Garden Jalapenos and Junk Food Cravings

Confession: I just bought a box of Lucky Charms cereal, and a bowl or two of that with almond milk is going to be dinner tonight.

It’s been 1 year and 2 months since I switched to veganism, and the longer I eat a plant-based diet, the easier it gets to shrug off the cravings for dairy that once bothered me. But now and then, I crave vegan food that isn’t good for me, like cereal with fluorescent shamrocks.

I’ve found it’s best to occasionally yield to these cravings. Nothing will sabotage a vegan diet more effectively than denying yourself the occasional junk food orgy, as long as it’s plant-based. I’ll have a couple of bowls from this box, then bring it to work, where my colleagues will finish it off in a few hours. No food gets wasted in the publishing industry.

Lucky Charms was a childhood favorite of mine. The nostalgia of it is probably what draws me in, because it’s not the flavor for sure. If I close my eyes, they just taste like a mouthful of refined sugar. But sometimes, you just want to wrap yourself up in the crappy kiddie foods that your mom fed you back in the day.

It was a great weekend. We picked the first jalapenos from the gardens, as well as big bowl of cherry tomatoes, and about a thousand cucumbers. We made a cucumber tomato salad with homemade vinaigrette and hogged it for dinner. Then I made a second huge one for friends. I gave some jalapenos to another friend. One of the best things about growing your own food is giving it away.

We also did some major housecleaning, which always makes me feel lighter and clearer. Then we spent Sunday on the boat, under the sun, getting tan, swimming, joy riding and watching the sailboats gracefully do their thing. As we were heading home, my husband and I agreed that we both were born to be on the ocean, and that our next home together will be close to it.

We also spent lots of time with the dogs. Our Buddy is getting old. It’s painful to watch a dog age. Compared to us, their lives are ridiculously short. We bring them home as puppies and revel in their cuteness and energy and youthful sweetness. Then, before our eyes, they age - their hips fail, they get cataracts, they lose weight, they sleep more, and they eat less. Suddenly they’re old, and we wonder when it all happened. Hello is always such joy: goodbye is always so wrenching.

Much love,

Barbie xo