold. Kids were wearing their winter coats. The next day she brought blankets to school so some of the kids could cover up during her lesson. She wore her big warm scarf while she taught. I kid you not.

The thing was, the custodian wasn't going to turn on the furnace when there was an expected high of 70 degrees. Kids were escaping to go outside and warm up. Hell, I was escaping. I went outside during my lunch today to soak some of it up for about 10 minutes.

What's the point of my rambling? There really isn't one. I am getting to the food part, though...

I ate a salad for lunch one day at work, and while it was a good salad full of delicious fresh veggies, it wasn't really a salad kind of day. I needed something warm. There are a few problems to this...

One, I am really low on provisions around here. I do have food, but it's the kind of food that you need to get creative with, and take some time and do some planning with. My life has not allowed for this.

Another, and the saddest part ever, is that I am losing my ambition. Maybe it's winter coming on, and the fact that I have to fight the hibernation urge. Maybe it's because I am so freaking busy I can't see straight. Maybe because it's really getting to me, and I am starting to shut down, little by little. Maybe because every spare second my brain has is used to think about my book.

I made some rice and beans, because that is my back-up recipe. I have written about it before, and I have even written about it in my column. There's nothing that fancy or innovative about it, but it's brown rice and black beans and tomatoes and spices and all that stuff all thrown together. It's easy, the stuff is almost always on hand, it's nutritious, and it's delicious. Most importantly, it's warm...


This time, I had to brilliant idea to slice an avocado and place it on top. I had never done that before, and I didn't know how it would be.

Yes, it was awesome! It's an avocado. Was there ever any doubt?

I threw some corn on top, too. It was fabulous.

Sigh. I really need to get back into the groove of trying new recipes, new foods, new ideas. I am in a rut...

Also, a belated apology for my crappy pictures. I can't find any decent lighting in my house. I wish I was better at photography, but who has time for that when all I think about is writing?

Vegan MoFo is coming up in November. I am not going to participate this year, but maybe with all that blogging going on and the fact that I follow like 40 blogs will help jump start some creative cooking juices for me.

Happy eating!