I am suffering with some kind of cold or sinus thing.  All I wanted tonight was a hot, comforting meal.  And a nap.  I took the nap and much to my disappointment, found no hot comfort food magically in my kitchen.  I was a little burnt out on the food I had in my fridge as I’ve had leftovers most days this week.  Spaghetti and meatballs sounded so good.  Here in Vegan Month that would need some adjustments.  I had run across a recipe for eggplant meatballs and made the trip to the store to buy the few things I needed to make this happen.

I couldn’t remember which blog I found this recipe on, so I worked off of memory.  I sauteed an onion and garlic, added a diced up eggplant and lots of italian spices.  Once that was all soft I put it in the food processor with about 1/2 cup bread crumbs and walnuts I had in the pantry.  I used my small cookie scoop to portion out “meatballs” onto a cookie sheet and baked for half an hour on 400.  Meanwhile I made a really simple marinara, just adding a can of crushed tomatoes to sauteed shallot and mushrooms.

I didn’t take a single picture of any of it.  I don’t feel well.  This whole process took an hour.  I was hungry.  I wish I had.  It turned out well.  The eggplant meatballs were very good.  A very different texture than a real meatball, but the flavor was great.  Please don’t forget to spray some nonstick spray on your cookie sheet.

Vegan month is ongoing and going well.  I relaxed my rules a few nights ago to have dinner with my cousin.  Risotto and sweet potato pie were involved.  This first week was all about getting into some better food habits and trying to kick the sugar/alcohol dependency I have.  Is dependency too strong of a word?  I don’t think it is.  When Meg, the roommate, was here, we were imbibing with a pretty high frequency.  I keep lots of wine in stock, she makes a great gin and tonic – it was a match made in heaven.  All good things must come to an end.

I would like to incorporate another good habit into this next week.  On top of my ongoing cleaner eating, I’m going to leave the tv off as I fall asleep.  I like noise and I maintain that I can play music or a book on tape or something from my iphone, but no tv.  The light from it is really messing with my falling asleep.  And often times I’m playing something that I get caught up in watching and that isn’t helping either.  I need all the sleep I can get.

Stay tuned for on the job updates…