Simple Greens to Combat Chaos

This may sound tired, but I’m ready for the weekend. Things have been a little crazy around here this week starting with work, we have tons of projects going on and problems popping up causing me to leave late and frazzled.

Sunday my web host disabled this site due to a “suspicious” traffic increase. Since support would not respond until Monday, I was unable to get it back up until Monday evening after many long calls with support – not fun after a long day at work. Long story short, it might be time for a new host.

Also on Monday, Leela had her teeth cleaning appointment at the vet which always makes me a nervous wreck because it’s an all day thing that involves anesthesia. I hate putting her through that, but she has problem teeth that could be a threat to her health if I don’t. I think she’s still a little angry at me.

Then Skipper had to go the vet Tuesday for an eye problem. Being blind, I think he ran into something into the backyard and irritated an eye. It started to get infected and oozy even after multiple cleanings, so we had to put him on meds and eye drops. So this week is a dog medicine party! Every morning and evening Skipper gets his insulin shot, eye drop, and pill while Leela gets an oral dropper full of medicine while her teeth are settling down – whew! And they put up a fight, it’s like we have kids!

My eats have been pretty boring and basic with all the chaos, but I got a little creative with this soup last night using up pantry and freezer foods.

I simmered some miso paste, a frozen veggie lentil and quinoa mix from Trader Joe’s, textured vegetable protein, tomatoes, and peppers and seasoned the mess with a little hot sauce, Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning Blend, and a little salt. Very tasty for something thrown together in minutes.

I also splurged on myself ordering a jar of Vitamineral Green for smoothies.

Back in the early days of my high raw vegan transition, this was a regular in my pantry. But it fell out of my routine when I went on a huge money saving journey last year for a mortgage goal. I decided to add it back using Amazon’s Subscribe and Save. Sure, $50-something a jar is pricey, but not too bad every two months. I decided to add it back after being reminded how much good stuff is in the green powder at the Team Veg Potluck last month.

After leaving work late today, I ran by Trader Joe’s for some fresh stuff and nearly had a little hissy fit when I found they were out of fresh organic spinach and kale! I came home with organic arugula instead for smoothies and salads.

Arugula has a slightly bitter flavor that can be hard to work with, but I threw together a super simple creamy avocado dressing for tonight’s salad that balanced it nicely. The recipe was roughly:

It made a nice meal salad topped with hemp seeds and nutritional yeast, the creamy texture and tangy flavor countered the slight bitterness from the arugula making it barely detectable.

And I had a sweet lap buddy for dinner which is always nice after a crazy day.

Crazy weeks happen and I’m thankful to make it through them and hopefully look back and laugh. But tonight I think a glass of wine and bubble bath are in order!